Why Britain needs a new politics of race too
Four million Americans descend on Washington today, inspired by Barack Obama’s call for progressive change. Many want to see history made: the inauguration of the first black President of the United States. Then President Obama can get on with the real job of being America’s 44th President, to be judged on his economic stimulus, healthcare push and willingness to engage on climate change and Middle East peace.
But Obama can never quite be a politician who just happens to be black. He is a transitional figure in the way we talk about race. Most of the armchair theorising has been proved wrong: was Obama ‘not black enough’ to be credible with African-Americans, or too black to win blue collar votes? Could he identify as black at all when he is also mixed race? The next black Presidential candidate will face less of this nonsense, because America has thought out loud about its confusions over race.
Can we have a ‘British Obama’? Yes, we can.
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“Moral relativism” – who does this remind you of?
In his book ‘The Rise of the Counter-Establishment: The Conservative Ascent to Power’, Sidney Blumenthal recounted how conservatives and neo-conservatives planned and executed their takeover of the Republican Party. It is a good read, though quite a few years old now.
Anyway, this short extract was quite interesting, and I thought I’d publish it here so you could tell me who it reminds you of here. You may want to replace ‘Communism’ with ‘Islamofascism’ or whatever word the nutjobs now use.
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The End of America, end of western democracy?
“This happened in Germany” said Naomi Wolf’s friend as they chatted politics, and from that seed of doubt in an American’s mind, an American proud of their constitution, came the book (and now film)…The End of America. In relation to the US, I believe this is the most important film to be made since an inconvenient truth; at least on the issue of civil liberties and the erosion of the rights and protections of citizens against their state.
The documentary is essentially a filmed lecture that Naomi Wolf gave, but interspersed with interviews and footage of people who have either been in positions of power or have been the victim of that power. The beauty of it is that due to the subject material it needs not be given the “Michael Moore” treatment as the facts are out there for all to see, the remaining debate simply between those that value freedom and those that have fallen to the manipulation of the state. In this lecture it is detailed that there are ten ingredients necessary to turn a state in to one that removes democracy and runs under fascistic rule.
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Top Stories and Blog Review – 19th Jan
Nationwide
Tory chief’s firm cost councils £470m
New bail-out worth billions for banks
Govt stake in RBS to increase, as bank unveils losses
MPs: Police need to control leaks
International
Hamas joins fragile Israeli ceasefire
The ‘narco bling’ of Mexico’s drug gangs
Obama’s green revolution
Saudis deport Chinese labourers
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Jennie Rigg
Andy Worthington looks back at what has happened to Binyam Mohammed on the (hopeful) eve of his release from Guantanemo Bay. I feel sick to my stomach that my government, a government that many people reading this will have voted for, had a hand in this.
Unlock Democracy has a plan on MPs Expenses, but they need you to help, and before Thursday.
Costigan Quist wonders about the end of racism.
Charlie Brooker has some healthy living advice: [b]eating your way through a flank of riot police to smash down a government building with a sledgehammer burns off thousands of calories.
Chicken Yoghurt compares the value of a life to the value of Gordon Brown’s kitchen.
Andrew Hickey discusses equality of opportunity, with a little comment on this site.
Alas, a Blog! talks about the Krispy Kreme Abortion Doughnut.
This week’s Britblog Roundup is up at Is There More To Life Than Shoes.
And if you can spare an hour at any point in the next few days? Watch John Mortimer: a Life in Words and mourn the passing of a genuine liberal last week.
Introducing the Carnival on Modern Liberty
Much as I support the Convention on Modern Liberty, I am very conscious of the fact that there are two dangers inherent to an initiative such as this. The first is that all it leads to is talk and a thousand people sitting in a hall munching on sandwiches. Linked to that is the danger that all it leads to is despair; that the problem seems so big and so intractable that people simply end up withdrawing altogether.
It is crucial that the Convention leads to positive action by as many people as possible (I made some suggestions a couple of weeks ago – I’m sure you can think of others).
Our mission must be nothing less than a paradigm shift in how the general public perceives civil liberties.
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Anti anti war
A few thoughts on yesterday’s Gaza rally at Trafalgar Square (photo link at the end):
Actually, my main thought about yesterday’s rally pertains to the lack of inspired political leadership we have on this, and so many other, issues. I have a great deal of sympathy for the people of Gaza, but absolutely none for the self-appointed champions of their cause at this end. Absorbing their rhetoric is a bit like inhaling cement. I stand at protest after protest and wonder why the far left simply can’t connect with the human race, or learn.
