Mad as a box of frogs

In a way I have a sneaking admiration for leftist progressive idiots like Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. It's the way they manage to talk such drivel in such a sincere way added to the fact that they appear to believe the tripe they utter as well. I mean, it can't be easy staying faithful to a political ideology which has been proven again and again to fail - but they still do it.

Anyway, today she is muttering about the US of A for some reason - not entirely sure why as she doesn't actually make any real points as such - just uses her column inches to aim a few wayward barbs at our most reliable ally.

Question the United States and you are slammed for "anti-Americanism". There are no equivalent sneers for those who, for example, criticise Russia or India.

Well, I can't remember the last time someone from the Indy likened the Indian PM to a Hitleresque monkey nor do I recall that many articles which claimed that Russian belligerence was "all about oil" - but I do know that many people on the right side of politics "question" the USA all the time. It's just that we do it without referring to them as warmongering imperialist Nazis.

Alibhai-Brown then rants on about how our two nations are just so different - moaning about the fact that it's unlikely that we will see a British version of Barack Obama for some time. Thank heaven for small mercies says I. But it's the next bit that bothers me.

On the other hand, we Britons would never cheer on, to teetering heights, a Sarah Palin. One reason is ingrained sexism – why the deputy leader of the Labour Party, Harriet Harman, is never given the respect she deserves. But also because British voters do not fall for the folksy and homely.

You what? Who says there is "ingrained sexism" in Britain? Only someone with ingrained victimhood obsession could make such a remark about the nation that elected a female PM at the same time as we had a female head of state. We were doing female leaders while the rest of Europe was still getting over the dictator thing. Only someone who is an ingrained sexist could determine that Britain has sexism ingrained into it.

And as for Harman - she is given the respect she deserves - i.e. none. The fact she isn't liked by either Conservative or Labour voters has nothing to do with her sex, but everything to do with the fact that she in an over-privileged, over-promoted, sexist, reactionary snob. The reason Thatcher was liked by both Conservative AND Labour voters was that she could be "folksy and homely". You got the impression that she could not only run a country, but she'd lay on a nice tea and bake a mean cake should you pop around one afternoon. The only thing you'd get from Harman is a mean look and told to get your own tea 'cos she's far too busy and important to deal with the prols.

The final straw for me comes with this .....

[I]n Italy and Spain, many Britons feel less alien, despite the barriers of language ..... we have made common cause with EU nations on many key issues – abortion, gay rights, human rights, the place of religion in politics, international relations, climate change, and creationism.

Garbage of the highest order. Apart from the obvious fact that crude, blatant racism is still rife in much of Europe (particularly Italy) - and if Yasmin were a footballer playing for Everton against Inter or a Roma gypsy she'd understand that. But what she actually means is that OUR political elite have made common cause with other EU nations political elite - often against the wishes of the people of those nations who, as is demonstrated in places such as Austria, are becoming sufficiently disillusioned with their political masters that they are turning to extremist parties.

Those so called "key issues" are not even issues for most people. What matters for most of us is that there is bread on the table, money in the pocket and they can go about their lawful business free from threat and harassment either from criminals or the state -something which is increasingly not the case.