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Edwynn -> RE: Inglorious (Limey) Bastards (3/30/2011 1:56:16 PM)
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"Of course, the fact that we've had three or four governments in a row who couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery might have something to do with that as well."
The last sentence above making me wonder about the coalition system existing in most European countries. I get rather tired and disgusted with the two party system in the US, anything not within that framework dismissed out of hand, legitimate and highly pertinent questions or concerns not asked or presented out of either of those camps easily dismissed by the media as politically irrelevant, therefore not a concern at all then, regardless of actual reality or potential consequences. The result of course is a great number of disaffected people who, come election time, have to listen to the incessant mantra re voting. "Now that we've conveyed to you in no uncertain terms that any of your concerns that we didn't anoint as worthy are meaningless to us, do something meaningful and get out and vote! Once the latest twit is elected we'll make sure to have a little box on the news web pages saying 'What do YOU think?' and invite your letters to the editor!" Viva la Democracy!
OTOH, the multi-party coalition system allows at least a few non-scripted questions to actually get into the process, but can certainly get mired down after an election, with functional cooperation seemingly especially hard to achieve sometimes. Worst case, the Weimar Republic comes to mind.
Apropos Germany's latest ...
I'm curious as to how the new coalition regime in Germany is going to play out, myself.
"Wei gehts, Baden-Württemberg ?" : "Gehts Grün!"
The Greens (Die Grünen) won enough votes in Baden-Württemberg to have a coalition with the Social Democrats in majority to the Christian Democrats/Free Democrats, in a traditionally conservative (in their terms) state where the latter has held majority for decades. The state will have a Green Party Governor as part of it, even though the SDP partner had more votes, however that came about. So of course based on what transpires in the US and UK, coalition or otherwise, I wonder if opposition bitterness or lately elected victors' vindictiveness will stifle things as much as in the first two examples. I hope not, but this is new territory for B-W and there are lots of things that are supposedly due to change as a result (a huge rail project), ongoing business of EU member bailouts and level of participation in UN/NATO affairs, etc.
'Twill be interesting, to be sure.
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