Jeb Bush: Let’s put Margaret ‘Milk Snatcher’ Thatcher on US $10 bill

Margaret Thatcher on US $10 bill by Al Jazeera

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush suggested on Wednesday that British prime minister Margaret Thatcher should be put on the American $10 bill.

Talking in a televised debate for Republican candidates vying to run for the White House, Bush was quizzed on his preference on which woman should feature on American money, and used the opportunity to praise the Milk Snatcher.

“I would go with Ronald Reagan’s partner, Margaret Thatcher,” he said, referencing the close relationship between the British prime minister and the American president of the same era, both revered in Republican circles.

“Probably illegal, but what the heck?” he added, explaining Thatcher probably wouldn’t pass because she is not American.

“A strong leader is what we need in the White House, and she certainly was a strong leader that restored the United Kingdom into greatness.”

Shortly after this suggestion a subsidiary of Al Jazeera, a Qatari-backed media group, threw together a mock-up of what the Milk Snatcher bill might look like:

Under plans from the US Treasury a woman will be added to an American bill for the first time in 2020 to celebrate 100 years since women were given the vote in the States through an amendment to the country’s constitution.

Candidates other than Thatcher for the bill included the wife of candidate Mike Huckabee, the mother of candidate Ben Carson and Ivanka Trump, daughter of the Donald.

In entirely unrelated news Bush also admitted during the presidential debate that he had smoked marijuana 40 years ago.

Image Credit – Margaret Thatcher on US $10 bill by Al Jazeera

First Corbyn vs Cameron PMQs clash bemuses hacks as leaders behave respectfully

PMQs September 16 2015 via BBC Parliament

The first prime minister’s questions (PMQs) since the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader was the most anticipated political event since the North Islington MP surged past his leadership rivals in the polls.

Yet in the event Corbyn’s strategy of crowdsourcing questions from his supporters was fielded respectfully (and perhaps even gratefully) by prime minister David Cameron, who calmly knocked each one back to a largely silent Commons.

For some this is PMQs as it should be, minus the usual jeering and braying from the Commons that arouses such distaste from the members of the public regularly canvassed by journalists.

For others the steady plodding of questions on topics such as housing and welfare made the session more like a phone-in show:

And some were not happy with Corbyn’s lack of response to Cameron, who was left largely free to answer the questions without challenge from the leader of the opposition, whose main role is to, well, “oppose” the government.

Perhaps most importantly for the public relations war surrounding PMQs, Cameron was not prompted to the sneery anger that many observers believe shows him at his least sympathetic, evoking the fictional school bully Flashman from Victorian novel Tom Brown’s School Days.

Whether the good will, which was later spoiled by jeers from both Labour MPs and the Scottish National Party (SNP), will last beyond the first few weeks remains to be seen.

And whether any of it really matters that much at all is another question yet to be answered.

Image Credit – PMQs September 16 2015 via BBC Parliament

Corbyn rightly dismisses national anthem furore and sandwichgate as ‘tittle tattle’

Fleet Street splashes 16 September 2015, via Nick Sutton

Furore over Jeremy Corbyn not singing the god-bothering monarchist national anthem at a memorial service has been dismissed by the Labour leader as “tittle tattle” as allegations he stole sandwiches intended for war veterans also turned out to be bollocks.

The North Islington MP faced a wave of criticism from Fleet Street on Wednesday for not singing God Save the Queen at a remembrance service for soldiers that fought in the Battle of Britain during the Second World War.

Much of Fleet Street splashed on the non-story about the atheist republican, who presumably refused to sign the anthem out of principle, whilst their Scottish brethren had their minds on other matters.

Writing on Facebook the North Islington MP criticised the media for entertaining trivia, asking what it is that “scares” the press about debating “real issues”.

Corbyn was backed up in his non-singing by Labour campaigner and Royal Air Force veteran Harry Leslie Smith, who tweeted:

Graham Smith, chief executive of the lobby Republic, also weighed in:

“A national anthem should be about the country, not the queen and god. For republicans, atheists and anyone with good taste God Save the Queen is an awful song set to a funereal dirge. I’m as patriotic as any supporter of the monarchy, I would love it if my country’s anthem wasn’t offensive to my principles.  I have no doubt that’s also Jeremy’s Corbyn’s view.”

Corbyn also defended himself to Sky News early on Wednesday, though did not say whether he would or would not be singing national anthems at future events:

“I am going to be at many events and I will take part fully in those events. I don’t see a problem about this. I was there and I will show my respect in the proper way at all future events. The proper way is to take a full part in it and I will take a full part.”

In another attempted smear rightwing blog Guido Fawkes reported allegations that Corbyn stole some sandwiches intended for war veterans after the Battle of Britain event, thought it has since emerged he was given them by Costa.

The Labour leader is due to make his first appearance at prime minister’s questions since winning the leadership election on Wednesday, where his performance will be closely scrutinised.

