Will anyone be watching the Dear Leader's speech to the Inner Party ...

[non sociopath skin]

... on the telescreen this afternoon?

I'm trying to will myself not to, but it's like sucking a hollow tooth ...

The Skin

[mr blur]

1. Only in the hope that

I get to see the Men In White Coats come to take him away.

I would have said Men In Red Coats, but I don't think there are any left.

[Lancer]

2. It's hard work to watch those,

but not as bad as *'s press conferences. They're the video equivalent of root canal.

Yesterday's was so full of idiot pauses and uh uh uh uh uh's and mispronounciations I'm convinced Mr. Beer and Ms. Zoloft have taken over.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Only if I can hide all the heavy objects that could break the screen

because I'm sure I'll have to throw something at it if I watch.

For all that people here slag off the Lib Dems, you have to admit that Charlie is a human being, while Blair is a blood-sucking arms dealer who seems to have stepped out of the 'V' TV series. Do you think he'll use the speech to announce that he's halting the investigation into the BAE bribery case, and selling loads more weapons to the Saudi monarchy instead?

[moggie]

4. Alternatively

"... and that is why, comrades, I am stepping down with immediate effect and presenting myself at The Hague".

Chatshow a human being? Yes, he has that luxury now. People used to say the same about Bush (many still do, of course), and even Blair. I'm more interested in what he stands for, which currently appears to be bending over for the tories.

[Briar]

5. I heard enough

when The World At One interviewed the party faithful queuing to get into their Dear Leader's gig and they chorused that he should stay on to the end of this term.

The thought of these ditto heads bobbing up and down in standing ovation after standing ovation has put me off even going near the tv this afternoon (or evening).

I just wanted to hear one person say he should have resigned before the election because of all we have discovered about the campaign of lies, falsehoods and spin to concoct the case for war in Iraq. Just one. But I didn't.

[Michael_UK]

6. I'm watching it now

There seems to be a few long pauses where applause was expected, and a few red-meat phrases. A lot about choice and reform

[Greeby]

7. Labour's new motto

War is Peace
Freedom Is Slavery
Ignorance Is Strength

:hide:

[mr blur]

10. Or even: "Forward Into The 1980s!" (nt)

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

8. No - but another forum flagged up this rather troubling bit

The system itself is the problem. We are trying to fight 21st century crime - ASB, drug-dealing, binge-drinking, organised crime - with 19th century methods, as if we still lived in the time of Dickens.

The whole of our system starts from the proposition that its duty is to protect the innocent from being wrongly convicted.

Don't misunderstand me. That must be the duty of any criminal justice system.

But surely our primary duty should be to allow law-abiding people to live in safety.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4287370.stm

Having read that I don't think I can stomach the rest of dear leaders ramblings.

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Charles Clarke: "they hate us for our freedom"

Yes, it seems unbelievable that he's still flogging that dead horse, but that was what he said in his speech this morning:

The harsh fact is that those who committed these atrocities believe that it is our democracy itself, our belief in a free economy and a free media, our respect for the place of women through society, our respect for those of all faiths and none, our celebration of a culture of many origins and many parts, our desire for the rule of law which make our society their target.

It is not some particular government policy decision, or even some overall policy stance, which we could change and somehow remove our society from their firing line.

Theirs is a nihilism which means that we would only cease to be their target if we were to renounce all those values of freedom and liberty which this Party and so many more have fought to extend over decades.

Labour Party website (look for Clarke's speech - they've put square brackets in the URL, so I can't link directly to it)

Other lowlights from his speech:

First, the professionalism and courage of the police and of the other public services is beyond praise.

Apart, of course, from killing an innocent man and trying to cover it up.

But as I assert the need to retain and strengthen our human rights and the values which underlie them I say also that the right to be protected from the death and destruction caused by indiscriminate terrorism is at least as important as the right of the terrorist to be protected from torture and ill-treatment.

I believe that the British people expect from us not only the protection of individual rights but also the protection of democratic values such as safety and security under the law.

Read that again. He's not saying that imprisonment without trial, or changing the assumption of innocence, might be a price we have to pay - he's saying torture and ill-treatment is an acceptable price.

[non sociopath skin]

11. How about the bit where the Conquistador of Basra said ...

... that politics, not terrorism, was the answer.

Well, when you're a WASP Conservative with lotsa guns 'n' bombs 'n' planes, I guess terror MIGHT Be OK ....

The Skin

[fedsron2us]

12. Blair's speech

Bold strokes..... blah, blah... reform of public services.... blah, blah ... Take on wrongdoers ... blah, blah .... global terrorism ....blah, blah ..... replete with opportunities .... blah, blah

God he makes me sick.

I would like to take his bloody Ipod and stick it where the sun never shines.

By the way did anyone think that his snide remark about- "the malaise of France or the angst of Germany" - was totally inappropriate for the Prime Minister of a country that holds the current presidency of the EU. When rising debt and high energy costs eventually causes the British economy to go down the crapper I expect our continental neighbours to laugh like drains.

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. Completely inappropriate - playing to the Europhobe voters

I can see that taking the piss out of other UK political parties is fair game for a politician, but to gratuitously slag off countries that are meant to be your partners? Slimey.

[Taxloss]

14. Good news about those pig-iron targets on the ninth three-year plan

and the chocolate ration being raised from 1.5gk to 1kg.

Seriously, though, I was even more disappointed than I expected to be. I don't know what I was hoping for, really. Brown was better yesterday. Even talking about renewal, Blair sounded tired and worn.

I thought it very pleasing that he was utterly overshadowed by Tony Benn and the Conservatives. That must have irked him no end. Although clearly I wish Benn had been able to do it in better circumstances.