The incompatibility between the absolutist continental mindset and British democracy
A report by Tom Baldwin from Washington in today’s Times shows how little one section of the population of our closest ally, respects British parliamentary democracy- a shared tradition at that. He tells us how Ron Paul has used the depiction of Britain as a Fascist dictatorship from the early 17th century until the present day in order to attract record funds to finance his campaign. Tom Baldwin tells us:
“Guy Fawkes, a 17th-century English mercenary and terrorist who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament, is an unlikely figurehead for a US Republican presidential candidate.
But Ron Paul is neither a run-of-the-mill Republican nor a typical presidential aspirant.
His supporters announced yesterday that they had smashed Republican fundraising records by hauling in a total of $4.3 million (£2 million) for his campaign from more than 37,000 donors over the previous 24 hours.
And they did it online, through the website ThisNovember5th.com, where Mr Paul’s speeches have been mashed up with clips of the film V for Vendetta, in which a sinister – but ultimately heroic – terrorist modelled on Fawkes destroys a fascist government in Britain. “Remember, remember, the fifth of November” is moved from British nursery rhyme to a campaign slogan in America.”
When dealing with people who not only create their own certainties but also believe unquestioningly what they have dreamt up, those who seek a quiet life hold their tongues and try to laugh it off. In the age of the blog, however, there is always at least one voice who says what has to be said. In Today’s Times it is John Ledbury, of Kings Lynn, England and he gives us a timely reminder of the contemporary relevance for this country. This is Mr. Ledbury’s comment:
Surely Fawkes was seeking to IMPOSE fascist government, or at least Catholic absolutism. The protestant ascendancy led to democracy, catholic absolutism involves laws being imposed from on high by unelected, unrepresentative monarchs (or EU commissioners).
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Saturday, 3 November 2007
Conor Cruise O'Brien at 90
Conor Cruise O’Brien and political integrity.
There are few politicians who manage to maintain absolute integrity but one such has his 90th birthday today. He is an Irishman, Conor Cruise O’Brien. That he was able to keep his independence and objectivity in the passionate turmoil of recent Irish history is a great tribute to the man. To have sought to assert his pacifying humanity at a time when the fashion was murderous idealism reflects his personal courage. His political standpoint was always based on the uncompromising honesty of his intellectual analysis. In his column in today’s Times, Dean Godson, gives a very lucid portrait of this outstanding contemporary.
Please click on the following link:
Conor Cruise O'Brien at 90
In case the link does not work, I will quote Mr Godson’s words to show the absolute rigour of O’Brien’s principles. He had been seconded by the Irish government to help the United Nations at a time when Katanga, a province of the newly independent Congo was trying to secede, with some support from Western counties. Dean Godson tells us:
O'Brien was a vigorous anti-imperialist and sought to uphold the territorial integrity of the new Congo. But such was the big power disquiet that O'Brien was recalled from Africa……… Anti-imperialism proved critical to his emerging revisionism on Northern Ireland when the Troubles broke out in 1969. The “Cruiser” contended that although the Republic went through the rhetorical motions of deploring republican violence, there was also a deep ambivalence about clamping down on it effectively. That owed much to national myths about centuries of British and Protestant oppression. Or, as he observed after the Official IRA bombed the headquarters of the Parachute Regiment in 1972: “Were the seeds of Aldershot sown in an Irish classroom?”
He ceaselessly explored these themes, most notably in States of Ireland (1972), turning the conventional wisdom of the South upside down. It was not the British presence in Northern Ireland that was colonialist; rather, it was the South's aspiration to rule over a million Unionists. So who was the oppressor now?
Above all, O'Brien feared for what might become of the southern state if it were sucked into a tribal adventure to rescue northern nationalists; he discerned the prospect of renewed civil war.
There are few politicians who manage to maintain absolute integrity but one such has his 90th birthday today. He is an Irishman, Conor Cruise O’Brien. That he was able to keep his independence and objectivity in the passionate turmoil of recent Irish history is a great tribute to the man. To have sought to assert his pacifying humanity at a time when the fashion was murderous idealism reflects his personal courage. His political standpoint was always based on the uncompromising honesty of his intellectual analysis. In his column in today’s Times, Dean Godson, gives a very lucid portrait of this outstanding contemporary.
Please click on the following link:
Conor Cruise O'Brien at 90
In case the link does not work, I will quote Mr Godson’s words to show the absolute rigour of O’Brien’s principles. He had been seconded by the Irish government to help the United Nations at a time when Katanga, a province of the newly independent Congo was trying to secede, with some support from Western counties. Dean Godson tells us:
O'Brien was a vigorous anti-imperialist and sought to uphold the territorial integrity of the new Congo. But such was the big power disquiet that O'Brien was recalled from Africa……… Anti-imperialism proved critical to his emerging revisionism on Northern Ireland when the Troubles broke out in 1969. The “Cruiser” contended that although the Republic went through the rhetorical motions of deploring republican violence, there was also a deep ambivalence about clamping down on it effectively. That owed much to national myths about centuries of British and Protestant oppression. Or, as he observed after the Official IRA bombed the headquarters of the Parachute Regiment in 1972: “Were the seeds of Aldershot sown in an Irish classroom?”
He ceaselessly explored these themes, most notably in States of Ireland (1972), turning the conventional wisdom of the South upside down. It was not the British presence in Northern Ireland that was colonialist; rather, it was the South's aspiration to rule over a million Unionists. So who was the oppressor now?
Above all, O'Brien feared for what might become of the southern state if it were sucked into a tribal adventure to rescue northern nationalists; he discerned the prospect of renewed civil war.
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About Me
- David-Barfield
- Notes on the classics of French literature. During my years of teaching, I wrote thousands of pages for my students. Preferring not to discard all these years of work, I am posting them on the Internet as a resource for teachers and students and I am using my blogsite as the portal in order to give access to the individual books. During my university course, I was an Assistant for one year in Arras and my nostalgia for Georges Brassens stems from these happy days- now long gone- when his songs were first being recorded and he was all the rage among the student surveillants. When I opened this Blogsite many years ago, I used David Barfield, my maternal family name, as my Internet alias. My actual name is David Yendley and if any of my past students come across this site, I send them my best wishes. They were great company to be with.
