Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Road Of Anger Leads To Nowhere
YES, yes, I’ve got the message. You’re angry.
“Tonight’s lead story on News at Ten is that another MP has been claiming thousands of pounds to get his swimming pool cleaned. And to show how angry you are, we’re going to send our reporter to vox pop you while you’re doing your shopping, just like we did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Yep, you’re still angry.”
They say that grief turns to anger, but what does anger lead to exactly?
Well, in the case of grief turning to anger, after, say, a car accident caused by somebody else’s careless driving, the grieving relatives eventually suppresses their emotions so they can pursue justice through the courts.
The equivalent in the ‘expenses scandal’ should surely be the European Parliamentary elections, which are now just nine days away.
You’re angry with the party you voted for last time, but the other lot aren’t any better, so what are you going to do now?
Ah, there’s always UKIP. A distant memory from five years ago might now sound like an attractive protest vote.
On the surface, it looks like an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. You’ve never liked the European Union much, and the party’s reputation hasn’t been tarnished by this ‘expenses scandal’. Brillaint! Ah, time to think again.
Many of the 12 MEPs elected on the UKIP ticket in 2004 are as bad, if not worse than our spendthrift representatives in Westminster. A few quick examples; Ashley Mote MEP was sentenced to nine months in prison after being convicted of housing benefit fraud. Derek Clark MEP is currently being investigated by OLAF. Tom Wise MEP is due in court the day after the European election results are declared charged with false accounting and money laundering. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage MEP, openly admits to having made £2,000,000 in the last five years through the Brussels gravy train.
There are understandable reasons why the media aren’t exposing this. By making UKIP appear credible, they are helping to prevent a large swell in support for the ghastly BNP.
Mind you, the BNP are pretty easy to disgrace, just look up the criminal convictions of leader Nick Griffin and those near the top of the party.
They even had the nerve to use Sir Winston Churchill as a publicity tool, even though he has rightly gone down in history as the man who crushed a regime that had quite a lot in common with the BNP.
Where does all this leave us, the poor voter? Is there anywhere for us to turn? You have nine days to decide. Answers on a postcard, or at the comments section at the bottom, please.
MARCO Pierre White likes to say, “Never let your emotions affect your decisions.” Wise words from a wise man.
Yet that logic didn’t seem to extend to St James’ Park, where the decision to appoint Alan Shearer as manager as the team languished near the bottom of the league with only a handful of games to go must surely rank among the worst appointments in football management history.
Shearer was a great striker. We know. But that’s all it tells us. Normally in life, people get jobs because they are suitably qualified, or they are taken on as an apprentice and someone more experienced helps teach them the ropes.
With Newcastle United languishing near the bottom of the league, this was no time for taking a chance with a novice. If we bother to take emotion out of the equation, it was always likely to end in tears.
“Tonight’s lead story on News at Ten is that another MP has been claiming thousands of pounds to get his swimming pool cleaned. And to show how angry you are, we’re going to send our reporter to vox pop you while you’re doing your shopping, just like we did yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Yep, you’re still angry.”
They say that grief turns to anger, but what does anger lead to exactly?
Well, in the case of grief turning to anger, after, say, a car accident caused by somebody else’s careless driving, the grieving relatives eventually suppresses their emotions so they can pursue justice through the courts.
The equivalent in the ‘expenses scandal’ should surely be the European Parliamentary elections, which are now just nine days away.
You’re angry with the party you voted for last time, but the other lot aren’t any better, so what are you going to do now?
Ah, there’s always UKIP. A distant memory from five years ago might now sound like an attractive protest vote.
On the surface, it looks like an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. You’ve never liked the European Union much, and the party’s reputation hasn’t been tarnished by this ‘expenses scandal’. Brillaint! Ah, time to think again.
Many of the 12 MEPs elected on the UKIP ticket in 2004 are as bad, if not worse than our spendthrift representatives in Westminster. A few quick examples; Ashley Mote MEP was sentenced to nine months in prison after being convicted of housing benefit fraud. Derek Clark MEP is currently being investigated by OLAF. Tom Wise MEP is due in court the day after the European election results are declared charged with false accounting and money laundering. The party’s leader, Nigel Farage MEP, openly admits to having made £2,000,000 in the last five years through the Brussels gravy train.
There are understandable reasons why the media aren’t exposing this. By making UKIP appear credible, they are helping to prevent a large swell in support for the ghastly BNP.
Mind you, the BNP are pretty easy to disgrace, just look up the criminal convictions of leader Nick Griffin and those near the top of the party.
They even had the nerve to use Sir Winston Churchill as a publicity tool, even though he has rightly gone down in history as the man who crushed a regime that had quite a lot in common with the BNP.
Where does all this leave us, the poor voter? Is there anywhere for us to turn? You have nine days to decide. Answers on a postcard, or at the comments section at the bottom, please.
MARCO Pierre White likes to say, “Never let your emotions affect your decisions.” Wise words from a wise man.
Yet that logic didn’t seem to extend to St James’ Park, where the decision to appoint Alan Shearer as manager as the team languished near the bottom of the league with only a handful of games to go must surely rank among the worst appointments in football management history.
Shearer was a great striker. We know. But that’s all it tells us. Normally in life, people get jobs because they are suitably qualified, or they are taken on as an apprentice and someone more experienced helps teach them the ropes.
With Newcastle United languishing near the bottom of the league, this was no time for taking a chance with a novice. If we bother to take emotion out of the equation, it was always likely to end in tears.
