tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4010225.post2065305511400512166..comments2023-06-15T17:23:17.392+00:00Comments on JOHN MEANEY: John Meaneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13236108158993642237noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4010225.post-68559115638030728552010-05-26T21:55:03.899+00:002010-05-26T21:55:03.899+00:00No problem sharing the head and keyb- He lies! Som...No problem sharing the head and keyb- He lies! Some day I will take control forever and then he - No, back, back...<br /><br />Er, no problem at all. Honest.<br /><br />Actually, there's some weird benefit, in that Tom gets to indulge in martial arts violence while using cultural references from everyday life, and John gets to dream up weird worlds. <i>Absorption</i> had no need of martial arts, but I might have been tempted to put some in if I hadn't had <i>Edge</i> to glory in.<br /><br />So lobbyists, yes, I'd forgotten about those. In the House of Commons we have Party Whips - that's a job title, not an implement. Their role is to whip party members into line - voting with the party instead of taking an independent (or lobby-driven!) stance.<br /><br />I'd always been bemused by the American reverence for the Constitution, and using it as a filter or framework for discussing legal and political issues. (And I do mean reverence, like a sacred document.) It was only during our election coverage that someone mentioned a little thing that I'd not paid attention to before - the Supreme Court's ability to overturn a law passed by Congress, if the law violates the Constitution.<br /><br />That explains why people care so much about who the judges are. Got it.<br /><br />In Britland, Parliament has the final say in passing laws. Hence the massive outcry over our recent expenses scandal. The guy who got his duck house in his moat paid for by the taxpayers did not even understand why people were angry. We would prefer our final arbiters to be moral and ethical people.<br /><br />The rotten class system is still here. That's part of it. Although now people speak of the political class, and it's not a compliment.John Meaneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13236108158993642237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4010225.post-44722503345768204102010-05-25T23:57:59.099+00:002010-05-25T23:57:59.099+00:00So thrilled to hear you're churning out the dr...So thrilled to hear you're churning out the drafts! Is there any confusion with both you and T. Blackthorne sharing head/keyboard?<br /><br />Yes, a lot of us Norte Americanos know the House of Lords is unelected. Here, we have the House & Senate of Lobbyists writing and passing legislation, which amounts to the same thing.Chris Mayshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13062146651027335799noreply@blogger.com