To all new friends and visitors
A number of friends, including johncwright, eliskimo, shezan and notebuyer, have posted links to my last entry, and as a result a number of previously unknown (to me, of course) readers have visited my LJ. I am glad to have raised so much interest, but all the same I feel I have to deliver two warnings.
One. I myself do not identify as a conservative, much less as the American brand. To mention one thing that is very much in the news right now, I am fiercely in favour of what American conservatives call, never without a shudder of disgust, "socialized medicine". I oppose the death penalty except in wartime under martial law; and I favour limitations and public control over the use of guns. I regard big business as a huge, stupid feudal system, remote from the discipline of competition and naturally rapacious, a necessary evil at best. I regard regulation as a necessity for a civilized country. I say this as a warning, just in case some of us who agree with me on the matter of religious freedom and national identity may be disappointed when some of my other views take them by surprise. You are welcome to stay and lurk or friend me, as you please, but you have been warned.
Two. While I am pleased and proud with my country's reaction to unreasonable judicial tyranny and oppressive atheistic fanaticism, the last word is by no means said. There is always a weak sister somewhere, and as in too many cases, the weak sister is in government. It may surprise those of you who only know Mr.Berlusconi from the ugly and careless caricatures spread by the media, but one of his great weaknesses is an abiding need to be liked. From this comes his biggest weakness as a boss (otherwise he is brilliant in his field), a constant unwillingness to sack anyone; from this, too, his unwise dallyings with international villains such as Gheddafi and Putin. He has long shown that Catholic morality is not his forte, either, and I have no doubt that he would not think much of throwing his Catholic allies overboard if he felt it suited him. Already a bad signal has come from government: they are saying that they feel perfectly confident that they can get the sentence overturned by legal means. What they should have said is that the European Court had no right to rule in this area and that their sentence was going to be ignored. Their reaction shows a worrying desire to accept the picture of legality dictated by the court.
One. I myself do not identify as a conservative, much less as the American brand. To mention one thing that is very much in the news right now, I am fiercely in favour of what American conservatives call, never without a shudder of disgust, "socialized medicine". I oppose the death penalty except in wartime under martial law; and I favour limitations and public control over the use of guns. I regard big business as a huge, stupid feudal system, remote from the discipline of competition and naturally rapacious, a necessary evil at best. I regard regulation as a necessity for a civilized country. I say this as a warning, just in case some of us who agree with me on the matter of religious freedom and national identity may be disappointed when some of my other views take them by surprise. You are welcome to stay and lurk or friend me, as you please, but you have been warned.
Two. While I am pleased and proud with my country's reaction to unreasonable judicial tyranny and oppressive atheistic fanaticism, the last word is by no means said. There is always a weak sister somewhere, and as in too many cases, the weak sister is in government. It may surprise those of you who only know Mr.Berlusconi from the ugly and careless caricatures spread by the media, but one of his great weaknesses is an abiding need to be liked. From this comes his biggest weakness as a boss (otherwise he is brilliant in his field), a constant unwillingness to sack anyone; from this, too, his unwise dallyings with international villains such as Gheddafi and Putin. He has long shown that Catholic morality is not his forte, either, and I have no doubt that he would not think much of throwing his Catholic allies overboard if he felt it suited him. Already a bad signal has come from government: they are saying that they feel perfectly confident that they can get the sentence overturned by legal means. What they should have said is that the European Court had no right to rule in this area and that their sentence was going to be ignored. Their reaction shows a worrying desire to accept the picture of legality dictated by the court.