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Choice of words Home Secretary Charles Clarke has announced that there will be no public inquiry into the London bombings of July 7th; instead the Home Office will publish what was described on the BBC 10 o’clock news as a “narrative of events”.
Will this be formally known as the “official story”, I wonder?
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“narrative” is Blairspeak for bullshit. Sorry but this government is beyond parody.
Good comment, Jonathan! Blairspeak for bullshit! And bullshit for brains.
Public enquiry tends to a be a load of tripe equalling nothing. Surely this is a good thing? It would turn into trashing of the good aspects of 7/7 ie the security services.
Would it help place the blame the event where it truly lies?
“This government is beyond parody” is also a great line.
One can only hope that the trial will elicit the truth, after all I don’t remember Guy Fawkes or Lord Haw Haw getting an enquiry, just nicked. That used to be enough in the old days.
However considering the way Zanulab has screwed the criminal justice system… well whales may explode.
I’m with mr. Dodge’s comment. Official versions of the truth are vile concepts. We should have investigations, but not from the public sector.
“Official narratives” are better because they don’t sound honest and don’t have the same airs of authenticity.
There’s a lot I don’t like about Blair, but in deciding to avoid the false appearance of governmental integrity, he is doing the right thing here.
Rather clever really,very postmodern since there is no truth only different narratives they can change to story later.
What did we expect from this virtual government,Campbell and Mandelson were both in the illusion business,Blair the romantic lead out some soap,they got the loony left trots to shave and wear suits,Hey Prescott,a government.
We been watching Westenders.
Ron Brick – virtual government. Who could have put it better?
“The Project” moved forward because fascist fantasists like Alastair Campell and Peter Mandelson in a rather isolated but noisy way, were pushing it. It never had legs. It was running on empty from day one.
This must be the emptiest government Britain has ever endured – which would be a good thing, except they were busy little interferers and did dangerous things.
Verity,
Which brings us to the Blair Legacy,sounds a bit like a Robert Ludlum book I know,but what ,when even the grin like the Cheshire Cat has faded away,will Blair be remembered for.
I was thinking Cows,thousands of dead cow smouldering in what was Englands Green and Pleasnt Land.
Funny how Margaret Thatcher could arouse people’s passions,love her or hate her,but when it comes to Blair,there is no Blair there.
Ron Brick – thousands – make that hundreds of thousands, of cows, every one a life, smouldering in England’s green and pleasant land. Blair presided over it, and it was for no reason other than to destroy British agriculture. Britain had not been slotted in for agriculture so our livestock had to be destroyed. We had been slotted in for service industries. All those lives sacrificed horribly for Tone’s ambition to be Mr Cooperator, later to be elevated to (non-elected, of course) pretend “president” of pretend “Europe”.
Have we ever lived through stranger times?
So, instead of an inquiry (that presumably would publically examine the evidence and come to an open and verifiable conclusion as to what happened) we will be ‘officially told’ what happened.
Sorry, but how does ‘no we won’t have an inquiry, we’ll just tell officially what happened’ equate to anything other than ‘no we won’t have the truth, we’ll just make a statement that ties up all the loose ends and draw a line under it?’
The problem for the government is that although inquiries such as Hutton and Butler produced the required conclusion, they also uncovered facts which were very damaging to the government. That won’t do at all. Better just to tell the serfs what happened. No need for us to worry our litle heads about it. Government will look after us and Tony Bliar is a pretty straight kind of guy. Move along now folks, nothing to see here.
I would guess that a “narrative of events” would be a sanitized chronological detail of the actual day’s events and would thus not have to include any potentially awkward facts about how these dupes are alleged to have been in the process of being tracked by our security services – apologies for this vague link but the Daily Mirror and Reuters articles have all been removed. Certainly all 4 were on the list of the 100 top islamic terrorist suspects in the UK and had even been interviewed by anti-terrorist police, yet were even allowed to even carry out a ‘dry run’ of their terror campaign.
Of course if Mr Clarke says that all this is still sub judice (didn’t think that dead terrorists had a right to legal protection from the public or media) then who are we mere mortals to query him?
Nice conspiracy theory, Verity. But if Mr Care-Blair is out to enslave us to Brussels (I agree the Guardian wd like that), why doesn’t he just give our rebate away? At he moment he’s not, because – who gives away lots of dosh just because someone says “We WANT you to”?
Sorry guys, but I really do blame the tories.
If the country had an opposition with a spine this lot would have been out on their arses at the last election.
Instead the tories have spent the last eight years accepting the Nu Lab evaluation of them and bleating about being sorry.
Sorry for providing the most successful government since Churchill? Sheesh.
Not a set of balls amongst the lot of them.
As Bliar obviously feels so secure that he doesn’t even need another of his pretend public enquiries (instead, the whole class will sit quietly while teacher tells us a story), is there not a case for a very public alternative to be staged? It shouldn’t be beyond the wit of a few heavyweight politicians and media sources to arrange and ensure plenty of exposure.
True, it couldn’t compel witnesses – but it could shine a lot of harsh, white light on anyone who refused to appear… If nothing else, it might make Bliar squirm and the more the public sees of that, the better.
A cynic may conclude there will be no proper investigation as the govern-mint has something to hide.
We may therefore speculate what faults lie with them: sins of omission or commission?
