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The Tory Press And The Loony Left

 

Warning - political rant - inspired in part by Chris Co's poem, Right Thinking - just my view of course!

 

I don’t think much of the Conservative press,

I think they are responsible, more or less

For indoctrinating normal working folk

Into wearing their tallest and saddest joke

That voting Tory is the way to go,

When workers’ foe is Cameron and co.

They continue to berate the loony left

Yet it feels there has been a left party theft.

 

So called New Labour is just right of centre,

Thatcherist policies just a bit gentler,

But no big cuts to the public sector jobs,

That was down to the Tory scissor-knobs,

Who picked on the poor and the disabled too

Just to give even more to the privileged few.

Austerity just heads on a downward spiral,

Borrowed more benefits so lost that trial.

Workers voting Tory – now that's preposterous!

Turkeys would not vote for an early Christmas!!

 

Now as the recession hits a double dip,

I think it is time the Lib-Dems jump ship.

Many voted for them while feeling bereft

As there was no party left on the left!

The only real options – what a dynasty!

We need a change; can we call it Honesty!

◄ Forgotten Hero

Lullaby of the River ►

Comments

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Hugh

Sat 14th Jul 2012 23:32

This cleverly written political poem certainly inspired a lot of discussion well done.

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Lynn Dye

Mon 14th May 2012 23:20

Chris, thank you for your comments, I am giving your suggestions some thought.

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Chris Co

Mon 14th May 2012 17:11

Hi Lynn,

I like the gusto of your poem and I'd certainly agree with you on the call for the lib-dems to leave the government.

Political views aside (though I dare say we agree on quite a bit) very flattering to hear my offering had such an effect.

I can see that your poem is based in metre and on that note I had a little go at trying to round a few edges off for you; to try and help the sonic lines. Have a little look and see what you think.

Keep or leave any offerings as you see fit.

---------

I don’t think much of the Conservative press,
I think they are responsible, more or less
For indoctrinating normal working folk
Into wearing the tallest and saddest joke
that voting Tory is the way to go,
When workers’ foe is Cameron and co.
They continually berate the loony left
Forging decade old lies bygone and bereft.


So called New Labour is just right of centre,
Thatcherist policies just a bit gentler,
But no big cuts to the public sector jobs
that was down to the Tory scissored-knobs,
Who picked on the poor and the disabled too
For they need to give more to the privileged few.
Austerity just heads on a downward spiral,
Contracting lives while poverty goes viral.
Workers voting Tory – now that's preposterous!
Turkeys want no stuffing even at Christmas!!



Now as the recession hits a double dip,
I think it is time the Lib-Dems jumped ship.
A centrist pledge never seemed like a theft
but there was no party left on the left!
The only real options – what a dynasty!
We need a change; can we call it Honesty!

My Best

Chris

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Harry O'Neill

Sun 13th May 2012 22:17

M.C.About the ending of your last comment:

It made me go back into the bewilderments of demography and the pension problems of aging populations. Including (would you believe it?)China.

The forecast (pension saving?) increase in Britain`s population appears to be mainly due to immigrants, as apparently -they say- we are not reproducing ourselves sufficiently.

Maybe we (and maybe even China!) will have to rely heavily on the people from those lands which are `unproductive` if only to finance our pension needs in the future.

Demography is scary...I hope there is some hidden self-regulating feature in it all...but
it`s got me scared! (and why should I be the only one to have my sunday spoiled?)

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Lynn Dye

Sun 13th May 2012 21:52

Harry, thanks for your comments. It is a complex world out there and I agree with some of your comments.

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Lynn Dye

Sun 13th May 2012 21:32

Thank you everyone for your comments :)

MC - did you read that story about Gordon Brown in the Tory press? ;o) Not that I'm defending the plonker, I wouldn't even call him a socialist!
You could be right about the Labour voters having their pensions squandered by him (chickens coming home to roost) but that would be no worse than any voting Tory to have their jobs axed by them months after they got in!
Maybe they are not always the big bad wolf? Well, I was prepared to give Cameron and the coalition a chance, but now... well, lets just say - perhaps I would have more time for them if we truly were all in this together!

Thank you Joshua for your approval :o)

Tommy, I completely agree about your misnomer of "the country". Thank you for your comments, you have given me some food for thought there! :o)

Yvonne, you are right, an honest MP an oxymoron!

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Tommy Carroll

Sun 13th May 2012 18:29

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
''It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.''

Are NOT most of the following 'Christians' ?


