The leader of the Liberal Democrats, who has surged up the popularity charts in recent days after his supposedly slick performance in the recent TV political debates opposite David Cameron and Gordon Brown, made a remark – which I caught on the TV summaries this morning – that proves that behind all the supposedly “nice”, decent image he wants to present, that he is a man incapable of handling serious disagreement with the conventional wisdom. In his attack on Cameron’s decision to ally Tory MEPs with a certain grouping of right-of-centre European political parties, Clegg damned this grouping for being full of anti-semites and, wait for it, “climate change deniers”. So, let me get this right, as far as Clegg is concerned, someone who is unconvinced, or at least not fully convinced, of the AGW theory, is on a par with someone who hates Jews and wishes them ill. Riiiight.
There are two notable things about Clegg’s remark: that he made it and thought this would play with the audience, and that Cameron, trying still to be so much the “I am above all this grubby stuff” schtick, did not kneecap this insufferable toad for so doing. But then again, as David Cameron has bought into the AGW theory wholesale, he did not have it within him to call out Clegg for such a remark.
As has been noted already, this is a prime example of when political parties embrace the same, suffocating meta-context (as Samizdata’s own editorial El Supremo, Perry, would put it). It means that interesting, even deadly, debating points don’t enter the heads of those who could profit from actually using them. And yet I am sure that many Britons, who are not totally convinced of AGW, would have applauded Cameron had he had the sense to hammer Clegg for his oafish remark.
“Ideological hegemony”.
From memory. Clegg said that the Conservatives in the European Parliament were allied with nutters, anti-semites, climate change deniers and homophobes. Green Dave can’t attack him on climate change, because he’s bought the store. The first thing he did when he became Tory leader was fly to the Arctic circle and pose with some huskies on a sledge, which somehow proves that global warming both exists and is man made.
If you don’t want to see the economy destroyed by the carbon scam, the three “main parties” offer you the square root of jack shit.
To be fair to Clegg he is an expert on anti-semites
It seems reasonable to assume Mr. Clegg would like to win over some fence-sitting voters, or perhaps even some to the right of Tony Blair. He apparently believes these voters can be won over by vacuous slander.
Mr. Obama also seems to think this method will win voters in the U.S.
In what a strange world we find ourselves.
“Is it getting warmer? – Not really”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8afLpD_aHo
“would have applauded Cameron had he had the sense to hammer Clegg for his oafish remark.”
And that’s yet another reason why they won’t have Farage or Lucas in these debates…Lucas would have made another remark about flying and stabbing and Farage would skewered the lot of them.
I suppose if they can do it then we can all join in this game. Many skeptics of the market, supporters of active government social and economic intervention in the 1930s also didn’t like Jews, apparently. Perhaps they are Distributed Well-being Deniers.
Carnivore Deniers.
Parental Rights Deniers.
Religion Deniers.
Camera-Free Streets Deniers.
School-choice Deniers.