Liz Truss and her ridiculous mini-budget were a disaster. I can't imagine what she was thinking, introducing some retro trickle-down fantasy at a time when food prices are skyrocketing by more than 10 percent and fuel is unaffordable for many. Still, I feel a little bad for her. There was a steady drumbeat of doubt about her from the beginning, and now she's become the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. It's like being the first contestant to leave the Bake-Off tent -- no matter how much of a disaster they may have been, you can't help but feel a little sorry for that person.
(She was still in office longer than the shortest-serving U.S. president -- William Henry Harrison died only 31 days after being inaugurated in 1841. At least then there was a vice president to neatly step into his shoes. Plus, he didn't face the ignominy of resignation.)
The big question now is, who's next? Apparently it could well be Boris Johnson, who is no doubt sitting back in some big club chair with a smug grin and thinking, "I don't look so bad NOW, do I?!" And there's still Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, and I'm just not excited about any of them. Of course they're all Tories so I tend to agree with Keir Starmer that we should have a snap election and perhaps put another party in power.
Alas, no one listens to me. But some things are going right around here:
I've suspended my scary Halloween bat over my desk in the library, much to the amusement of the kids who look for it every year. (It's actually been up for two weeks or so, about a third of Liz Truss's tenure in office.)
I also had a crazy episode with the laundry where I took our sheets to be washed. I threw a pair of Dave's pants (trousers, that is) into the bag as well, but when the sheets came back the pants weren't with them. Instead we got a towel that definitely wasn't ours.
Well, I took the towel back to the laundromat yesterday, thinking I would never see Dave's pants again, but lo and behold the laundry staff had them. Apparently the owner of the towel had turned them in. So I swapped the towel for the pants and voila! A happy ending.
If only swapping out a prime minister were that easy.
(Top photo: Me at an underpass near the Baker Street tube station, about a week ago.)
It is a mess..one wonders if Mistrust was set up to fail....
ReplyDeleteDreading Mr "Hasta la Vista" returning. He shouldn't be able to stand while under investigation.
Probably won't be a general election, it's bad enough already...can you imagine another 6 weeks without anyone at the helm??!!
Love the bat❤️
That's not an underpass, it's a Wonderpass according to the reflection! i guess it's like entering a rabbit hole that leads to a world of wonder in which there is no starvation or war and the prime minister is David Attenborough.
ReplyDeleteWonderpass! Charming.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t found any sympathy for Truss given my distaste for her politics. But, it is astounding the mess in the UK and the US. I agree enough of the Torys putting their worst foot forward (and Johnson is still breathing!!!). Time for an actual election.
I love that bat. And I can’t believe you got the pants back! (Although I imagine you called them trousers when you went back?)
I don't feel sorry for Truss in any way. She wouldn't for us. Psychopaths don't. I could only feel sympathy for her family.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel sorry for Truss at all. She damaged her own country hopefully not to the point of no return. If England must have a conservative government let it have a conservative don't rock the boat Prime Minister before Starmer is elected. I don't like the bloke but I think Sunak might be an acceptable bloke to lead the party.
ReplyDeleteI for one am elated that the world's focus is on another country these past few weeks other than my own.
ReplyDeleteYou refrained from making any lettuce jokes! By
ReplyDeletePolitics are always a pain in the ass up to and after the election ... I can only hope the Democrats come out in force and run the GQP out of any and all offices! Oh, they will still be there, they just won't be in the majority!
ReplyDeleteIt is a scary election this time ... almost worse then Thing 45's attempt to overthrow our democracy!
It is certainly a mess. I feel bad that the Queen had to spend a few of her last precious hours talking to Truss. What a waste of her remaining breath!
ReplyDeleteTruss is the towel you got when you were looking for a trouser?
ReplyDeleteHow embarrassing to be the shortest serving Prime Minister in UK history. Or maybe she was sick of the bullshit and decided it wasn't worth it. That would be me, which explains why I'm not in politics, because apparently my lack of experience shouldn't really hold me back.
ReplyDeleteI read up about William Henry Harrison. They think he died of typhoid, yuck. Shit in the water.
I was feeling a bit sorry for Liz myself. She will certainly become a meme someday soon (if she hasn't already). I see "what a Truss-up" on the horizon. The whole thing was big news over here. I think the news people wanted to talk about something other than you know who and bless them, it was a bit of relief for one day.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a snap election and putting another party in power. Sounds good to me.
ReplyDeleteLove that big bat. And great news that you got Dave's pants back.
Someone has said that Liz was put forward as prime minister knowing she would fail - they called it the glass cliff because apparently it's a thing in corporate land to put a woman in charge when things are going to hell in a handbasket so then they can get rid of her & put a man there to "fix" it.
ReplyDeleteAnd Bob's comment wins the internet today. Ha!
I can't believe that people vote for these clowns.