1
Carlos Slim Helu & family
$69 B 72 telecom Mexico
2
Bill Gates
$61 B 56 Microsoft United States
3
Warren Buffett
$44 B 81 Berkshire Hathaway United States
4
Bernard Arnault
$41 B 63 LVMH France
5
Amancio Ortega
$37.5 B 75 Zara Spain
6
Larry Ellison
$36 B 67 Oracle United States
7
Eike Batista
$30 B 55 mining, oil Brazil
8
Stefan Persson
$26 B 64 H&M Sweden
9
Li Ka-shing
$25.5 B 83 diversified Hong Kong
10
Karl Albrecht
$25.4 B 92 Aldi Germany
11
Christy Walton & family
$25.3 B 57 Wal-Mart United States
12
Charles Koch
$25 B 76 diversified United States
12
David Koch
$25 B 71 diversified United States
14
Sheldon Adelson
$24.9 B 78 casinos United States
15
Liliane Bettencourt
$24 B 89 L'Oreal France
16
Jim Walton
$23.7 B 64 Wal-Mart United States
17
Alice Walton
$23.3 B 62 Wal-Mart United States
18
S. Robson Walton
$23.1 B 68 Wal-Mart United States
19
Mukesh Ambani
$22.3 B 54 petrochemicals, oil & gas India
20
Michael Bloomberg
$22 B 70 Bloomberg LP United States
21
Lakshmi Mittal
$20.7 B 61 steel India
22
George Soros
$20 B 81 hedge funds United States
23
Michele Ferrero & family
$19 B 85 chocolates Italy
24
Sergey Brin
$18.7 B 38 Google United States
24
Larry Page
$18.7 B 39 Google United States
26
Jeff Bezos
$18.4 B 48 Amazon.com United States
27
Thomas & Raymond Kwok & family
$18.3 B 0 real estate Hong Kong
28
Alisher Usmanov
$18.1 B 58 steel, telecom, investments Russia
29
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
$18 B 57 investments Saudi Arabia
29
Lee Shau Kee
$18 B 84 diversified Hong Kong
29
Georgina Rinehart
$18 B 58 Mining Australia
32
Berthold & Theo Jr. Albrecht
$17.8 B 0 Aldi, Trader Joe's Germany
32
Iris Fontbona & family
$17.8 B 69 mining Chile
34
Michael Otto & family
$17.6 B 68 retail, real estate Germany
35
David Thomson & family
$17.5 B 54 media Canada
35
Mark Zuckerberg
$17.5 B 27 Facebook United States
37
Ricardo Salinas Pliego & family
$17.4 B 56 retail, media Mexico
38
Alberto Bailleres Gonzalez & family
$16.5 B 80 mining Mexico
39
Rinat Akhmetov
$16 B 45 steel, coal Ukraine
39
Cheng Yu-tung
$16 B 86 diversified Hong Kong
41
Michael Dell
$15.9 B 47 Dell United States
41
Vladimir Lisin
$15.9 B 55 steel, transport Russia
41
Azim Premji
$15.9 B 66 software India
44
Steve Ballmer
$15.7 B 56 Microsoft United States
45
Alexei Mordashov
$15.3 B 46 steel, investments Russia
46
Vladimir Potanin
$14.5 B 51 metals Russia
47
Phil Knight
$14.4 B 74 Nike United States
48
Paul Allen
$14.2 B 59 Microsoft, investments United States
48
German Larrea Mota Velasco & family
$14.2 B 58 mining Mexico
50
Carl Icahn
$14 B 76 leveraged buyouts United States
50
Birgit Rausing & family
$14 B 88 packaging Sweden
52
Forrest Mars Jr
$13.8 B 80 candy United States
52
Jacqueline Mars
$13.8 B 72 candy United States
52
John Mars
$13.8 B 75 candy United States
52
Joseph Safra
$13.8 B 73 banking Brazil
56
Vagit Alekperov
$13.5 B 61 Lukoil Russia
57
Mikhail Fridman
$13.4 B 47 oil, banking, telecom Russia
58
Mikhail Prokhorov
$13.2 B 46 investments Russia
59
Susanne Klatten
$13 B 49 BMW, pharmaceuticals Germany
59
Francois Pinault & family
$13 B 75 retail France
61
Mohammed Al Amoudi
$12.5 B 67 oil, diversified Saudi Arabia
61
Anne Cox Chambers
$12.5 B 92 media United States
61
John Paulson
$12.5 B 56 hedge funds United States
64
Robert Kuok
$12.4 B 88 diversified Malaysia
64
Luis Carlos Sarmiento
$12.4 B 79 banking Colombia
64
Viktor Vekselberg
$12.4 B 54 oil, metals Russia
67
Antonio Ermirio de Moraes & family
$12.2 B 83 diversified Brazil
68
Roman Abramovich
$12.1 B 45 steel, investments Russia
69
Donald Bren
$12 B 79 real estate United States
69
Jorge Paulo Lemann
$12 B 72 beer Brazil
69
Ronald Perelman
$12 B 69 leveraged buyouts United States
72
Len Blavatnik
$11.9 B 54 diversified United States
72
Leonid Mikhelson
$11.9 B 56 gas, chemicals Russia
74
Leonardo Del Vecchio
$11.5 B 76 eyewear Italy
75
John Fredriksen
$11.3 B 67 shipping Cyprus
76
Aliko Dangote
$11.2 B 54 sugar, flour, cement Nigeria
76
Stefan Quandt
$11.2 B 45 BMW Germany
78
Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor & family
$11 B 60 real estate United Kingdom
78
Harold Hamm
$11 B 66 oil & gas United States
80
Savitri Jindal & family
$10.9 B 62 steel India
81
Andrey Melnichenko
$10.8 B 40 coal, fertilizers Russia
82
James Simons
$10.7 B 73 hedge funds United States
83
Ernesto Bertarelli & family
$10.6 B 46 biotech, investments Switzerland
84
Jack Taylor & family
$10.4 B 89 Enterprise Rent-A-Car United States
85
Abigail Johnson
$10.3 B 50 Fidelity United States
86
Robin Li
$10.2 B 43 Technology China
86
Eliodoro, Bernardo & Patricia Matte
$10.2 B 0 paper Chile
88
Ray Dalio
$10 B 62 hedge funds United States
88
George Kaiser
$10 B 69 oil & gas, banking United States
88
Johanna Quandt
$10 B 85 BMW Germany
88
Hans Rausing
$10 B 86 packaging Sweden
88
Tadashi Yanai & family
$10 B 63 retail Japan
93
Serge Dassault & family
$9.9 B 86 aviation France
93
Ananda Krishnan
$9.9 B 73 telecoms Malaysia
95
Klaus-Michael Kuhne
$9.8 B 74 shipping Germany
96
Pallonji Mistry
$9.7 B 82 construction Ireland
97
Alejandro Santo Domingo Davila
$9.5 B 35 beer Colombia
98
Horst Paulmann & family
$9.3 B 77 retail Chile
99
Gennady Timchenko
$9.1 B 59 oil & gas Russia
100
Laurene Powell Jobs & family
$9 B 48 Apple, Disney United States

