‘Yes We Bally Well Can’
Posted on November 10th, 2008
by Freddy Gray |
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David Cameron, the head of the British Conservative Party, has long sought to position himself as the “heir to Blair”, the proper successor to the most successful European politician of recent years. Now, in Obamaworld, it is suggested that Cameron should pass himself off as a British Barack, the hope and change candidate. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is attempting the same thing. But it’s a tricky image makeover for both men. They are both white, for one. And Brown, who has spent the last ten years ruining the British economy, can hardly echo Obama in denouncing “the failed policies of the past”; while Cameron, an old Etonian aristocrat and a direct descendant of King William IV, doesn’t exactly symbolize the triumph of merit. the audacity of hope. (UPDATE: Jack Ross is quite correct to say that Obama is hardly a proletarian champion. Still, the story of his rise to power is somewhat more remarkable than Cameron’s.)
The FT has a good pastiche of what David ‘Barack’ Cameron’s victory might sound like in 2010:
And today we can wear our Bullingdon tailcoats with pride ( shouts of “Hear, hear” ); we can dunk oiks in the fountains and deflower maidservants - or footmen if that’s the way you swing (shouts of “Hurrah”) . We can stand tall and speak plummy. But tonight, after years of oppression, the upper class has spoken out ( loud cheers and champagne bottles hurled ).
Today I saw a 106-year-old woman - lumme, she was wrinkled. But she saw this country defeat the general strike - yes we can. She saw us bash the Hun, not once but twice (thrice if you count Wembley) - yes we bally well can. She saw us roll back the frontiers of the state then roll them forward again - yes we bally well can. She saw us back the masses against the classes and now back the classes once again. Gawd bless you all. Floreat Etona. Bottoms up.”
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Its not as though Obama is some kind of champion of the proletariat - on the contrary, I saw the anxious bourgeoisie in Park Slope celebrate in the streets on election night because Obama is the candidate of their anxiety, making the hysterical ravings of people like Raimondo that Obama represents a new kind of fascism all too plausible.
At any rate, I still don’t totally get why most of TAC’s friends across the pond don’t like Cameron, though I was pleased to see that he has the unreserved support of their grand old man, Peregrine Worsthorne. I definitely see Obama and Cameron being at least as tight as Bush and Blair, thus putting a final end to the conventional pairings between the British and American parties, and being an anchor of the emerging right-of-center consensus in Europe of which Obama will be very much a part. And they were screeching about how he’s a socialist!
Bottom line is how a British student friend and enthusiastic Cameron supporter put it to me, in terms that could be just as apt about Obama: “Either everything will change or nothing will change.”
When those are the two options, my money is always on the latter.
Do people in Britain really believe that Obama symbolizes the triumph of merit? Socialism and Fascism are the same con– with different names on the deed of ownership.