Image Credit – Fleet Street splashes 16 September 2015, via Nick Sutton

BBC cameraman ‘in hospital’ after scuffle outside Jeremy Corbyn’s doorstep

Jeremy Corbyn at People's Assembly Demo, June 2014 by David Holt

A cameraman from the BBC apparently went to hospital on Tuesday night with neck and face injuries after an incident outside the front door of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s house.

Writing on Twitter, Channel 4’s political correspondent Michael Crick reported an alleged assault on journalist James Webb who was doorstepping Corbyn, adding that a Corbyn aide was believed to be behind the attack.

Though the details of the incident are still unconfirmed, footage has emerged in which a camera pointed towards Corbyn’s door falls to the ground, with the Belfast Telegraph video claiming a “taxi driver pushed past a cameraman”, knocking the camera to the ground.

In the clip a man, presumably Webb, can seemingly be heard complaining: “You’ve smashed me camera!” And later on somebody says: “That was his taxi driver, wasn’t it? Everyday we’ve had trouble down here.”

However Jim Pickard of the Financial Times reported that Labour attributed the incident to the “government’s car service”.  

Crick has claimed there has been a number of incidents like this, and such events are unlikely to help the impression that some Corbynites are a little militant in their approach to politics.

Update: A Department for Transport spokesman has told the Spectator: “We are investigating media reports of an incident yesterday involving a Government Car Service vehicle. We are looking at whether the driver was involved and the extent and nature of that involvement.”

Update 2: Previous Labour prime minister Gordon Brown’s spin doctor Charlie Whelan has some alternative advice on how to deal with pesky cameramen:

Update 3: A spokesman from the BBC had this to say on the matter:

“The BBC can confirm there was an incident involving a BBC cameraman while filming Jeremy Corbyn leaving his home yesterday. He sustained some injuries for which he’s received treatment. The BBC has spoken to the Labour party, who has confirmed the incident involved a government driver, not a Labour party member of staff.”

More details to follow. Image Credit – Jeremy Corbyn at People’s Assembly Demo, June 2014 by David Holt

Matt Damon isn’t allowed an opinion on diversity because he’s a white man

Matt Damon in Berlin, February 2007 by Thore Siebrands

The term “mansplaining” is among the latest and most innovative tools in the feminist handbag to stifle debate and shut down those that disagree with them.

In the heads of social justice warriors it is a way of discrediting an opponent on the basis of their maleness, with the perpetrator believing – to quote Urban Dictionary – “that of course he is right, because he is the man in this conversation.”

In more logically-oriented circles this is known as ad hominem, a fallacy in which you attempt to discredit a piece of reasoning by addressing your attacks “to the man”. As another Urban Dictionary entry has it, “mansplaining” can therefore be defined as “telling a woman that she’s wrong, even when she actually is.”

It’s with that in mind we turn to Jezebel, a feminist blog which published a piece on Tuesday titled “Matt Damon Interrupts Successful Black Woman Filmmaker to Explain Diversity to Her”.

To set the scene, white man and occasional actor and filmmaker Damon was starring in Project Greenlight, an HBO series which offers first-time filmmakers a start in the movie industry. During a discussion with Effie Brown, a black female producer of Dear White People among other things, Damon disagreed with an opinion of hers:

Those who want further context can see an extended clip here. But to quote Jezebel’s summary of the situation:

“During a discussion about one of the films, Brown helpfully points out that she’s worried that the only black person in the entire movie is a prostitute who is slapped by her white pimp. All she’s saying is that perhaps this roomful of white people should be cognizant of who they hire to direct a character like that – AKA hire some people of color so they can treat the role with some dignity and prevent it from descending into a racist trope.”

The racist implication that a white person could not direct a black character “with some dignity” is one of the problems with the Brown’s statement. But far more ugly is the vitriol directed at Damon for even having an opinion on this matter whilst being a white man:

“Luckily, Matt Damon is there to swoop in with this Smart White Man cape and interrupts Brown in order to explain diversity to her and this room full of white people. He argues that actually, the less diverse directing teams brought up the same issue about the prostitute character that Effie is raising.”

The fact that Damon did worry about the character devolving into a racist trope, which social implications aside should be considered as a matter of good character development, is not enough for the feminazis, who these days are happy to slur the “pale, stale male” in terms that could get you arrested if directed at another demographic.

And such bigotry is not even confined to the feminist fringes these days. Libby Hill, a TV reporter for the LA Times, claimed that Damon was trying to “silence” Brown, as if dissenting from somebody’s viewpoint was the same as stopping them speaking.

Indeed the only people trying to silence anyone in this debate are social justice wankers trying to suppress every view they don’t like, branding the airing of such opinions “problematic” and liable to make people think other than the guardians of public morality would like.

Moreover the only people trying to discriminate on the basis of sex or race are social justice wankers, who want to block whites or men from certain positions solely on the basis of their race or sex. From geek girl blog the Mary Sue:

“Since every season of the show has had a different focus, I vote that Project Greenlight 5 be open exclusively to women and people of color. Because Project Greenlight is about access, and it’s about time that it puts its money where its mouth is and stops giving access to the same [white privileged male] people over and over.”

Image Credit – Matt Damon in Berlin, February 2007 by Thore Siebrands