April 14, 2010

         I want to go to London.      The British have an election next month--May 6th, I think it is.  For the first time in their history they're going to have televised debates--three of them--among the leaders of the three major parties--Labour, in power now, the Tories (Conservatives) and the Liberal Democrats.        They'll be good at this because their leaders, unlike ours, are in the House of Commons and undergo tough questioning from the opposition parties--it's called Question Time--on a regular basis.  They are, in other words, in practice, used to give-and-take.        I still remember, years and years ago, when an opposition MP named Palings (which, by the way, is a Brit word for fenceposts) called the Prime Minister of the day (I think it was Harold Macmillan) a "dirty dog."  Macmillan paused for maybe a second and a half and then answered, "The Honorable Member has called me a dirty dog.  Remind the Honorable Member of what dogs do to palings.", which is, of course, to pee on them. The House roared.  The opposition MP sat down.      Well, I can't wait.  Maybe the BBC will televise them.  We can only hope.     
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