Originally published @ 10:34 pm, Mon 20th Jun 2011
The BBC have launched a pallid and unsatisfying drama series on the Kennedys from American politics, seeking to retain some credibility with loads of health warnings to explain why the series isn't any good. A bit of a “paradox”. As John Sergeant explained, the drama makers are covering the fate of politicians without covering any of the politics, so it’s gonna struggle.
Still, episode 2 at least prompted one new thought. Threatened in a race for the Democrat nomination in a safe Congressional seat by a local candidate from the Italian community, JFK's dad arranges for a namesake to stand. Brilliant story (except looking up the actual votes suggests the Italian descendent was not actually that much of a threat). Look out for a spate of fake namesakes standing at the next General Election. Those of us with rare names like "Michael" and "Edwards" are not in the slightest bit worried.
Apparently the Kennedy family did try to stop the series, knowing that what television / film does is give form to events and stories in easily digestible ways. If only such media could give form to political ideas and political work. As an experiment, I'm filming myself writing this blog entry. Of course, if the video is any good, I'll post it on youtube. You can already find loads of fascinating clips of computer programmers from the eighties writing COmmon Business Object Language code on youtube and I understand the glimpses of grey leather shoes make the clips compulsive viewing.
The film "Nixon" was better on politics, but couldn't help but draw heavily on the personality. Even the West Wing made the series watchable by having a military exercise or crisis every third episode. Seems the Kennedy family did not want the drama series giving form to - Joe Kennedy appeasing the Nazis, JFK losing a PT boat by not hearing a destroyer coming at him at night, the links with organised criminals etc. (I'm being unfair.) But the series is certainly unfair by not giving JFK any redeeming qualities (representation, negotiation, knowledge, writing, oratory, judgement and coping with disease and disability); well not yet anyway. Perhaps these qualities come later. Surely the Cuban crisis episode will talk him up, although the film "Thirteen Days" is a hard act to follow.
Tonight's "Made in Britain" from the BBC is the start of a new economics documentary series and gave form to a story which the British public is not sufficiently aware of - that we are still a major economic power. And the programme was pretty good even if there were no doubt elements of the usual home counties perspective (oh, and non trade union perspective) from its presenter Evan Davis. My first quibble is that manufacturing didn't seem to include computer programmers and IT workers (although maybe that is because the creative economy is in episode 2). My second quibble was the huge amounts of blame loaded onto the British people for not saving and investing anymore, when I think the financial services sector should take a good deal of the blame for that, along with not enabling enough properties to be constructed to meet the demand that the financial services led economy created.
As for the financial services sector, my MP Chris Leslie must be wondering what kind of straw he drew when he was made front bench spokesperson for it. Having to come in on today’s statement concerning the financial crisis affecting Greece, “surely the Government must recognise that there needs to be a smarter approach than simply piling more and more austerity on Greece”. Echoing the Archbishop’s call for politics to break out of the shadow of big finance and drawing upon Will Hutton’s call for a more proportionate response - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/19/greece-financial-crisis-will-hutton
Will Hutton explains that the demands for payments made upon Greece match in proportion the demands made on post World War I Germany. Clearly Greek protestors get the Archbishop’s comments on living in the shadow of big finance – “Poverty is the biggest brutality”. Hutton says “The price of the biggest-ever IMF intervention includes the sacking of a fifth of Greece's public sector workforce, swingeing tax increases and the biggest, fastest privatisation programme, relative to national output, ever mounted.” Hutton reports that the Germans of the 21st century are saying “why should international bankers escape again without any consequences?” and were suggesting that the banks write some of the debt off.
The Conservative riposte to Chris – “It is clear that we do not want to be part of a bail-out of the Greek economy”; this despite Chris pointing out how we are channelling more money to the IMF for such events anyway. Is another crash coming?
Calls from Tory MP’s in the debate were reckless. Greece had gone bankrupt already. This is the opportunity to withdraw from the EU. No perspective; no understanding of the global nature of our economy; no ambition for people.
Meanwhile back to BBC2. Beyond “Made in Britain”, we had a new take from James May on how the human body works and quite an episode of Newsnight, which included a debate on “Blue Labour” that illuminated the issues (after a Michael Crick film that almost made you switch the TV off); credit to both (Lord) Maurice Glasman and Helen Goodman MP.
"The Labour tradition and the Politics of Paradox" is available at - http://www.soundings.org.uk/
Why Blue?
Why the “Politics of Paradox”? – apparently “the politics of paradox enabled us to appreciate both the scale of the success and the depth of failure of New Labour”. Yuk.
Honestly, I think the Archbishop said it better.
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(A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition.)
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