Penultimania
The final day of canvassing has arrived. And of course, that is cause to celebrate. All media outlets seem to be happy discussing the fact that the last day is here, and it's more of a news event than anything the politicians will actually do today.
So effectively, we have reached the end of the road. The papers are beginning to cast their endorsements, and none of them are a surprise. The Guardian is still sickeningly pro-Labour, despite the fact that for the past four years there has not been a day that has gone by without their editorial column criticising Labour for being too authoritarian, too illiberal or not progressive enough.
I wonder how much they were paid to be the mouthpiece of Blair for this campaign. It has been a remarkable, almost Damascene, conversion from their editorial staff. They've been commissioning op-eds from Polly Toynbee and David Aaronovitch left, right and centre to drum home the message that a vote for anyone other than Labour will be enough to let the Tories in. Yet, as A Big Stick and a Small Carrot has pointed out, what of Labour voters who voted Lib Dem tactically last time to keep a Tory out? If they vote Labour now, they could let a Tory in by the back door...
Just another quirk of our system, I guess, but no one seems to have taken Tony to task on this one. I digress.
I certainly will never be buying the Guardian again. You just know that as soon as the campaign is over, they will be back to gnashing their teeth about ID cards, civil liberties, education league tables, and even the war in Iraq will continue to fill their minds. So while the Guardian will be moaning about bloggers and their lack of impact this election (that article can only be a matter of days away; shame you can't copyright ideas or I could claim they stole mine when it arrives), I will be ensuring that they no longer get my readership. It's the Independent all the way for me.
Labour's party election broadcast last night has given me a sinking feeling, however. All the polls look the same; all the pundits are predicting little change. I fear we're going to sleepwalk into another landslide, and all the interest that I've developed in great clutch of individual exciting contests in the marginals could actually be a big disappointment. I've set my expectations too high, and I know I'm going to be very pissed off as the results come in over Thursday night.
But this is politics. We can't give up. Here's to 2009/2010.
posted by Eddie @ 9:01 am
6 Comments:
I agree with you entirely, and also vow never to buy a Guardian again.
I thought you could copyright ideas? Doesn't it have something to do with intellectual property?
You can't copyright an idea by itself. The idea must be put to use before intellectual property rights apply.
For example, my idea for the greatest film ever involving an exploding toaster that destroys the fabric of the space-time continuum and through which the Earth is slowly sucked in but only one man save the day... does not have copyright.
However, if I put that idea into a film script, then it does have copyright.
In this case, my idea for an article is not copyright until I write it. And even then, other people can pinch the idea and make their own version as long as they don't plagiarise mine.
Even if the Guardian have come out for Labour, does that reduce the validity of their criticisms of Labour policy? It's a best-of-a-bad-bunch thing, and whilst I may not (I haven't made my mind up yet) agree entirely with the Guardian's stance, supporting the Labour Party as a whole does not equate to condoning each and every policy decision or action of its leadership.
To be fair, I only read it online, and I've heard inklings it will be shifting to a more paid-for online format soon anyway! I read what I can get my hands on.
What I don't understand is that the Guardian has been so hostile to Labour on almost every policy possible. How can they now come out and support something that they are so hostile on? It's not as if ID cards and the destruction of our liberal democracy are little things - they are fundamental to our very existence. And yet by returning Labour, they will be further eroded, and once trial by jury and freedom of speech have gone, they ain't coming back.
The problem is that the things I disagree with of Labour's policy far outweigh the good things they've done. They've had an unprecedented chance for major change over the past eight years, and I feel they have squandered it. I will have no qualms about voting Lib Dem tomorrow.
Those Guardian hacks have a lot of explaining to do alright!
"Here's to 2009/2010."
I've been reading about turning up the pressure for PR as soon as the election is over. Make my vote count will be pushing it on. Something to channel our energies into when the dust settles perhaps?
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