Posted by Sigismund on December 31, 2007, at 19:22:50
In reply to fair elections, posted by zeugma on December 31, 2007, at 14:24:12
Shostakovich, one of the main characters in "Europe Central". He does irony well.
Almost finished it.
William (not to be confused with Theodore) Dalrymple has implicitly argued against the inevitability of a clash of civilizations in a couple of books.
His history has been criticised as selective, but his aim is so decent and humane, given the danger staring us in the face.I certainly hope Paddy Ashdown is wrong. Central Asia has suffered quite enough.
Once the then opposition here learned how to cope with wedge politics, the whole thing changed. For example, after the Stern Report, Mr Howard, looking at climate change as just another front in the culture wars, commissioned a report by a nuclear scientist into the viability of nuclear power here. The ALP declined to be wedged, and anyway soon an election was due, by which time the report was an embarrassment. (People had come to understand Mr Howard, which was why the polls were so consistent since April. On his morning walks people dressed up in rabbit suits, hopping around him and asking when the rabbit was coming out of the hat. On one memorable instance, someone offered to teleport him back in time so he could resign and avoid defeat.) It was nice to see Mr Rudd remind him of the Switowski Report in the televised debate.
poster:Sigismund
thread:802915
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20070708/msgs/803487.html