THE BRITISH THREAD II

George I dont think Obama's rhetoric and Bush jnr rhetoric can be compared. Well perhaps they can but its a little unfair dont you agree? So who are you going to go for, go on tell us, McCain or Hillary?

You can't invent a navy George. We did that. Properly I mean. You just copied us and others. You can give it a name and an organisation. That's okay.

I think that the ghost of Themosticles might dispute your claim.

Steve 41oo wrote:

George I dont think Obama's rhetoric and Bush jnr rhetoric can be compared. Well perhaps they can but its a little unfair dont you agree? So who are you going to go for, go on tell us, McCain or Hillary?

I don't mean to imply that Obama is as challenged in his verbal expression as is poor George W. Rather that the political rhetoric of GW in 2000 is uncannily similar to that of Obama this year in its vacuous, non-specific character.

spendius wrote:

You can't invent a navy George. We did that. Properly I mean. You just copied us and others. You can give it a name and an organisation. That's okay.

I think that the ghost of Themosticles might dispute your claim. Naval power has been invented and reinvented many times - by the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, China, Portugual & Spain, the Netherlands, Britain, France and Japan, and the Soviet Union. You sound a lot like a certain (happily rare) type of RN officer we would occasionally come across - gripped by an odd need to explain to us how things really came about and should work now; most had little sea time compared to the other, more numerous and far more agreeable types. We usually rolled our eyes and endured it, but occasionally the pomposity demanded retribution. I will concede that the RN Fleet Air Arm was particularly creative and aggressive - Japan imitated their attack on Taranto at Pearl Harbor, and, in our carrier operations, we imitated nearly all of their key innovations. Good guys -- I even qualified with them in Buccaneers during a brief exchange tour.

georgeob1 wrote:

I think that the ghost of Themosticles might dispute your claim.

Is this business about balls? I'll ask Dyslexia..

Themistocles must be turning in his grave.

I don't know Mac. There's something odd about it all. They seem to think insults are arguments, that assertions are true on the evidence of having been said and that trite simplicities constitute intellectual discussion. Mr Gorer's book The American People, a Study in National Character explains their extreme sensitivity to any criticism.

It seems to work too. So far at least, but you have to remember that they found an Alladin's Cave of riches but would rather think it was their personal superiority which created the success. Hence the ubiquity of hubris. It is probably to be expected in a gun culture.

I can't figure out what any of the candidates actually stand for apart from loving all the voters, half of whom don't even bother to vote.

They are fascinating though I must admit.

I'm more like Kingsley Amis ...

Francis has gone mad. What's he talking about?.

I reckon he's jealous of Nicholas's new girl(very)friend.

The world is surprising, isn't it McT?