ReplyDeleteOur early voting starts Monday. I got 18 political emails from Democrats and their organizations yesterday mostly asking for money (I assume as I didn't look at any of them). This is a very scary election and I have stopped reading anything to do with it as the polls and pundits and news keep giving it over to republicans.
ReplyDeleteAs for Liz, how much damage can possibly be done in just 6 weeks? I do rather like the Bug's take.
I had not realized that Johnson could be brought back in to fill the position. That is...well...I'm stupified. It raises the spector of our own horrible 45 as president yet again.
ReplyDeleteI love your bat. You are a fun librarian.
I'm also glad that Dave got his pants back!
I did not realize that Boris Johnson could be voted in once again. That is horrifying. Rather like the spector of 45's return to office being raised again and again.
ReplyDeleteFor the first time, I saw a political ad that Josh Shapiro put out, full of some of Qanon's craziest, craziest stuff. It then showed Mastriano espousing them and even accepting an award for his work with them. Yes. That is what needs to be done. The crazy bullshit needs to be dragged right out in the open where its ridiculousness can be plainly seen.
People can call that 'dividing the people'. I will refer to it as 'calling a spade a spade'.
Oh, Ellen. Hugs, sister. Hugs.
Your bat is wonderful and I'm glad Dave has pants.
What a mess indeed! The alternatives don't sound palatable at all but for stability's sake someone has to take over. I'm very concerned about our elections here and don't hold out a lot of hope for sanity. Many aren't looking around at the rest of the world (same issues) and/or would happily give up their rights for a little bit cheaper gas. It seems like this country tends to be short-sighted with a limited attention span, no interest or understanding of the global picture and too much self-centered arrogance. It's going to cost us dearly this time.
ReplyDeleteMethinks it's time for a snap election, the Tories have had their chance, and bringing Bojo back would likely be a disaster as well. Love your bat!
ReplyDeleteLove the bat! We're voting today. We're in a red county, so I'm not sure what it will accomplish, but vote we will.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Boris get behind Truss with all of his weight, which is substantial...And didn't he know that she would be disastrous making him an "I told you So" - and, then, like a clown hero, steps up to the plate!Clever shenanigans!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mini US history lesson. I'd forgotten WHH's term was THAT short! Isn't he the one who developed pneumonia following the inauguration?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE your bat!!
GZ: It does seem that way, especially if Boris returns -- like the whole thing was engineered from the beginning. But that's probably giving them too much credit.
ReplyDeleteYP: Yes, I saw the "Wonderpass" and even went through it, but I can attest that it only transports us from one side of Marylebone Road to the other.
Mitchell: Actually, I call them pants. Everyone knows what I mean and my accent gives me away as an American!
Tasker: You're probably right.
Andrew: Well, I don't think we've been damaged to the point of no return, but who knows?
Ed: Ha! Yeah, that spotlight is harsh.
Boud: Only because I forgot about the lettuce! HOW COULD I FORGET ABOUT THE LETTUCE?!
Marcia: I hope we don't have these stormy seas around EVERY election. No one could stand it.
Ms Moon: I thought the same thing! And thank goodness she's not alive to watch this train wreck.
Bob: Ha! Exactly! Let's swap her out for the real thing.
Pixie: She was vowing to fight right up until she quit. I do think in a way she was driven out by people who didn't want her in the first place. Apparently with WHH typhoid is a possibility, but I've also heard just plain ol' pneumonia.
Sharon: "What a Truss-up"! LOL!
Robin: I sometimes feel like we'll never have another normal election. It's just chaos every time.
Bug: Well, the incredibly short term does seem suspicious, doesn't it? There were people saying she was unqualified from the very beginning.
Red: Trump is the prime example! How does he still have ANY support?!
Ellen: It is scary, and it looks like it will lean Republican, which isn't unusual for a mid-term. Still, I can't imagine why anyone would vote for a Republican in this day and age.
Debby: The scary thing is, I think a lot of people really BELIEVE that crazy stuff. And I can see why, because some of it has roots in reality. Bankers and business people really ARE a powerful cabal and they DO look out for their own, to the exclusion of the welfare of the common man. But why do voters think the Democrats are in league with that cabal? People like Elizabeth Warren have been campaigning against the excesses of the "elites" for years! And Trump is the very essence of an elite businessman.
Margaret: I must say I am completely mystified about why anyone would support some of these scary characters, like Blake Masters and Kari Lake.
Jim: I don't think we can go backwards. We have to move on to someone new. I hope Tory leadership thinks that's true as well.
Allison: Well, your vote still counts! I vote no matter what people around me might be doing.
Linda Sue: To be honest I don't remember who Boris supported, but I don't doubt that there may have been an element of engineering to all this. It seems too ham-handed otherwise.
Kelly: Yep, that's him! Apparently he wouldn't wear a hat or coat during his two-hour (!) inauguration speech.
If only we could swap out disastrous U.S.leaders as easily.
ReplyDeleteGood news about the pants and I love the bat! I heard today Rishi Sunak is a done deal now. Well, at least he's not Boris.
ReplyDelete