Chris Harper – Agreed.
GCooper – Brilliant. If the murdered people’s families had the balls and aggressive instincts Americans would have in the same position (i.e. an outrage committed on a family member and the government keeping the details a secret), they would find some aggressive barrister. It wouldn’t have to officially be called an enquiry. They could just sue the government for dereliction of duty and get court orders for documents, records and information. A brilliant barrister could be found who would do it not just for the publicity and getting his name and the name of his chambers in the papers every single day, but a cut of the damages.
It’s better to do things privately anyway. This way you know Bliar hasn’t promised knighthoods and life peerages in exchange for destroying information.
This was the worst civilian casualty terrorist attacks in Britain this century and all it gets is a “narrative”
Another race relations exercise,don’t inflame the BNP,a whitewash for the police,just one of those things that happen under ZaNulabor.
Amazing how this disappeared from view so quickly,the only injunction from the Government was “Don’t Panic” “Don’t Panic” and what ever yoiu do ,”No Backlash”
Now we know how the dead cows felt.
You forgot “the vast majority of peaceful Muslims” who are as shocked as we are. In fact, we should sympathise with them that some of their number did this. We should invite the families of the terrorists to memorial ceremonies (if they can spare the time from accepting post mortem medals from the king of Saudia Arabia or Boy Assad).
In fact, I would predict that the “narrative” will be mainly about them and how shocked they were to find there had been self-exploders in their midst. What a tragedy for them! Bliar will naturally want to be inclusive, after all. Does this cheap idiot really believe that people aren’t on to him and despise him?
Verity,
Yes the way ZaNulabor spun this was an object lesson in Blairism,the Prime Magician is stoking up the fires,the fool,there is nothing that inflames people more than injustice.
Blair has added insult to injury.
Indeed he has, Ron Brick. But when is blow-back time for Blair? I find it astounding that he has got away with this pandering dhimmitude for so long. Of course, he is very frightened and he is a coward. But surely at some point, even the passive British are going to call him on it. He’s not even as bold as France’s Sarkov, who shouted at the rioters that they are the “scum of the earth”. And Bliar, supposedly a leader, can’t bring himself to condemn mass murderers of his countrymen.
Anyway, Bliar is not a real leader. He is an actor playing the role. He’s contemptible.
You can’t have it both ways: either the Blair regime is empty, or it is an astonishingly effective engine of evil.
I favour the latter view. It is unflashy competence in political management, constitutional and social revolution that has been the distinguishing feature of this administration.
The spin and superfical salesmanship have successfully confused opponents and friends alike. All that lefty tosh about Blair being a natural Tory, for example, has been stealthily piqued and prompted, as outrage on the left comforts mainstream voters that they are in safe hands. Meanwhile the steady, cumulative, accelerating work of creating an authoritarian corporate state to enforce New Left values has gone on almost unnoticed.
Blair is not an intellectual, I’m sure–though if he were, he would hide such a political disadvantage–but he is a powerful practical strategist and great salesman. This is not a government driven by a great need for rigour or consistency, but it does have goals and values, and is willing to approach them indirectly. It is all the stronger for it.
One should not underestimate one’s enemy. Just because someone doesn’t do what you think you would do in their position, does not mean that they are weak or simpleminded. If you assume they are, you are going to be easy meat.
Guy Herbert – “Meanwhile the steady, cumulative, accelerating work of creating an authoritarian corporate state to enforce New Left values has gone on almost unnoticed.”
You must admit that these have not gone unnoticed on Samizdata, where we talk of little else. And I, GCoopervand others, have said all along that putting Blair about as a secret Tory was a lie to reassure the naive middle classes who’d voted for him. This was willingly compounded by radical left journalists, who pretended outrage while being secretly thrilled that the con had worked so well.
Yes, Blair is a good salesman. Is he a clever strategist, or is someone behind him working out the strategy? I favour the latter. I think chippy Cherie is the strategist, probably with an elite little circle around her, and Bliar’s the front man. Jack Straw is probably in the inner circle. Peter Mandelson for sure before swishing off to Brussels central station to board the gravy train.
the Prime Magician is stoking up the fires
A piece of off topic trivia for you –
The modern word ‘magician’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Magi’, meaning Zoarastrian priest.
One of the duties of these guys was to maintain the sacred flame and, sometimes, stoke the fires.
Ok, back to slagging off Blair.
Verity
“Blair is a good salesman. Is he a clever strategist,” but he is absolutely rubbish at governing.
ZaNulabor is simply an election winning machine,outside of that they do not have a clue.
Ron Brick – I was responding to Guy Herbert’s post, above.
I think Blair and the thugs who surround him have governed extremely effectively. Not well. But effectively. They have thoroughly undermined the nation state, they have turned the law upon the law-abiding and favoured the criminals and perpetrators of violence, they have cowed the British into being aliens in their own country, they have ensured that most children educated in the public sector leave school illiterate, or almost so (makes people that much easier to govern), they have ceded control of our borders and they have created almost a million more public servants whose fortunes are tied to Labour getting re-elected. An entire Gramscian agenda accomplished in under 10 years.
Verity,I know..but they can’t make anything work,the Gramscian concept was for a socialist state..not a banana state..they supposed to be progressives not regressives.
That has always been the problem they only read the first half of the book.
Excellent point, Ron Brick.