Wednesday - May 02, 2012

we always attack the americans

Red Ken Livingstone is trying to get his old job as London’s mayor back.

The red reference is not the color of his hair. For those surfing by and reading and who don’t know, he is very left and very cozy with the muzzies cos he wants their votes in tomorrow’s election. I won’t go into a song and dance about him here, this is just a bit of background so you’ll know his agenda and where he is politically.  Which brings me to this column written by a former crony of his.

It’s late, I’ve been busy and never got to the second of our two papers today. Which is why I have to H/T my own wife who did read the Telegraph cover to cover and had me stop what I was doing while she read a section of the column to me.  This may read funny to some and I suppose it is in its own way.
As Americans we’re pretty well used to this stuff. But this really does take a prize of some kind when it’s made so out in the open by a fellow who was there.

Take a look.

WE ALWAYS ATTACK THE AMERICANS.

Why this former crony can’t vote for Ken Livingstone

Working as part of Ken Livingstone’s mayoral machine taught me that he’s unfit to rule.

By Dan Hodges

The Labour Party has indulged Ken Livingstone for too long. Think of the tax hypocrisy, and the crocodile tears over his election video. Or his deeply unpleasant comments about the Jewish community, which would – had they been made by any other party member, or against any other minority – have resulted in immediate suspension and expulsion.
“Oh, it’s just Ken being Ken,” plead his acolytes. Well, I know exactly what Ken’s like when he’s “being Ken”, because I used to work for him. Technically, it was for Transport for London, as its director of communications. And the term “worked” is also a bit misleading, conjuring images of a fruitful and extended period of employment. I actually lasted eight months, before departing in somewhat unfortunate circumstances. But this is what I learnt, in the meantime, about how Ken Livingstone and his people operate.

One of the charges levelled at his administration was cronyism. This was spot on: I was one of the cronies. I knew his staff after working for Labour, and received a call asking if I’d consider taking the TFL job.

As someone with virtually no experience of managing staff, handling major budgets or working in a high-profile, customer-facing public sector environment, I viewed myself as ideal for this kind of role. The same can’t be said for the bemused recruitment consultant who phoned me.

“I’ve been told by the mayor’s office to call you.” “Hello.” “You know the deadline’s closed?” “Yes.” “Have you actually applied?” “No.” “And you think you’ll get an interview?”
Just before being appointed, I was taken to see Ken. I was ushered into his mayoral office, with its wonderful view of Tower Bridge, where he told me a bizarre story about the Congolese independence ceremony, in which a member of the Belgian king’s staff had slapped one of the dignitaries. “In the Met, the senior officers get on well with me, but lower down they hate me,” he added. “It’s a bit like that in TFL.” And that was that. I had the job.

A couple of weeks later, I was wondering why. We’d received yet another call about a foreign embassy not paying its parking fines. This time it was Russia. We were working up our usual nonsense about what a disgrace it was when a senior Ken aide rang to ask:

“What are you saying about the Russians?” I duly explained. “No. Attack the Americans.” “What?” “Attack the Americans.” “But we’re not being asked about the Americans.” “I don’t care. We always attack the Americans. They owe loads as well. Attack them. Nothing about the Russians.”

READ ALL OF IT HERE

Posted by peiper     on 05/02/2012 at 10:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Politics • UK •  
• Comments (2) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner