Wednesday 3 November 2010

By the dawns early light

 I love it when America does its democracy thing. It's uplifting, magnificent and fascinating. I think back to the days of the Founding Fathers, calling `enough is enough`, the original "Tea Party" in Boston Harbour, the struggles that followed, the bloodshed, the forging of allegiences with those who they felt could support them in their quest for independence and freedom from the yoke of the English King. Their Country has indeed spoken.

Meanwhile...back in the old countries...something stirred
I think `Liaison` is a French word. `Irony`, however, is universal.

8 comments:

Conan the Librarian™ said...

Only if you're English Hogday.

All Scots were still French citizens, until that right was revoked by the French government in 1903, so technically my Grandad was a Frog.

Vive la Vieille Alliance!

Old BE said...

Yes, I wish the English could get as worked up about politics as our American cousins can. I can't imagine many Brits shouting

"we want lower taxes on our hot beverages, and we're prepared to fight for them!"

Hogdayafternoon said...

Blimey, Conan, you must have really upset the French for them to cut you off like that. Was it anything to do with your culinary skills by any chance? As someone who also has dual nationality, with more than a little French in one family tree (I have a pic of Grandpa in his Canadian Seaforth Highlander's ceremonial uniform), I try to speak a little of both languages, although judging from my occasional forays into Edinburgh, I don't think I'll ever master `Jocular` ;)

Blue: Yes, alack and alas, we'd rather dunk a witch than a doughnut :-/

CI-Roller Dude said...

We just needed a change...change the light bulbs, change the babies diaper, change our socks, and change all those who are elected to any office.
Our problems here are so out of control...

Anonymous said...

We would all be French if the cheese-eating-surrender-monkeys had shown up in '45 when we Scots all had dysentery at Derby. This would include the Yanks. The world would thus not have beef-burgers,canned laughter or US foreign policy. We might be very civilised, or just have worse-smelling breath and not bathe on days when we have sex. Napoleon would have crushed the Dutch, Prussians and Russkies; this would have prevented the Kaiser and Adolf, but before thinking we'd now all be in food bliss watching clever films, remember history is really about mistakes and farce. Argentina might be the real world power.
Blue is spot on. If Brits of today's quality had been around in 54 and 53BC Julius would have been able to buy the country for a flagon of cider, rather than being turfed out on his ear and not even able to get his lads back on the boat for a second run.

Old BE said...

ACO, I love it.

When people say things like "if we hadn't won the Battle of Britain we would be speaking German now" I always think "if that's the worst thing you can think of then you have a serious issue of perspective".

I would have no problem being French or German or Greek or whatever as long as the fundamentals were right.

Being a Brit these days is no great thing to be proud of. Most of us are lazy, greedy and have an inflated sense of self-value and our individual and national place in the world.

Hogdayafternoon said...

ACO/Blue: If Only we'd had White Lightning cider in 54BC

Anonymous said...

Apparently we paid a civil servant to keep a lookout for Napoleon until 1930. Just shows you how dangerous government cuts can be! It would have been cunning enough to sail the aircraft carrier up the Clyde, but getting us to build it for them was a master-stroke! Moi, je suis francais! Vive De Gualle!

Fear not - I'd still turn out to fight them off - I just hate stale garlic breath.