BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 08:25 PM

I would say that Barack Obama did an admirable job in a position of power, given the circumstances - and I do not believe he was corrupted in the process.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: robomatic
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 08:20 PM

To me politics is not necessarily corrupt but for someone such as Thatcher to obtain political control over you lot took some sort of skill, so politics I think has been accurately described as "The art of the possible."

One of my favorite reads is the Lives of Plutarch, which contains stories/bios fully as wild as anything we have seen in our lifetimes.

This stuff isn't all happening for the first time, just the first time with nukes.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Greg F.
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 08:13 PM

Had the Minors[sic] won the UK would have ceased to be a democracy.

Say what? What about the Majors?

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Stanron
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 08:06 PM

Steve Shaw wrote: Thatcher hated the unions

A convenient rallying call but not a truth. The Minor's Union declared the intent of bringing down the Government. As a response to that the Government had a duty to it's electorate to defeat the Minor's Union. Any other response would have been a dereliction of duty. It's true that Thatcher had played the long game. She had seen the damage that the Unions had done to Ted Heath's government and postponed the conflict until she had stockpiled sufficient coal reserves. The minors could have stepped back from the brink but they did not. Had the Minors won the UK would have ceased to be a democracy. Would you prefer that?

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 06:53 PM

You are absolutely in denial, Iains. Thatcher hated the unions and set out to bust the industries in which they were strong. As plain as the nose on your face. Once that was done and dusted she set out to deregulate the City and the banks in order to give them total free rein. Compliant capitalists were far better for Tory Britain than manufacturing industries with those pesky union leaders. She was the biggest vandal ever to be let loose on this country, even worse than Beeching, rot him. What a shame that New Labour rode the same wave. For ten years with them it was meretriciously hunkydory (though don't ask the poor, who saw the wealth gap ever widening). Then look what happened. Rampant, unregulated Toryism wrecked the planet. Thanks for that legacy, Maggie. I for one was happy to see you go to join the choir invisible. I didn't dance in the street but I definitely raised a glass.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: akenaton
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 06:04 PM

I agree with your last post Iains, but trying to explain politics on this forum is bashing your head against a brick wall.

This place is all about social non issues. I never voted for Mrs Thatcher but she was a brilliant PM for this capitalist system, that is what these people don't understand, they vote consistently for "reformist capitalism" yet don't seem to grasp the fact that it is a profit based system which to survive demands ruthless efficiency, which in Mrs Thacher's case involved the winding up of most of the UK's manufacturing and heavy industry.

The only way to avoid it would have been to adopt a socialist system with Tax rises and lower wages for everyone especially the middle class.....I suppose all the ex-teachers, medical consultants and college graduates on here would be rushing to vote for that....bloody hypocrites.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Senoufou
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 04:35 PM

Ha! That should say Yahya Jammeh!

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Senoufou
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 04:33 PM

I would say that to rise high in politics one is probably already slightly corrupt. Once in power, it must be practically impossible to resist the goodies one has access to.
African republics are a good example. Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire and at the moment Yahyah Jammeh of Gambia have milked their countries for all they're worth while in office and in both cases refused to leave when voted out. Their families have been housed in flagrant luxury abroad in Europe. Corrupt hardly begins to describe it. I don't believe there's a single African leader who is pure as the driven snow.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: robomatic
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 03:18 PM

To quote my old boss's boss:

"Power corrupts, but it absolutely rocks."

Doonesbury Strip from the 70s, about Mao-tse Tung (MauzAyDong?)

"Speaking of vegetables, how is the chairman?"

"There is chaos in heaven, and his pulse is normal."

That second line became a byword for questioning normalcy for a few years.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 01:26 PM

"To blame Thatcher for the demise of uk coal mining is a bit of a gross simplification."
Not really Iains
There's enough documented evidence to believe that The Miners Strike was deliberately engineered by her and McGregor to break the Unions - read 'The Enemy Within (The secret war against the Miners) or The Miners' Strike by Geoffrey Goodman.
Miners strike aside, the destruction of British industry by the Thatcher regime has left Britain totally dependent on foreign goods and jobs
I was there and saw things happening on a daily basis and, being from the North of England, know exactly the effects and who was efected
My family is still feeling the results of those balmy days!
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Iains
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 01:07 PM

Jim,employment in the coal industry declined from 1 million in 1908 to 6,000 today. To blame Thatcher for the demise of uk coal mining is a bit of a gross simplification. Cheaper sources of energy were coming to the fore, as were cheaper imports. Coal mining is also the most dangerous industry, apart from the long term health risks such as silicosis. Some would also argue the unions were attempting to usurp the role of government and no government will tolerate that. To say Thatcher could have done more to help mining communities is a fair criticism but to say she killed the mining industry is simply not true..

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Mr Red
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 12:14 PM

Why people think a tory would be insensitive and bullying is beyond me.

excuse me, I was highlighting the insensitivity of one Prime Ministress to the point of sacking one of her chosen for honest enquiry.
Extrapolating that to a cohort of politicians is not in the OP. But Trumpy has far more form so it is up to the reader to decide on a case by case basis. How many cases can you spot?

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 11:33 AM

"I'm sure the likes of Carol and Mark Thatcher didn't suddenly start giving a shit"
Her going seems to have left MARK THATCHER'S arse well covered.
I don't usually celebrate the demise of an individual, but I'm willing to stretch a point this time
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Stu
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 10:36 AM

May's trousers cost £995. Why people think a tory would be insensitive and bullying is beyond me.


""but a person had died and presumably her family was very sad"

What sauce for the goose; although I didn't buy it because I don't like celebrating the death of a person. I can fully understand why others did. I'm sure the likes of Carol and Mark Thatcher didn't suddenly start giving a shit about what us proles think just because she'd popped them.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 10:04 AM

" but a person had died and presumably her family was very sad,"
Wonder if they were as sad as all those miners whose livelihoods she destroyed (not to mention the many thousands of people she laeft unemployed and left homeless when she dismantled British Industry.
This piece of work was a sl=elf declared fascist when she described the mass-murder of Chilean youth as her kind of democracy.
She needs to be remembered for what she was - I bet Trump reveres her memory.
Don't care how old the joke is - it is very funny
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Senoufou
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 09:35 AM

They were showing the top ten banned-by-the-BBC records on TV last night and the tenth one was 'Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead'. I could see the point at the lack of 'grief' by large sections of the population at Mrs Thatcher's demise, but a person had died and presumably her family was very sad, so in my view it was right not to play the record, in spite of it heading up the charts.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: G-Force
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 09:30 AM

Actually a very old joke. We told it at school in the early 60's, long before Thatcher, in a sick and non-PC form which I wouldn't repeat now.

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 06:41 AM

That's bloody funny is that one, Jim. Never heard it before! 😂

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 06:28 AM

Spitting Image sketch Jim.

Dave H

Subject: RE: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 06:04 AM

Like the old story of Thatcher dining out with her Cabinet
She orders steak and when asked, "and the vegetables?" by the waiter taking the order, she replies, "They'll have the same"
Jim Carroll

Subject: BS: Power corrupts, absolutely !
From: Mr Red
Date: 11 Dec 16 - 05:09 AM

Beware USA. Theresa May does not present as a bully. Whereas Trumpy....

Just heard a story on BBC R4:
An aide had remarked to our new Prime Ministress "I can't believe how much your trousers cost"
the reply came swift "Your job". And she is now one duly sacked aide.

The price of the PM's trousers was the subject of speculation recently.

Hold on tight folks, Brexit is going to be one hell of a roller coaster!