Iain Duncan Smith at House of Commons

fellowshipfellowship
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative Party Leader) in the UK today spoke a great word to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.



He said Tony Blair after all his heavy burden in the past few weeks has done the right thing for Briton, and the World.



I think it is great to see bold and genuine cross-party support in the UK.



What are your thoughts on this? Has the leadership in the Democratic Party in the US done as such in your view speaking directly to President Bush? I have not seen such.



Your views of cross-party wording and support that says effectively "You did the right thing for the world"







Fellowship

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 18
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    I think it's great. I'm sure our guy would love some about right now.







    Blair, IMO, has acted with more character and integrity than any other politician I can recall in recent memory. Here he is, being hammered in his own country, called everything in the book, spiraling down in the opinion polls, etc.



    Does he waver or go all limp and mush-mouthed about his convictions, or try to weasel out and save his own hide in his country? Nope.



    I've said a bazillion times: a true leader - and someone to admire - is someone who has their convictions, can articulate them AND stand by them when the going gets crappy. Finger-in-the-wind types - of all political persuasions - don't impress me at all.



    Even if I disagree with someone, I can still respect their willingness to stand by their convictions (as long as they're not completely destructive or idiotic, of course).



  • Reply 2 of 18
    fellowshipfellowship Posts: 5,038member
    I truly admire Prime Minister Tony Blair. As you mention pscates Tony Blair has taken tremendous heat at home. He did not cave to politics but rather stood as a profound world leader.



    Great Respect,



    Fellowship
  • Reply 3 of 18
    fellowshipfellowship Posts: 5,038member
    I have noticed that my post has been edited by some mod etc. The name Ian Duncan is not correct.



    I am suprised my thread was edited....



    Fellowship



    This is the link to Iain Duncan Smith:



    Iain Duncan Smith
  • Reply 4 of 18
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    For those who don't know much about British politics, Iain Duncan Smith (known to some as IDS and known as this only to try to gain some media street cred) is perhaps the lamest politician to grace the house of commons as the leader of a party.



    The Conservative party has many, many problems but one thing is a certainty: they will never be elected with "IDS" at the helm. And the Conservatives will never be an effective opposition (that is officially what they are at the moment--Her Majesty's Opposition) party as long as "IDS" remains its leader.



    There have already been a number of attempts to dismantle him and it is only a matter of time before he disappears: But make sure you're watching because, believe me, you won't notice when he's gone.
  • Reply 5 of 18
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    I didn't edit it (powerdoc should be sleeping). I put an extra "I" in there for you.



    Sure you didn't just spell it wrong to begin with?
  • Reply 6 of 18
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    Mysterious title's editing at AI. . Two mods deny their implication in these mysterious affair. Jamie where are you ? (probabily asleep, dreaming of the next fantastic Apple stuff that you know, and you won't tell us ).
  • Reply 7 of 18
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by FellowshipChurch iBook

    As you mention pscates Tony Blair has taken tremendous heat at home. He did not cave to politics but rather stood as a profound world leader.



    Somehow, this looks as if you're saying: he did not fulfill his democratic duty of executing the will of the people, instead, he followed his personal agenda.



    I don't see how this makes him any more of a world leader than, say, Lenin and his buddy Stalin.
  • Reply 8 of 18
    alex londonalex london Posts: 613member
    It is his democratic duty to execute what he sees to be in the best interests of Britain and the wider world, not his party or some abstract notion of the 'will of the people', or even his personal agenda. The people can vote him out at the next democratic election if they wish so your comparison of him to Lenin and Stalin is frankly merde.
  • Reply 9 of 18
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Alex London

    your comparison of him to Lenin and Stalin is frankly merde.



    My thoughts exactly.
  • Reply 10 of 18
    alex londonalex london Posts: 613member
    You what? You equated him with Lenin and Stalin, i said that was crap, you said "my thoughts exactly", huh? Lets have a few Leffe blonds and talk about this.
  • Reply 11 of 18
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Alex London

    You what? You equated him with Lenin and Stalin, i said that was crap, you said "my thoughts exactly", huh? Lets have a few Leffe blonds and talk about this.



    I completely agree with what you said on every point. I admit that I indulged in airing bullcrap. One, myself included, has to realize that democracy is not direct but rather indirect, it is a handing-over of publicly held power rather than an even distribution of that power. It is this point exactly that is an argument against public referenda on myriad issues. The public should not be burdened with decision-making more than it does every two/four/five/whatever years.
  • Reply 12 of 18
    alex londonalex london Posts: 613member
    Ooh, I'm not used to people agreeing with me, perhaps it was my choice of beer, hmmm Leffe blond. Peace and love der Kopf, Alex. P.S I'm off to the corner shop, who wants a gorgeous Belgian beer?
  • Reply 13 of 18
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    der Kopf you have a good point to make. Democracy as we know it does produce freedom but the freedom it produces for us is freedom from politics.



    By electing a representative we ask the representative to take over our political duties so that we don't have to do them ourselves. Equally its theoretical ideal (although Alex London notes that this often doesn't occur in reality) is that the representative is precisely that--a representative--and so is robbed of acting politically for him/herself because he/she has been elected to act for the majority who elected him/her as their representative.
  • Reply 14 of 18
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Alex London

    P.S I'm off to the corner shop, who wants a gorgeous Belgian beer?



    I'd rather just have a gorgeous Belgian!
  • Reply 15 of 18
    der kopfder kopf Posts: 2,275member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Retrograde

    I'd rather just have a gorgeous Belgian!



    Heh, who wouldn't.
  • Reply 16 of 18
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by der Kopf

    Heh, who wouldn't.



  • Reply 17 of 18
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    A gorgeous belgian is not suitable for a married man like me, but a blonde Leffe is welcome. It's one of my favorite beer.
  • Reply 18 of 18
    retrograderetrograde Posts: 503member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Powerdoc

    A gorgeous belgian is not suitable for a married man like me, but a blonde Leffe is welcome. It's one of my favorite beer.



    Uh oh... I'm ashamed to say I'm a married man too... *makes private note to add extra 50 lashings to his regular schedule of lashings*



    Well, I'm usually a Bitter or Ale man myself (with a few liberal doses of Stout) but now that the summer is just around the corner I'm sure I will be getting back into drinking Blondes. I'll keep my eyes open for Leffe...



    Anyone know if Leffe is easily available in Britain?
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