David Knopfler Blog

Somewhat political observations

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Well they would wouldn't they?

Alistair Darling stands accused of flipping four second homes and using tax payers money to finance the operation. The Liberal Democrats have called on the Chancellor to be sacked over his expenses, saying "his moral authority has vanished." Mr Darling said the allegations were "untrue" and according to the BBC, Lord Mandelson called them "cheap jibes." Would that be unelected Trade Secretary Lord Mandelson, who used tax payers money to help tart up a house no longer needed for official duties in Hartlepool, presumably so he could up his personal margin of profit? I assume he called them "cheap jibes" from his new two and a half million pound house in Regents Park... which, according to the Mail, was partially paid for with funds of which he has yet to reveal the source. Brought in to shore up Brown's ratings, his own personal liability has no doubt contributed to the further ten point drop that has accompanied the stench of the gibbering corpse of the jaw dropping attempted resurrection.

Where is that other Mandy, when you need her? and which part of "totally" and "discredited" is it that self-serving Peter Mandelson, (not Foreign Secretary), doesn't get?

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Dear Mr President - Habeas Corpus

“It’s a messy situation. It’s not easy,” Obama told C- SPAN in an interview. “We’ve got a lot of people there who we should have tried early, but we didn’t. In some cases, evidence against them has been compromised. They may be dangerous, in which case we can’t release them, so finding how to deal with that I think is going to be one of our biggest problems.”

The problem Mr President, is that you know perfectly well, you don't lock people up for crimes you think they may commit, you can legally only lock them up for crimes a court of law has proven beyond a reasonable doubt they did commit... You can remand people up to a point... but eight years???!!!! No one is proposing to go kidnap you and keep you locked up indefinately, in case, like your predecessor, you decide to illegally kill people by invading their country without a fig leaf of legal justification. That would be a crime. Seems to me you need to stick to plan A ... close GITMO and then allow due process to take care of the rest. Charge them all - if you must - but if there isn't suficient evidence to convict - then you will let them go when a court of law finds the case against them unproven... whatever the outcry from Fox News and the defeated former CEO of Halliburton. It worked perfectly well for hundreds of years and terrorism is as old as humanity. The problem you have of course, is that 90 of your Senators appear to have misplaced their spines and will require you to re-insert them... forcibly from the rear if necessary.