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M.C. Newberry

Sun 13th May 2012 16:22

The Tories are hardly immune to proper and just criticism, but the idea that they are alway the Big Bad Wolf, contemptuous of opportunity and self-improvement for others, is risible. Work and working practices/opportunities change - witness the emergence of the vast online market - and any government must keep up and adapt as best it can...often, sadly, some way behind what is needed. To stifle business or those who seek to create it is folly by any political party. But today's workplace is a hugely diverse arena, with creators and entrepreneurs coming from across the social spectrum. There will always be those who make possibilities and those who make their living by helping that process to successful fruition. In between come those who are content to receive the income provided by others without doing either. Whilst sorting out the properly deserving from the rest, no government serves its people by false spending and scant saving. There is no easy fix and even Christ himself was supposed to have remarked that "The poor are always with us". "Poor" is relevant to the times in which it exists and today's definition doesn't compare with what was known to and suffered by previous generations. There can be no age that provides so many "safety nets" for those enduring hard times, with and without official help. This has to be a worthy and laudable situation in an increasingly global and competitive world, with a worrying rise in population - especally in "unproductive" lands, that, ultimately, might threaten the existence of humanity itself.

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Harry O'Neill

Sun 13th May 2012 16:14

Lynne,
I wonder if we all live in the same world.Under a Tory goverment, I:

1...(for free) went to Uni and got a couple of geriatric degrees.

2...four of my children (all left school at the age of sixteen) looked at their decrepit old fart of a father and decided to do the same.

3...Three are now teachers (one a head) and one is a probation officer.

When my factory closed, I was almost crushed in the rush of those people wanting to take redundancy (pay)

I am a lifelong socialist and trade union official.

The most important thing we should recognise about the popular press is that it is popular.

When Socialism says `from each according to their ability, to each according to their need`It is indisputable...But we must remember that Stalin was helped to kill millions of people in pusuit of that desireable end.

