Word has just reached me of an authoritive survey that tells us the following:
9 out of 10 political journalists, opinion former and sundry souls can read opinion poll figures.
1 out of 10 political journalists, opinion formers are Labour supporters who can read opninion polls but don’t think they matter that much.
Here’s a question for you all.
Which Newish Prime Ministers:
a) Had their Chancellors resign because they agreed with Government spending plans, saying “My reason can be shortly stated . . . The government itself must, in my view, accept the same measure of financial discipline as it seeks to impose on others”.?
b) Had the folowing said about them after a year in office. “It has been increasingly obvious this week that senior ministers and their advisers are becoming genuinely worried that the XXXXX party is in danger of achieving a damaging identification with economic slump and unemployment, just as it did in the 1930s.”
c) Had to ration bread and ban foriegn holidays?
Therere’s a clue – they’re regarded as successful Prime Ministers. You’d hate to know what the bad ones did.
I wonder what would the assorted seers and visionaries of today would say about events like this. Much the same sort of overheated, puffed up nonsense that serves as analysis today, I suspect.
Don’t get me wrong, I love commentary. I love the debate of ideas and clash of opinion, but when it commentary becomes merely the precise calculation of the direction and velocity of the herd, it becomes destructive not informative. Don’t tell me how many nabobs dislike someone. I couldn’t care less. Tell me what they propose instead, why they think so, andwhether their ideas have any weight.
1 Comment
April 15, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Yes well , when you`ve sobered up Hopi perhaps you might join the grown -ups . Or not , up to you