Alex Massie is Scotland Editor of The Spectator.
Morgan Kelly’s piece in today’s Irish Times is a brutal and alarming analysis of Ireland’s next nightmare: a mass “strategic default” on mortgages. This could, he suggests, change the politics of the state forever: My stating the simple fact that the Government has driven Ireland over the brink of insolvency should not be taken as
Mike Allen brings us this endearing snippet from George W Bush’s new book: “As an Obama win looked increasingly likely, I started to think more about what it would mean for an African American to win the presidency. I got an unexpected glimpse a few days before the election. An African American member of the
I gather this banner was seen at Celtic Park yesterday. Notice how these clowns can’t even spell. I wonder, too, what the club’s chairman, Dr John Reid, thinks of this sort of caper. For the rest of us, it kind of leaves one thinking that if there isn’t a refereeing conspiracy out to get Celtic
What more is there to say? Precious little. So here is Emmylou Harris with one of her great Gram-related songs Together Again, performed here at what must be thought one of the greatest ever Old Grey Whistle Test sessions:
Simon Heffer is very good on grammar, Thomas Carlyle and, most importantly, cricket. And much more besides. But even Mr Heffer is not immune to the unfortunate Laws of Punditry, one of which insists that while writing something in one time zone something will happen in another which rebuts one’s argument all too convincingly. So
Somehow, I don’t think this kind of government assistance is going to be enough to soothe Irish woes: The Government is to distribute some 53 tonnes of free cheese to people in need in the run up to Christmas. Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith announced the EU-funded scheme today following talks with a number of
Behold: the latest stirrings of the ongoing Gary Johnson boomlet. The former governor of New Mexico (1994-2002) will probably announce his Presidential candidacy early next year. Hence this Daily Caller piece and an article in the New Republic. No-one, alas, expects Johnson’s candidacy to fare brilliantly, though theoretically he should be the candidate the Tea
Further to Deroy Murdock’s post on Marco Rubio, here’s his acceptance speech. The guy’s a natural. Sure, the hymn to American exceptionalism is much less true now than it was in the past but that’s not the point and nor is it a problem that the anti-Washington stuff is merely well-expressed boilerplate. The thing is:
Fox and the other networks have consulted the augurs and declared the signs good for the Republican party. Projections – as at 2am – suggest the GOP will pick up around 60 seats in the House of Representatives. That’s roughly in the middle of most of the best pre-election predictions. And it’s a very big
That’s not me subscribing to the Cult of the Presidency, it’s incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner who says: “While our new majority will serve as your voice in the people’s House, we must remember it’s the president who sets the agenda for our government.” I guess all that stuff about respecting
Compare and contrast and be reminded, yet again, that the United Kingdom and the United States play by different rules. During his press conference this afternoon – on which more later – Barack Obama took great care to reiterate his opposition to tax increases for “middle-class” Americans (ie, those earning under $200,000 a year). Increasing
Fairness has become an important theme in contemporary politics and not just because the electorate – especially the Baby Boomers – are fond of complaining that “it’s not fair”. It doesn’t matter much what that something is or where the complaining is being done: fairness, or the perception of fairness is a thread connecting Washington
I’m not sure I understand the Wikileaks controversy. If one of the many definitions of news is (and always has been) that it is something that someone, somewhere does not want you to know then, yes, Julian Assange is a journalist. Perhaps newsman would be a better, more strictly accurate way of putting it. As
2008 was an unusual election: even more than in 2004 there were decent grounds for libertarians and libertarian-minded people to vote for the Dmocratic candidate. Quite a few, including a good number of my friends, did so. Reason catches up with some of them here, asking if they regret* that vote. For the most part:
By which I mean why isn’t he cooped up inside Ed Miliband’s office, working as a strategy-comms chap? Maybe he wouldn’t want the gig but it’s a good thing for us (in both a blogging and an anti-Labour sense) that he’s still a free man. Take this latest bout of good sense, for instance: Our nation
Tuesday is mid-term day and the only thing left is to measure the height of the Republican wave that’s about to swamp Democrats. This is the third “change” election in a row (which itself might be something that should trouble the White House as it looks to 2012) and one that, in the end, can’t
Alas so, even though on the great Toner Cartridge Plot, Dan Drezner gets it right: Al Qaeda failed… again. Seriously, if al Qaeda is ostensibly the New York Yankees of terrorism, the Steinbrenners would have fired the GM and coach years ago. Quite so. International terrorism is hard and these guys are finding it difficult
Courtesy of Ian Martin and Steve Hilton Stewart Pearson from The Thick of It. All too plausible: Monday Lock-in with the Weather Guys, our team of digital analysts plotting cultural climate change. Useful prep for the forthcoming Media Policy Refresh. Aiming to roll this out after Christmas, when everyone’s more receptive to notions of shrinkage, frugality,
Hats off to Tom Harris for pointing out the obvious: comparing the coalition’s canges to housing benefit to Balkan ethnic cleansing or Auschwitz is neither big nor clever. Points too for reminding us that the Labour manifesto this year included this passage: Our goal is to make responsibility the cornerstone of our welfare state. Housing
Step forward a TD, no less! Fine Gael TD Michael Ring said the Irish government should “hand back” the Republic to the Queen during a royal visit next year. The County Mayo representative also suggested that the government should apologise to her for the “mess” they have made of the country. Mr Ring made the