Politics is usually a yawn for many people .... in democracies just as much as any system ...
..... the majority of of the population rarely change their opinions on who they support, and are actually 'conservative' with a small 'c' in their beliefs. However this can mean that they miss out on some fun and games ...
So today I have put together a collection of small political stories to illustrate that it can be an entertaining subject ...
Bobs Your Uncle
Australia's all Aussie ex prime Minister Bob Hawke died fairly recently .... regarded as a man of the people, I remember him principally for his colourful language (a bit like President Johnson in the USA, he sometimes swore like a trooper), but also for the fact that in 1954, he set a then world record by drinking two and a half pints (1.4 litres aka 'a yard of ale') of beer (lager?) in 11 seconds. He achieved this feat while he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University between 1953 and 1956 ...
There are proposals to place an official blue plaque, dozens of which are dotted around Oxford commemorating achievements of luminaries, should be placed in St Helen’s Passage, a narrow, winding thoroughfare which leads to the Turf Tavern where Hawke’s record is widely believed to have been set ... although he said it was in a nearby dining room.
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| Politics Means Little To Many People .... |
..... the majority of of the population rarely change their opinions on who they support, and are actually 'conservative' with a small 'c' in their beliefs. However this can mean that they miss out on some fun and games ...
So today I have put together a collection of small political stories to illustrate that it can be an entertaining subject ...
Bobs Your Uncle
Australia's all Aussie ex prime Minister Bob Hawke died fairly recently .... regarded as a man of the people, I remember him principally for his colourful language (a bit like President Johnson in the USA, he sometimes swore like a trooper), but also for the fact that in 1954, he set a then world record by drinking two and a half pints (1.4 litres aka 'a yard of ale') of beer (lager?) in 11 seconds. He achieved this feat while he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University between 1953 and 1956 ...
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| Bob 'The Beer' Hawke - Folk Hero Aussie For Many Of His Countrymen ..... |
There are proposals to place an official blue plaque, dozens of which are dotted around Oxford commemorating achievements of luminaries, should be placed in St Helen’s Passage, a narrow, winding thoroughfare which leads to the Turf Tavern where Hawke’s record is widely believed to have been set ... although he said it was in a nearby dining room.
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| Hawkes Beer Named After Him |
He later said that "This feat was to endear me to some of my fellow Australians more than anything else I achieved" ..... not just the Aussies Bob!
Difference Of Political Opinion ...
Callum McPhee was skateboarding through rural Oxfordshire, carrying a dildo, whilst wearing women's clothing and wearing a blue wig ..... as you do. He spotted a real female jogging, and attacked her, trying to strangle her. She struggled, but then played dead, and he let her go ... she then managed to escape by running away, and reported the attack to the police.
Mr McPhee was soon arrested, and informed the police that he had thought the jogger was ex-Prime Minister David Cameron .... however as to why he then felt the need to kill Mr Cameron wasn't disclosed. He was detained and diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and given an indefinite hospital order.
Spankey Spankey
Mexican politicians are very sensitive to the treatment of their flag. When ingénue singer Miley Cyrus was performing in Monterrey Mexico in 2014, she was spanked on the backside with a Mexican flag. She was threatened with a fine or 36 hours in a Mexican prison (of course nothing came of it) ....
..... but in 2008, the singer Paulina Rubio was fined £2,400 after she appeared naked, wrapped in a Mexican flag for the Spanish edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. You would think that in a country that is fast becoming a Narco-state ... the politicians would have better things to worry about.
Who Cares?
Taylor Swift the US pop singer (and apparently, a political analyst), has apparently spoken out politically for the first time. She says events in "the past two years" have meant she's no longer reluctant to share her views. She posted on Instagram that "I always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve." .... is this what democracy has become in the West?
No wonder the Brazilians have actually discussed whether to bother with keeping it! Just for the record, she was publicly endorsing two Democrats for the US 2018 mid-term elections, and presumably Joe Biden in the Presidential Elections.
Who Pays For Politicians Legal Cases?
The male misconduct #MeToo campaigns have caught some strange bedfellows into view, from Harvey Weinstein whose alleged activities started the whole thing, to one of the latest, Alex Salmond former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who had been accused of inappropriate behaviour with two female civil servants. He was found not guilty. But hey ho, so far so, who cares?
However he had the cheek to use crowd funding to get the money to fight his legal case, which seems a bit rich for a politician who has been well paid both in politics, and as a TV presenter for Russian propaganda channel Russia Today (RT). His campaign closed at £100k ($125,572), with a promise that any money left over would go to good causes in Scotland and abroad.
However Labour MP Danielle Rowley wasn't impressed, and said the money should have all have gone to Women's Aid "Instead of donating to a rich and powerful man ..." .... But Ms Rowley might have to also look closer to home at Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, who has happily billed the taxpayer over the claims about his dealings with his ex-personal assistant Elaina Cohen ... perhaps he should have paid for his own legal costs?
