Re: Farage out

1

The politics of this aside, I think "I want my life back" is a better way than the traditional "I want to spend more time with my family." It's more general and plausible.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:04 AM
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2

Probably true more often too.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:10 AM
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3

Politics not aside, I get the impression that many, if not most, British people, including large chunks of the political class, have come to approach politics as no more than a kind of name-calling game. Consequently, the country has wandered off a cliff and politicos are jumping ship to escape their mess. (Standing to be corrected by the British, of course.)


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:12 AM
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4

After ruining and casting into uncertainty the lives of millions he wants his own life back? I hope the answer is no. Not ever within the boundaries of whatever ends up being the UK. He'll have to emigrate if he wants a semi-normal life. Shouldn't be a problem though. I'm sure he could get a slot on Fox News in the US.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:22 AM
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5

He wants to spend as much time as he can with his German wife before she's deported.

Seriously, Arron Banks, who funded the Leave.Eu campaign out of his own pocket and is planning to expand UKIP into a new political party, wanted Farage gone.

Main takeout from that interview: Leave won because they had the more powerful emotional narrative. What's Hillary got?

"It was taking an American-style media approach," said Banks. "What they said early on was 'facts don't work' and that's it. The remain campaign featured fact, fact, fact, fact, fact. It just doesn't work. You have got to connect with people emotionally. It's the Trump success."

Posted by: Ume | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:28 AM
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6

3 is pretty accurate. I remember saying about Cameron that he didn't appear to have done politics in order to get into government; he had got into government in order to allow him to do politics.
The Leave voters were generally the same. The point was to make a great big noisy gesture, not to actually achieve policy goals.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:29 AM
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7

Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.


Posted by: Opinionated Adolf Hitler | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:31 AM
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8

Shouldn't that have been from Goebels?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:35 AM
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9

He was nothing without me.


Posted by: Opinionated Adolf Hitler | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 8:37 AM
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10

It looks as if the inheritors will be the very hard right of the Tory party, the ones who want Singapore on steroids. God help the poor sods in the deindustrialised parts who voted for them because they wanted the 70s back. I imagine the new leaderne as a taxi driver: "Sorry guv! Did you mean NINETEEN Seventies. Silly me ... I thought you meant EIGHTEEN seventies. Your seventies were dreadful -- bloody unfashionable, awful hairdos, Unions everywhere. You wouldn't want to go there. You'd hate it. Anyway. Here we are. That will be $10 Hong Kong, or £10.00. Bad language will get you nowhere."


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 10:12 AM
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11

So, how long is Corbyn going to last? Can we expect any other departures?


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 10:36 AM
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12

So the options for Tory leader now are

- British Ted Cruz equivalent
- extremist anti-immigrant Margaret Thatcher impersonator
- another woman, known as an economic expert who produced these brilliant prophecies about the effects of Brexit
- a guy with a beard who seems to be the lovable and friendly youthful candidate


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 10:44 AM
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13

re: 12.last

Who?

It's fucking despicable cunts all the way down.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 11:16 AM
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14

I think he's referring to Stephen Crabb.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 11:44 AM
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15

Crabb is more like the Ted Cruz equivalent.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 11:45 AM
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16

15: So, he doesn't seem so lovable and friendly to you?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 11:53 AM
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17

I am more or less with ttaM on this one.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 11:54 AM
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18

While not disagreeing with ttaM's Tory cosmology, if that's you Ted Cruz that's weak sauce. You're going to have to get up pretty early in the morning if you want to out-Ted Cruz America!


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 11:56 AM
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19

Which I suppose, given your orientation, that you do. But your crazy and evil party seems to mostly be the power-to-the-wealthy, bootstrap-arguments-for-the-poor garden variety; they can certainly be assholes, but they bring neither the flare nor the religiosity of ours. Crabb's Wikipedia page's section on religion lists some despicableness, but it's pretty milquetoast.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 12:00 PM
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20

I figured Britain doesn't have any theocratic politicians so the Ted Cruz equivalent is the guy who gets turned into memes because he acts like an awkward alien in a skinsuit.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 12:07 PM
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21

19: my orientation???


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 12:14 PM
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22

21: You know. You're east of us.

Anyway, as of three minutes ago, Crabb's out.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 12:15 PM
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23

22: oh, I see.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 12:19 PM
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24

If 22 was planned it was some high-quality trolling.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 12:23 PM
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25

Alas, no, I'm just playing incomprehensible word games with myself.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 12:40 PM
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26

My parents live in Crabb's constituency. Just before the 2010 election we were driving in the country, and some farmer (I assume) had loads of "STEPHEN CRABB" signs up all the way along their fields. Someone had gone along and graffitied ask of them so they said "Stephen HAS CrabbS". It's all I can ever think when I see him. Anyway, he's an arse, and I'm glad he's pulled out.


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 1:27 PM
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27

I assume you've all seen Ken Clarke being adorable*? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36718454

*adorable may not be quite the word. I enjoyed it though!


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 1:31 PM
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28

So much low-hanging fruit.


Posted by: JRoth | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 1:32 PM
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29

I figured Britain doesn't have any theocratic politicians so the Ted Cruz equivalent is the guy who gets turned into memes because he acts like an awkward alien in a skinsuit.

That's basically the entire Tory front bench.


Posted by: Ginger Yellow | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 1:50 PM
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30

Can we have have a thread or comments on Clinton email?

I read enough to know I should apologize for derailing so early.


Posted by: Robert | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 2:10 PM
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31

Teabags.


Posted by: Flippanter | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 2:16 PM
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32

Farage has to periodically resign so he can come back later and accuse his successors of having betrayed the cause then be head of the circus parade once more.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 5:20 PM
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33

that was me o forgetful phone!


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 5:37 PM
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34

"Oh, I'm so sorry I incited people to burn your house down and because they were idiots they followed my suggestions. So deeply sorry, but I'm sort of busy now and can't assist the fire brigade."


Posted by: DaveLMA | Link to this comment | 07- 5-16 6:55 PM
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35

OTSO UK recriminations, what is the deal with Blair's personal note to Bush from July 2002? So meandering - "I will be you, whatever" followed by 6 pages of on-the-other-hands and polite, probably over-subtle observations of how flawed the process is.

Someone who wants to clear his conscience personally by writing down all the reasons he knows it's wrong to the man in charge, without actually rocking the boat?


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 07- 6-16 9:06 AM
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36

35: That reads to me as someone who has reluctantly agreed to go along with Bush's plan, and has apparently been convinced that Iraq does have WMDs, but is aware of the many very real issues with invading Iraq on the basis of the evidence then available. More than anything, it reveals how oblivious the US administration was of the actual geopolitical situation in the runup to the war.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 07- 6-16 10:53 PM
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37

I reiterate my question about wtf is going on.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 07- 7-16 12:40 PM
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38

It's as if an entire nation were set to the Benny Hill music, then suddenly silenced.


Posted by: dalriata | Link to this comment | 07- 7-16 12:58 PM
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39

Clearly we got tired of everyone taking us seriously.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 07- 7-16 1:17 PM
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