Men of Steel

Good old Jon Steelin, he never disappoints. Today he’s on about the elections in Poland. Well, yes, precisely: it’s the elections, stupid. Country’s gone to pot since it started on this bourgeois ‘democracy’ nonsense. Some of us remember the days when it was run by people sensitive and caring enough to know what the toiling masses wanted without having to ask them, eh Jon? But fortunately not all is lost. If Condi Rice describes Belorus as the last dictatorship in Europe, you won’t need Jon or me to tell you that it’s really an earthly paradise, ‘strong state’ and all. If the trains don’t quite run on time yet they jolly soon will do. And Poland could be next, if Jon's hopes that the new President will turn out to be a bit of a fascist are fulfilled.

A soul brother for the Man of Steel is Frank Griswold, Presiding Bishop of the American Episcopal Church. Some might think there could be no clearer illustration of what was at stake in the Cold War than the two Koreas. But not the P.B., who excels himself by warning us against ‘demonization’ of the Democratic People’s Republic of Hell – sorry, I mean Korea…

Have a nice weekend, all you reactionary scumbags out there.

Fame at last

Whilst Mr Grumpy didn’t start blogging with any great expectations of reaching a mass audience, it must be admitted that of late he has been pining for just a little attention. His hopes were raised when two comments were posted. ‘Your blog is really pleasant’ – hey, a fan. Bitter disappointment! The one telling him he pays too much for his car insurance rankled particularly. No he doesn’t. He hasn’t got a car.

And now comes recognition from that prince of the political blogosphere, Laban Tall. Mille grazie, Laban, your blog is the best ever, I’ll have your babies just as soon as it becomes medically feasible, and by the by, did you know that you are probably paying too much for your car insurance?

Respect, Dave

Meanwhile, the organ of the imperialist bourgeoisie has this from the running-dog Aaronovitch. I suppose he thinks he's very clever.

Name and Seumas

Well, I'm disappointed. OK, full marks to Seumas for signing up one of his Respect chums to comment on Lozells. And well done, Salma Yaqoob, for making it clear that it if young blacks riot against Asians it can only be the fault of rich whites. But come on, comrades, what about the Iraq connection? Why are you letting Blair off the hook? Is Respect going soft?

Name and Shame

Can't wait for tomorrow's Guardian. Who will be the first to explain that the race riot in Birmingham would never have happened if Blair hadn't invaded Iraq?

SteeleWatch: that al-Qaida letter

As a pendant to his rubbishing of the Iraqi referendum, al-Grauniad's Jonathan Steele turns to the letter supposedly sent by al-Qaida's 'moderate' second-in-command to the boys in Iraq.

Says Jonathan: 'Whether the letter is fake or not, the targeting issue certainly resonates in Iraq.'

Let's have that once again: 'the targeting issue certainly resonates in Iraq.' There's a phrase for you to savour over the weekend.

Al-Grauniad latest

Today's haul is a mixture of the predictable and the bizarre.

There is naturally deep concern over whether poor Saddam will get a fair trial. People who should know better have been going around calling him a murderer.

And if found guilty he faces a death penalty. Well, I'm an abolitionist myself. Did you know that China executes around 2,000 people every year? Just thought I'd mention it.

Now for the bizarre. Reading Craig Murray's piece, I conclude that the long march through the institutions has not spared the diplomatic service. But are we not rather scraping the barrel here, Seumas? The government thinks it's banning a dangerous terrorist organization, Craig and Seumas think it's banning an organization that doesn't exist. So everybody's happy, right? Or is the point that if the Islamic Jihad Union did exist, we would want to make sure it was legal so we could commission an occasional column from it?