Gosh, Time Flies and I Wasn't Always Having Fun

Except for going to Venice for my birthday weekend. That was fun and happy. And the weather, except for my actual birthday was perfect, too. The great thing about Venice is that it doesn't disappoint, it's more than you expect. Tourists are a problem, but how can a fellow tourist complain about that! And unbelievably it will only be far worse when the real tourist season begins. Unfortunately, we only had a very short time -- an afternoon, in fact, but there will be a next time, God willing, and three days is the minium time to see anything of what we hope. But it was a wonderful day spent with my son, who was able to show us around quite ably. He is living and working in the beautiful Veneto area of Italy in the district of the Prosecco grape and we thoroughly enjoyed the company and hospitality of the family of his girlfriend.

The following week saw the turnover of one Prime Minister to another. Feels kind of weird as we all wait to see which way the wind blows with Gordon Brown. Nobody can really tell if he bodes for good or ill, but we all hope for the best. So far at least for me, I am feeling more positive than negative. In the meantime, nary a day had passed and there was a terrorist plot revealed. This time by NHS doctors. This has given quite some pause for thought.

No longer can people ignore the fact that it is not only the uneducated or disaffected Islamic youth who hunger for our destruction. I read today that almost immediately Fox news sent out the meme that socialized medicine produces terrorists! Which brings us to another topic now out for public discussion: the medical catastrophe endemic throughout the United States, thanks to Michael Moore's latest movie, SiCKO. Congratulations, Michael, on a job well done -- and about time, too.

Many Americans have been impressed by the attitude of the British public towards the recent bombing threats. The press has covered the story, but the feeling here by public and media alike is to get on with life and take it in our stride -- be vigilant and get back to living our lives. Just so, say I!

Well for today and tomorrow the weather is supposed to be nice -- here in Southport, Merseyside. Then it's back to rain and more rain. France beckons in the near future, but the weather there has been off and on so who knows what it will be like by the time we get there. I'm off. Must write more often.

Enter Gordon Brown Who Reminds me of …

I have mixed feelings about the Prime Minister to be. I was put off the first time I ever saw him by how much he reminded me physically of Richard Nixon – the jowly face, the body language, even the way he had of speaking. That was a long time ago, but makeovers later and the Nixonian aura still persists for me

Gordon Brown is a hard fellow to warm to, as was the disgraced President. But one must try to give the man a chance. But I do think he’s a bit of a “strange” one, though that does not mean he won’t be a great leader. I wish him well and I hope we find him to be a leader of wisdom and depth who can rise to the challenge of a country suspicious of its leadership and worried about the future and the direction we seem to be heading.

It is a strange system that can simply change Prime Ministers at the whim, or not, of one man. Doesn’t seem very democratic. I really do wonder if Gordon Brown is ‘electable’ without becoming Prime Minister first. The United Kingdom, like the United States does not elect it’s political leader directly. The United Kingdom is, however, electing a government. Americans really don’t think that way. First of all, it’s complicated because the Head of State in the UK is a sovereign born to the role for life. The closest we have to a Prime Minister is the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Majority Leader of the Senate.

It is very valuable for Americans to study how politics in the UK works. It explains why our own government is the way it is. Our government was created to correct what were deemed to be the faults of Parliamentary Sovereign Britain. The most evident method of doing this was the system we have of ‘checks and balances’. This is an important concept to have developed, but there is a price to pay – government stagnation.

For example, in Britain, the government of the day can raise taxes within hours! (Un-American!!) In Britain the government of the day is elected for 5 years – in the U.S. the government can change dramatically every two years. The Queen has an interesting way of putting things to a new Prime Minister when she asks him if he or she can ‘form a government’. In Britain ‘government’ means do you have enough of a consensus to do the job? A Government is 'of the day'.

I love the concept here of the ‘loyal opposition’. For every ‘government’ there is a ‘shadow government’ and every minister in the government must stand up and defend the policies of the day and is answerable directly to his ‘shadow minister’ in particular and must also be able to respond to questions from other honourable parliamentarians. The most striking thing to me about Parliament is its intimacy and almost informality amidst all the tradition and politeness of the ‘honourable friends’.

Most Americans believe that ours is the greatest democracy in the world and our Constitution is the best in the world. I don’t believe this – other countries do have democracies that can rival ours. Somehow all the safeguards that the founding fathers came up with didn’t stop big government. It is a fact that when the Constitution was written , it was assumed there would be Constitutional Conventions held that would bring forth Constitutional reform – when the amendments to the Constitution are longer than the original document, it seems to me perhaps it is about time to start over again.

But I cannot in my wildest imagination come up with who we find to perform such a task and how we would ever be able to get 50 states to agree to its adoption. And so comes some more wisdom from the British! They have an ‘Unwritten Constitution’. I used to joke about this as an instance of British arrogance. Now I think it a mark of genius!