But anyway – this is meant to be a brief report, not a pointless bitch, so let’s have a bit on the day’s speakers:
Lindsey German – a woman I keep thinking I want to admire for her intellect and commitment – graced us with a speech that I interpreted as a bloodthirsty ode to Hamas’ right to pursue its end of the nightmare: “This ceasefire is not a ceasefire in any meaningful sense if the Palestinians don’t have the right to defend themselves… they have to have that right to defend themselves when they are under such attack… self defence is no offence, and that applies to the people of Gaza more than to anyone else in the world today…” etc – further proof (as if we needed it) of the SWP’s genius for missing the point entirely as it sprints to salute extremism. continue reading… »
Poll finds Britons want more left-wing policies
The Sunday Times did not highlight this question in its poll today:
What kind of society would you most like for Britain, on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 represents an economy completely dominated by private companies and 10 represents an economy dominated completely by the state?
Top Stories and Blog Review Sunday January 18th
Nationwide
RIP Tony Hart 
Smith Cracks Down on Immigrants. Again.
Boris calls Gordon Gutless Over Heathrow…
… although He’s In Bother Again.
“Unnecessary” Childbirth Inductions on the Rise.
International
Five Die in Kabul Suicide Bombing.
Obama Begins the Journey to the White House.
Robert Mugabe’s Wife Beats Up Times Photographer.
European Regulators Go After Microsoft. Again.
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by Jennie Rigg
Sexual Intelligence has some tips for the new US surgeon General.
Mark Pack reviews a book about the internet on LDV, with special reference to how politics is affected.
UK Polling Report dissects the latest YouGov poll.
El Presidente Ros Scott made a speech in the Lords on transport the other day, and reproduces it at her blog.
Junkfood Science is a bit annoyed at the government’s Change4Life campaign.
Mr Gladstone is slightly miffed that Mr Darwin‘s bicentennial is recieving rather more attention than his own (there’s a lot of dead bloggers about, these days, isn’t there?).
And, as usual, SepticIsle has more.
I’d coded most of this before I realised someone else had already done the news review part because normally I do it myself on a Sunday, and if not the post is waiting for me in Drafts; today it appears to have posted itself. For your edification then, the original person’s news picks are here. You can now have fun comparing and contrasting
Isn’t it time socialists abandoned Labour?
With the declaration of the government that there will simply be no vote on the proposed third runway at Heathrow, the shaky position of the socialist Left in Labour is thrown into stark relief.
If socialist MPs, councillors and activists can’t influence the policy of Labour, one wonders why we should continue to be part of Labour at all? Our situation very much seems to resemble the song by Stealers Wheel, “Clichés to the left of us, Lib-Dems to the right…”
What are the pros and cons of being a socialist and supporting the Labour Party?
On an electoral basis, the claim that it is the best of a bad selection is on very uncertain ground. Frankly I’d prefer to elect Evan Harris, of the Lib-Dems, over pretty much any member of the Labour Cabinet. I’ll certainly be choosing Caroline Flint Lucas of the Greens over Peter Skinner in the upcoming European elections. Yet this decision not to vote Labour cannot be translated into a rule-of-thumb. It is only in certain areas where I would choose to advocate that.
Top Stories and Blog Review – 18th Jan
Nationwide
Fury over runway lobby links to No 10
Boris used public funds for conference hotel
Insurance aid plan for UK banks
UK Pensions hit by Nortel collapse
International
Israel declares cease-fire; Hamas says it will fight on
Can Hamas still walk tall in Gaza’s streets?
Fresh evidence of Israeli phosphorus use in Gaza
Defiance amid destruction in Gaza
Poll finds faith in Obama, mixed with patience
Top Saudi cleric condones child marriage
Disney CEO 2008 compensation: $51.1M
Five die in Kabul suicide attack
DAILY BLOG REVIEW / by ….
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» Revealed: govt to restrict abortion counselling despite Nadine Dorries vote
» Would raising the tax threshold actually help the poorest?
» To win London, Ken Livingstone has to step outside his comfort zone
» This trade agreement with India will destroy thousands of lives
» UK debt hasn’t hit £1 trillion – mostly because of QE
» The benefits of being a “burden” on society
» Today’s economic figures will simply confirm UK’s “lost decade”
» Have Labour realised the election is more than three years away?
» Violence in the office
» Want a more responsible capitalism? Reform how pensions work
» The world is entering the third phase of the crisis, warns ILO
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