Dirty Politics
Dennis Hof of Nevada was chosen as a Republican candidate for a state senate seat. He claimed that his successful candidature was a result of Donald Trump's rise to power. "Its all because Donald Trump was the Christopher Columbus for me. He found the way and I jumped on it." .... what makes him a special candidate is that Mr Hof was a legal pimp. He owned six legalised brothels ... he was set to be favourite in the Republican leaning district.
But what makes him extra special is that he died on October the 16th 2018, before the election day. However his name remained on the ballot as it was less than a month away .. all polling stations carried a notice informing the electorate that he was dead (although it had also been widely broadcast on TV right up to the election day).
But gosh darn it, those electorate love a laugh, and so Mr Hof was duly voted in to office .... by a 68.3 to 31.7 per cent margin. The seat had to be declared vacant. What made me laugh the most about this whole story, was the idea of what his Democratic opponent Lesia Romanov must have thought, after being beaten by a stiff (of a Pimp) .... her career must have gone down hill after that.
Difference Of Political Opinion ...
Callum McPhee was skateboarding through rural Oxfordshire, carrying a dildo, whilst wearing women's clothing and wearing a blue wig ..... as you do. He spotted a real female jogging, and attacked her, trying to strangle her. She struggled, but then played dead, and he let her go ... she then managed to escape by running away, and reported the attack to the police.
Mr McPhee was soon arrested, and informed the police that he had thought the jogger was ex-Prime Minister David Cameron .... however as to why he then felt the need to kill Mr Cameron wasn't disclosed. He was detained and diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, and given an indefinite hospital order.
Spankey Spankey
Mexican politicians are very sensitive to the treatment of their flag. When ingénue singer Miley Cyrus was performing in Monterrey Mexico in 2014, she was spanked on the backside with a Mexican flag. She was threatened with a fine or 36 hours in a Mexican prison (of course nothing came of it) ....
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| Paulina Rubio Paid £2,400 For This Photo .... |
..... but in 2008, the singer Paulina Rubio was fined £2,400 after she appeared naked, wrapped in a Mexican flag for the Spanish edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. You would think that in a country that is fast becoming a Narco-state ... the politicians would have better things to worry about.
Who Cares?
Taylor Swift the US pop singer (and apparently, a political analyst), has apparently spoken out politically for the first time. She says events in "the past two years" have meant she's no longer reluctant to share her views. She posted on Instagram that "I always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve." .... is this what democracy has become in the West?
No wonder the Brazilians have actually discussed whether to bother with keeping it! Just for the record, she was publicly endorsing two Democrats for the US 2018 mid-term elections, and presumably Joe Biden in the Presidential Elections.
Who Pays For Politicians Legal Cases?
The male misconduct #MeToo campaigns have caught some strange bedfellows into view, from Harvey Weinstein whose alleged activities started the whole thing, to one of the latest, Alex Salmond former leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), who had been accused of inappropriate behaviour with two female civil servants. He was found not guilty. But hey ho, so far so, who cares?
However he had the cheek to use crowd funding to get the money to fight his legal case, which seems a bit rich for a politician who has been well paid both in politics, and as a TV presenter for Russian propaganda channel Russia Today (RT). His campaign closed at £100k ($125,572), with a promise that any money left over would go to good causes in Scotland and abroad.
However Labour MP Danielle Rowley wasn't impressed, and said the money should have all have gone to Women's Aid "Instead of donating to a rich and powerful man ..." .... But Ms Rowley might have to also look closer to home at Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, who has happily billed the taxpayer over the claims about his dealings with his ex-personal assistant Elaina Cohen ... perhaps he should have paid for his own legal costs?
Dirty Politics
Dennis Hof of Nevada was chosen as a Republican candidate for a state senate seat. He claimed that his successful candidature was a result of Donald Trump's rise to power. "Its all because Donald Trump was the Christopher Columbus for me. He found the way and I jumped on it." .... what makes him a special candidate is that Mr Hof was a legal pimp. He owned six legalised brothels ... he was set to be favourite in the Republican leaning district.
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| Dennis Hof Had Last Laugh From Beyond The Grave ...... |
But what makes him extra special is that he died on October the 16th 2018, before the election day. However his name remained on the ballot as it was less than a month away .. all polling stations carried a notice informing the electorate that he was dead (although it had also been widely broadcast on TV right up to the election day).
But gosh darn it, those electorate love a laugh, and so Mr Hof was duly voted in to office .... by a 68.3 to 31.7 per cent margin. The seat had to be declared vacant. What made me laugh the most about this whole story, was the idea of what his Democratic opponent Lesia Romanov must have thought, after being beaten by a stiff (of a Pimp) .... her career must have gone down hill after that.
Mr Hof isn't the only dead politician to win an election. In November 2020 another Republican candidate, in North Dakota, businessman and rancher David Andahl won the battle for district 8 district, despite dying one month earlier on October the 5th of Covid-19. He received 35.53 per cent of the votes cast.
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