When Capitalism says `Leave individualism alone` this also has much to commend it...but leaving the bankers alone has led to the present disaster.

For me, the crux of the matter lies in the old saying that: `WHOEVER HAS THE MANAGEMENT WILL HAVE THE MONEY` ( I visited Hungary in it`s communistic decline and saw how true that was)That`s how the bankers ended up with all those millions.

Again - for me - At a time of the emergence of huge, new, united economic power-centers, for Britain to remain outside of central decision taking in the Euro is very foolish.

Finally...I think it`s about time we all woke up out of our `Up the workers!` and `Little Englander` dreams and took a good, hard look at what is really going on in the world around us

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Yvonne Brunton

Sun 13th May 2012 13:59

Is the term 'an honest MP' an oxymoron?

Why are MPs allowed to stand for anywhere in the country instead of only being allowed to represent their home area ( a bit like the yorkshire cricket player rules)

How has Switzerland survived without joining the EU?

How long is a piece of string?

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Tommy Carroll

Sun 13th May 2012 12:09

The term 'loony left' is in the same vain as 'Lazy blacks' and 'stupid Irish' i'm sure readers can add to that list.
Another misnomer is 'the country' in reference to an equality of gains and loss and unity of purpose pertaining to the population as a whole. Any dim-wit (I am most definitely NOT including yourself in this Lynn) can tell the massive disparity that exist between differing sections within society in terms of income and opportunity and social aims.
As for the role of the 'socialist leaderships' of the working class, it (the working class) has a long tradition of 'support' for Social Democratic parties and Unions because of the very many gains made by workers in their support of those organisations.
Very many workers absent themselves from the 'political process' owing to disillusionment in that process and an historical betrayal of them by their 'leaders'. The 'leadership' of the working class have also suffered the abandonment of the said principles that have been forged in battle with the ruling class and the sacrifices made in the defense of jobs, communities and their children's future.
Too many people mock those principles and the sacrifices made by millions of women and men fighting for those futures.
And Lynn, as for 'honesty' to solve those problems, well the Capitalists (and their executive branch the Tory party) backed up with the right wing press would (and do)scoff at such demands. Having said that Lynn I proffered the same demand 'Honesty'(in a discussion with friends) years before the film which starred Jim Carrey in the film 'Liar Liar'appeared.
In closing Lynn I enjoyed reading your poem and welcome the debate it has raised. Tommy :o)

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Joshua Van-Cook

Sun 13th May 2012 09:23

Well done Lynn, I've never seen my thoughts on this matter so well expressed.

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M.C. Newberry

Sat 12th May 2012 18:51

On the subject of long term effects...good or bad -
we are witnessing demonstrations by public sector workers in defence of pensions. Fair
enough, but these are paid for by the private
sector - and who plundered the most admired
private pension system in the world to the
tune - it is recently reported - of many tens of billions whilst harping on piously about "prudence"? Why, a certain socialist
Chancellor/Prime Minister, that's who!
I bet these marchers, with their union banners very much in evidence, happily voted for his Party and its policies before the piper began to call the tune and a little reality set in.
"Chickens coming home to roost" comes to mind.

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Lynn Dye

Sat 12th May 2012 15:06

Thank you MC for your comments. I am sure you are right in as much as the Tories believed their measures were what the country needed for the long term. But they are hardly working, when they are needing to borrow even more money for unemployment, while receiving less tax revenue. Added to that more and more people have no money to spend in a consumer based society, which hits many of our businesses, creating still more unemployment.
I have mixed views on the EU, but certainly take your point, and I admire your optimism that things will be better in a year or maybe three.


Greg,
Thanks for comment, yes, you are right, but my point was - where is the loony left these days?!

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Greg Freeman

Sat 12th May 2012 14:28

Vote loony left, is what I say, Lynn!

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M.C. Newberry

Sat 12th May 2012 14:08

The unanswered question is WHY would any elected political party actually choose to make unpopular decisions that might prevent
its re-election? Since that suggests self-
destructing idiocy - and one can hardly imagine public school minds seeking that - perhaps the Tories really believe that they are obliged to do what they do...for the long
term. It's been said that a week is a lifetime in politics so who knows what people
will be saying in a year...let alone three...
when things are very likely to be better than now. Perhaps we should haul back on the billions we send each year to an unaccountable
political entity in Brussels and spend it closer to home. But I can just imagine the
cries of anguish from the Lib-Dems who vote
for anything EU and would have had us give up
our currency for the Euro.

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