The Trial of Saddam Hussein Abdul Haq Al-Ani, Clarity Press, Atlanta, GA., 2008 Abdul-Haq Al-Ani’s troubling manifesto on behalf of the murdered Iraqi leader exposes bloody doings of empire from a lucid political-juridical perspective. ‘Imperialism is a universal historical phenomenon, but it remains, nevertheless, evil’, he writes (p. 23). ‘I use the term European [imperialism] … Read more
[…] I knew just enough about the role of the state in domestic politics to see the importance of their experiences. In what passes for the theory of liberal democratic states like ours, there is no such political role – the state is neutral. There are interests in society aligned to parties, which fight elections […]
Contents The Return of the Public Dan Hind London and New York: Verso, £14.99 Death of the Liberal Class Chris Hedges New York: Nation Books, £14.99 Tom Easton Lobster contributor Dan Hind has produced a mind-stretching plea to no longer leave politics to the experts – the practitioners and the gatekeepers who control access […]
‘God Helps the Bad when they outnumber the Good‘ (Mexican proverb) Business brought me to Mexico City on the day Luis Donaldo Colosio, Presidential candidate for the PRI (Partido Revoluncionario Internacional), was assassinated in Tijuana. The TV coverage of the event was every bit as obscure and unhelpful as the TV reporting after the JFK … Read more
[…] with the Soviet Union and protectionist measures against US trade: it would damage the long-term US projects to contain the USSR and make the world safe for liberal capitalism. The Americans offered West Germany the latest and best high-tech weaponry. This did not include nuclear arms but it did extend to nuclear-capable missile systems […]
[…] points the finger at either Captain Hall (Naval Intelligence…. yet another nautical connection) or one G. H. Mair, a leader writer for the Manchester Guardian, the great Liberal newspaper. Casement’s appeal was heard – and dismissed – by the same judge who dealt with the Pemberton-Billing/Allen trial, Mr Justice Darling, an ex-Conservative MP. Other […]
It is impossible to make an omlette without breaking eggs. — James Anderton on anti-terrorism My anger in this case stemmed from the denial that things had gone wrong, that no eggs were broken even though the omlette was there to see. — John Stalker David Murphy, The Stalker Affair and the Press, Unwin Hyman, … Read more
[…] policies failed to chime with younger party members as they had with Thomson’s older post-war and early Cold War generation. Lord Thomson finished his life as a Liberal Democrat and, apart from several business interests, had a spell chairing the Independent Broadcasting Authority. Lord Holme of Cheltenham, who chaired the successor Broadcasting Standards Commission […]
[…] of some of the clashes and policy disputes which historians of the period will find useful; and there is the striking comment: ‘Margaret Thatcher never believed in liberal economics – it is a complete misreading of her beliefs to depict her as a nineteenth-century liberal….. emotionally she was an authoritarian and protectionist.’ (p. 183) […]
