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Post by cato on Aug 14, 2017 19:51:57 GMT
Will Jacob Rees Mogg , the Brexiteer Catholic Tory MP suceed strong and stable Teresa May as prime minister ? He is frightfully English, a real conservative and will annoy all the usual suspects. A wonderful prospect.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 14, 2017 20:24:09 GMT
He seems like an old-style, patrician High Tory, but I think he is more of a Thatcherite. For instance, he supports zero-hour contracts.
I hope he becomes leader, but I think Peter Hitchens has it right; it's impossible to be a Conservative and a conservative at this stage. (At least, in my view.)
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Post by cato on Aug 14, 2017 20:27:15 GMT
He has a huge family and gives his children classical names that will guarantee they will get beaten up in the playground.
He is a wonderful debater and has a great command of the English language . There is a whiff of the 1920s about him.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 14, 2017 20:29:06 GMT
I agree with all that. He's a very good and entertaining debater. He also seems very cultured, even quoting P.G. Wodehouse in a fillibuster.
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Post by MourningIreland on Aug 14, 2017 20:47:56 GMT
He seems as much a wildcard as Trump. As regards the zero-hour contracts, if he is a true euro-sceptic and anti-globalist, this particular viewpoint will have to evolve to reflect the realities faced by most Western workers in today's globalised workplace. If he is attempting to stand up in some shape or form to the public sector union stranglehold - i.e. the quasi-Marxist two-tier system whereby a small portion of elite workers have ironclad job protection + benefits, whereas the vast majority in the private sector do not - he has my full support.
There are prophecies that predict England's return to the Catholic faith toward the last days. I have always been sceptical about them, but can see here that perhaps a real-life version of Lord Brideshead Flyte as PM could be the catalyst for it.
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Post by cato on Aug 14, 2017 21:12:27 GMT
At least stylistically and character wise I can't think of anyone less Trump like! But it would be a bit of a political earthquake . I am not sure I would like any of the Brideshead Revisited characters as PM. Waugh may have fawned over aristocrats but was in doubt as to their very human flaws.
I do like the idea of England returning to the faith. Perhaps they would send us a second St Patrick.
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Post by MourningIreland on Aug 14, 2017 21:24:47 GMT
At least stylistically and character wise I can't think of anyone less Trump like! But it would be a bit of a political earthquake . I am not sure I would like any of the Brideshead Revisited characters as PM. Waugh may have fawned over aristocrats but was in doubt as to their very human flaws. I do like the idea of England returning to the faith. Perhaps they would send us a second St Patrick. It depends on how you define "character." Trump is attempting to restore America to its Judeo-Christian roots. Presumably Rees Mogg (who according to Wikipedia was married [albeit to a Protestant] in a Tridentine Mass) seeks to do the same in the UK. Whether Rees Mogg has Trump's uncompromising courage remains to be seen. Interestingly, Trump just nominated Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative Catholic and mother of seven who clerked for Justice Scalia, to the 7th Circuit (Federal Court of Appeals). With respect to human flaws - even the greatest of leaders has had them. |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 14, 2017 21:32:24 GMT
I must admit....Trump is my favourite political leader, of any country, in my entire lifetime. I trust him and I believe in him. I was too young to really know what Gorbachev was doing. I've never been so invested in a politician. Maybe I'm naive or gullible, but there you go.
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Post by MourningIreland on Aug 14, 2017 21:32:49 GMT
He has a huge family and gives his children classical names that will guarantee they will get beaten up in the playground. He is a wonderful debater and has a great command of the English language . There is a whiff of the 1920s about him. This sounds a lot like the late Bill Buckley (who is being discussed on another thread) who although an Irish-American, always struck me as appearing to identify as an English Catholic. |
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Post by MourningIreland on Aug 14, 2017 21:37:41 GMT
I must admit....Trump is my favourite political leader, of any country, in my entire lifetime. I trust him and I believe in him. I was too young to really know what Gorbachev was doing. I've never been so invested in a politician. Maybe I'm naive or gullible, but there you go. I love him too, and so do many, many very good people who are neither naive nor gullible. He is a non-politician who through talent, sheer tenacity, and God's hand has ascended improbably to the highest office in the world. Despite his enormous wealth, we see ourselves reflected in him. |
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 14, 2017 21:48:21 GMT
Truth is, I hardly knew who he was well into the primaries. All I knew was that even my American conservative friends on Facebook were saying: "Never Trump. This guy is a buffoon. Etc. etc." And I assumed they were right. The first person I heard come out as pro-Trump was Milo Yiannapoulous. And I am a big Milo fan, but I was still wary. I thought: "Well, Milo is just anti-PC, and that's fine, but you can't elect a President just to bash PC."
But the more I saw of Trump, the more I liked him. I realize "my enemy's enemy is not my friend", but it was unmistakeable that Trump was attracting the hatred of everything I'd hated since I'd began to think for myself; the globalist, post-national, politically correct left on one hand, and the free market neoconservative right on the other. But it was more than that. The sheer hysteria of the opposition to him made me think, here is someone who is not simply part of the game. I liked everything he said. And I still do, pretty much. I still can't believe he managed to beat the odds against him and the fact that he is President fills me with hope.
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Post by cato on Aug 14, 2017 22:11:32 GMT
Gentlemen President Trump may yet do great things. I can predict with absolute confidence that he is not nor shall ever be the greatest Tory leader ever.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 14, 2017 22:19:20 GMT
I don't know if I could really nominate anyone as greatest Tory leader ever. I think an Irish nationalist must necessarily have conflicting feelings when it comes to the Tories. Not to mention a Catholic, since they were the party of the established religion.
I'd like to see Rees-Mogg become leader, certainly, but I don't really see how he could save the Conservative Party from its social liberalism at this stage. I have sometimes taken an interest in the Cornerstone Group, the socially conservative and more religious strand within the Tories-- they have been called The Taliban Tendency. They don't seem to be very influential, though.
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Post by kj on Aug 15, 2017 9:40:31 GMT
I always had a soft spot for John Major. I loved the way he used a humble soap box in his 1992 campaign, and defied all the odds to beat Labour, and their insufferable "Well, awright!" triumphalist Kinnock.
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Post by Maolsheachlann on Aug 15, 2017 10:57:16 GMT
I've come a long way-- I was 14 back then, and I went to bed triumphant Labour had won (as it seemed), and woke up heartbroken that the Tories had bounced back!
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