So long and thanks for all the fash . . .

[Heid the Ba]

[rant mode]
Our Prime Minister has finally decided to fuck off and make money on the lecture circuit rather than using a variety of grubby and underhand means to feather his own nest. The only good thing you can say about his greed is that his wife is worse. Hopefully he will take his cronies with him, though I expect Broon wil have to chisel them out their sinecures.

This would be a good time to bail out of a loser length post, don't say you weren't warned.

Our problem is that most people will vote for a party regardless of the candidate, so once in it is very difficult to get a PM out.

So for 10 years we have been lied to and patronised by the smug bastard, the only reason he has lasted this long is the economic growth which has been despite him rather than because of him. Gordon Brown has been the architect of that and he is now PM, hopefully he will be able to resist being corrupted by power unlike his predecessor.

A brief overview of his tenure:

He wanted a dedicated plane at his disposal because US presidents get one. A media outcry made him change his mind.

He over-ruled a planning decision by a cabinet minister about developement in Bristol and then it turned out he had bought 2 flats in the area affected shortly before. Of course being Blair he fucked it up and they didn't increase in value.

His wife (who is a successful lawyer) ran her practice from an office in his official residence and charged the Legal Aid Board for this, so a government body paid rent to an individual for an office the government owned. He said it was his wife's business and not his or ours.

He lied about WMD. Then he said he had seen the evidence so we didn't need to. Then he lied about lieing.

He has been catholic in all but name for years (not that anyone cares) but wouldn't formally convert in case it affected his "legacy". He is expected to convert in the next couple of weeks. It came as news to virtually everyone (including me) that we have never had a catholic PM.

If you're still reading this, I won't give you another warning: Go. Now.

He always tacks a meeting with a foreign politician onto a 3 week holiday so he can charge the flights to the government. E.g. 3 weeks in a Tuscan villa loaned to him by a Labour donor, hour long meeting with Berlusconi, = holiday for 6 for 3 weeks for virtually nothing. On the rare occasions he has to pay for flights he pays economy knowing BA will have to upgrade him free for security reasons. Charlie Wingnut does the same.

His friend Peter Mandelson was forced to resign from the cabinet twice due to his conduct, but still given another cabinet post with unseemly haste both times. Plus who in their right mind would appoint a camp, openly gay man to referee the neanderthal morons who pass for politicians in Ulster?

Vanity projects like the Millenium Dome, cost somewhere in the region of £800 million, used for a year and then given away to a company that expects to turn a profit from it.

Trident, oooooooooh can we spend billions an a system we don't need to keep a seat at the Big Table. Apparently we can. See also Iraq.

Afghanistan; not necessarily a bad idea, but obviously he has never read history, or Kipling, or remembers the 1980s.

And another thing . . . [/rant mode]

This is an apolitical rant, it has nothing to do with his party, everything to do with him being a shallow, vain, weak, selfserving arse.

And now a return to your scheduled programme.

(Fash is an old Scots word for worry, with apologies to Douglas Adams.)

[troubleagain]

I wouldn't apologize to DA for your thread title--I think he'd have liked it just fine. 8)

As far as the content of your rant...well, it certainly was educational for me. I'd got the idea from my friends on www.nadsters.com that he wasn't a very popular PM (but still preferred over the previous one?) and your post has given me an even better understanding. Thanks for that.

[Heid the Ba]

His predecessors weren't better and were the last dregs of the Thatcher era.

Blair's problem was he was going to change everything, get rid of cronyism, sleaze, act in the public interest, etc. Then as time passed he became more concerned with being a statesman on the world stage. Trying to prove this by going into a deeply unpopular war in Iraq (it was never popular here) didn't help.

There is little doubt that both individually and collectively we are better off than ten years ago but some things like the NHS are worse.

Charismatic politician with cleverer pushy wife starts well and then screws up, stop me if you've heard it before. :D

[Мастер]

Hmm.

GB == George Bush
GB == Gordon Brown

Coincidence? Maybe...

[Heid the Ba]

Hmm.

GB == George Bush
GB == Gordon Brown

Coincidence? Maybe...

And George Walker Bush is 16 letters long, as is James Gordon Brown.

[Heid the Ba]

I'd got the idea from my friends on www.nadsters.com that he wasn't a very popular PM . . .

I hadn't seen nadsters before, interesting that their rules contain language that would get you banned in a lot of places.

I'll check it out more thoroughly soon.

[Heid the Ba]

I forgot cash for honours.

[Мастер]

I forgot cash for honours.

I saw the adverts in the BA in-flight magazine. I didn't order one though.

[Heid the Ba]

I dunno, Lord KOS of Ohio has a nice ring to it. :D

[troubleagain]

I'd got the idea from my friends on www.nadsters.com that he wasn't a very popular PM . . .

I hadn't seen nadsters before, interesting that their rules contain language that would get you banned in a lot of places.

I'll check it out more thoroughly soon.

They're a fun group. Not much in the way of rules. Mostly, if you're going to flame someone, you have to do it in the appropriate forum. They're another spin-off from the Straight Dope Message Board (thus the name--Non-American Dopers' Society.)

[Enzo]

First Earl of Dungsmear.

[Heid the Ba]

Buy an Earldom and an OBE and you're an Earlobe.

[Мастер]

Buy an Earldom and an OBE and you're an Earlobe.

I'm not always sure how seriously to take some of the comments from Yes, Minister, but they did have several honors along with the civil-service nicknames for them.

CMG -- Call Me God
KCMG -- Kindly Call Me God
GCMG -- God Calls Me God

[Heid the Ba]

And now he wants to head a religious organisation to stop conflicts. Surely it would have been easier not to fucking start them in the first place?

Second post (NSFW)here sums up my views; and no, I don't know what it means.

[Мастер]

So, I saw unread posts, clicked on the thread title, and read:

Our Prime Minister has finally decided to fuck off and make money on the lecture circuit rather than using a variety of grubby and underhand means to feather his own nest.

What? Gordon Brown resigned? But I checked the date before going to the news sites...

[Heid the Ba]

Apologies KOS, I thought it easier to re-use the existing rant.

[Мастер]

Apologies KOS, I thought it easier to re-use the existing rant.

No need to apologize.

I was thinking though, Heid doesn't like this guy any better than the last one :P

[Heid the Ba]

Broon is better simply because he has promised less and can't let us down as badly.

[Arneb]

By the way, what's "fash"? As in "Fascist"? Or "fashion"? Or "fashinating"?

[troubleagain]

I believe "fash" is a colloquialism that means trouble and fuss.

[KLA2]

Pun. "Thanks for all the fish" Hitchhikers Guide ... :wink:

[troubleagain]

'Zactly. :wink: You can never have too many H2G2 references.

[Heid the Ba]

Full marks to both troubleagain and KLA2.

[Arneb]

Just for the record, I did know the Hitchhikers Guide reference - OF COURSE!.
Just the meaning of fash...

Thanks everyone

[/Dumb German lingo-tard mode off]

[KLA2]

Pun. "Thanks for all the fish" Hitchhikers Guide ... :wink:

Sorry for the presumption. Should have known you folks were 'way ahead of me.