UK Election

Just as debates on the floor of the House of Commons have a real quality of debate and the discussion of ideas, in contrast to the wholly disengaged stump speeches that come out of the U.S. legislature, British campaigns seem to act as a forum for actual issue discussion, and again not just the deaf speeches and soundbytes that result from the (much, much longer) American elections. The Scotsman's article from earlier today expresses this.

The only thing I could find on the Observer's site pertaining to the referenced interview is here.

There's another issue here, though. The British dread becoming what America is:

Mr Blair said that the fears of public service workers over the potential for a US-style litigation culture had made a deep impact on him.

Pet peeve. England sees what we are, why don't we? Is there any way, or even possibility, that we could undo what lawyers and judges and basically liberals overall have done to this country? Some of the most popular daytime shows are "Judge Judy" and "Judge Mathis" and "Judge Selfimportantjerkchannelingdrlaura." I remember a few years ago I played at a junior high school for a music class, and when I told them my age, they didn't believe me. Fine. But half the kids demanded to see my driver's license. Is my word not good enough? Must you have government documentation in order to believe me? This follows the abdication of responsibility, personal or otherwise, that necessarily accompanied LBJ with his disgraceful "Great Society." Yeah, I blame him and the socialism he ushered in. No, I don't capitalize socialism or liberalism.