NEWNESS

I'm loving the discourse of newness in British politics since Druggy Dave (AKA David Cameron) became Prime Minister in May. Just as Obama's notion of bipartisanship echoed the equally imperialistic Bush's 2000 rhetoric, so Cameron's assertion of a new politics is a restatement of the equally imperialistic Tony Blair's 1997 rhetoric. Each one argues for a post-political high ground of decency domestically. Each one lays claim to a newly ethical foreign policy. Each one bargains that the journalists covering them will be ignorant of history, and their publics gullible.

It's worth downloading the Guardian's weekly podcast of Prime Minister's Question Time to hear how nasty, personal, and obvious Druggy Dave is--an awful echo of Blair and Gordon Brown. Similarly, it's worth downloading the weekly radio appeals made by Obama and Bush as they promise to rule the world and distribute the benefits domestically. Plus ca change...