Political reactions to Olympic Opening Ceremony

[AndyK]

@LouiseMensch
The best bit of the opening ceremony was the tribute to the NHS - says so much about PM that he protected & increased its budget

‏@AidanBurleyMP
The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen - more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next?

@AidanBurleyMP
Thank God the athletes have arrived! Now we can move on from leftie multi-cultural crap. Bring back red arrows, Shakespeare and the Stones!

"Then we had all these rappers.That is what got me to the point about multiculturalism' - Aidan Burley


You know something got it dead right when it gets the right-wing loons frothing.

[rogerzilla]

Proof that Louise Mensch has a sense of irony.

[Zipperhead]

They're politicians who have to be seen flapping their mouths to get publicity.

[RJ]

Proof that Louise Mensch has a sense of irony.

And/or better PR advice than Burley:

"And then we had all these rappers - that is what got me to the point about multiculturalism." He said rap music was enjoyed by a relatively small section of society, young people mainly.

 

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

An Olympic opening ceremony is a bit of history.  A snapshot of how things are that remains in people's memory for a very long time.

And whatever one might think of 'Nu-Labour' the Games were awarded to the UK under their tenure!

[spindrift]

Can't believe so many people are expressing surprise at how good the Queen's acting with Bond was.


 Did they not watch Diana's funeral?

[Wowbagger]

The queen does a good job ... At playing herself? She's had 60 years to get it right.

[Rhys W]

Proof that Louise Mensch has a sense of irony.

I'd say quite the opposite. She really does believe the nonsense she comes out with.

[AndyK]

The Heil finds new depths.

[Pancho]

I was a bit surprised by what I first took to be a sort of socialist protesty history (peasants in fields, working men wielding hammers, NHS, suffragettes etc/ what next? union of bin men steel band?). But then I realised that that's a fairly accurate story of the evolution of our islands and, yes, we should celebrate the NHS - it's pretty big, pretty good and it's pretty unique in the world.

Although I understood the point of the TV as post war cultural narrative and definition of how the hoi polloi spend their hours I really didn't think it appropriate. Not just because I hate TV and  meant nothing to me but mainly because it'll be of negligable relevance to a global audience.

Music worked well but the ex-Beatle at the end was boring. Also hadn't realised that the Tubular Bells bloke was still alive or that he used real bells not electronic aids.

Sir Tim B-L was a good chap to fit in.

[Exit Stage Left]

I have to admire the subtlety of the political message.

It posited 1948 as the turning point in British society. At that moment we reward ourselves for inventing industrialism and saving democracy by giving ourselves an entitlement to care from cradle to grave.

At the same moment the Empire Windrush arrives with the immigrants who will do the work which we now feel is beneath us.

We spend the next 54 years entertaining ourselves with pop music and films and comedy instead of working, while still being in thrall to an Establishment personified by the Royals and the Archbishop of Canterbury, looking fidgety in the VIP box.

We then finally lose our grip completely and fall into a pit of internet addiction where everyone's attention span is so diminished that we demand an ever shorter series of blipverts. This vision of the future is then cemented by a parade of narcissistic youth carrying video cameras, many of them pointed at themselves.

The revolution will not be televised, because it won't happen, we'll all be too busy updating our Facebook pages.

[Pancho]

Thankyou ESL for a that very perceptive post. I agree entirely and am grateful for your clear articulation of thoughts similar to the less crystalised thoughts of my own.

[Titan]

Very good esl. I did enjoy the ceremony though and it did have something good to say about UK vs China if these cemonies can be seen as a sort of conversation about w
Hat cultures aspire to.

[Exit Stage Left]

I enjoyed it enormously, but I had to bear in mind the joke by Henning Wehn, 'People say Germans have no sense of humour. We do, but we like a joke after the work is done, not instead of'.

The industrialists in top hats finish their work by forging the Olympics in 1896, then disappear. All the artefacts we see after that are cultural, we could have had the Mini, or an E-Type I suppose, as iconic British products, but the Top Hatted industrialists would have to be replaced by the Germans and Indians who now own those manufacturers.

I include myself in criticism of how we are losing our way, it's easier to gain satisfaction from honing glib comments on the web than it is to do real work. Hopefully it's a passing phase.

[Pancho]

I think there was a Mini - the German version!

[Exit Stage Left]

I think there was a Mini - the German version!

It's owned by the Germans, but it's made in Britain, apart from the crankshafts and blocks, which are made by the French. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_engine
Culturally it's British though, well the brand is.
The whole ceremony was about 'Brand Britain'. Essentially it was a very expensive version of 'We didn't start the fire' by Billy Joel.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/eFTLKWw542g&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/eFTLKWw542g&rel=1</a> 

But the message was 'We did start the fire', but we've got a sense of humour, so don't go on about it.

[Rhys W]

Yeah, what the hey has Rowan Williams got to with the Olympics to get a ringside seat like that?

[Pingu]

So, was that all that's what's left of the NHS on show?

And 2 patients per bed.

[hubner]

Yeah, what the hey has Rowan Williams got to with the Olympics to get a ringside seat like that?

It's a state event (but subservient to the IOC), he gets a seat like he gets one in the House of Lords.

[Exit Stage Left]

Yeah, what the hey has Rowan Williams got to with the Olympics to get a ringside seat like that?

He's the most senior non-Royal  in the Order of Precedence, ranking just above Ken Clarke. It's about the order they walk in a procession, and who gets first dibs at the Finger Buffet. Ken Clarke obviously makes for the mini pork pies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_precedence_in_England_and_Wales

[AndyK]

The Heil finds new depths.

The Vile has quietly edited the article to remove the most racist parts: http://botherer.org/2012/07/28/the-daily-mail-and-how-an-nhs-death-means-racism-is-fine/


And an excellent blog response to Adolf Burley.

[Exit Stage Left]

Yeah, what the hey has Rowan Williams got to with the Olympics to get a ringside seat like that?

Orders of Precedence vary from country to country, Germany has no formal order of precedence, but there are 5 people who are honoured in protocol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_order_of_precedence
Scandinavian countries tend to be very rigid in their formal hierarchies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_order_of_precedence

[Steph]

Well, the mail has hit such depths before. Remember the child death blamed on striking teachers?

My own take on the Beeb's presentation was the sheer vapidity and lack of knowledge of the presenters. "One of the islands is called Bikini, but I don't think it's connected to the beach wear"

Idiot.

[Pancho]

I'm fairly certain the descriptor "world's biggest democracy" was applied to at least two nations during the parade.

But I presume commentators to such events are chosen for their ear friendly voices and tv friendly looks rather than intellectual (or even Trivial Pursuit) prowess.

[Exit Stage Left]

Well, the mail has hit such depths before. Remember the child death blamed on striking teachers?

My own take on the Beeb's presentation was the sheer vapidity and lack of knowledge of the presenters. "One of the islands is called Bikini, but I don't think it's connected to the beach wear"

Idiot.

They were probably aware of this film of Miss Evelyn Hamilton, which preceded, by 10 years, the atomic tests at Bikini that inspired the popular name for the two piece swimsuit.
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/cycling-tips

I'm fairly certain the descriptor "world's biggest democracy" was applied to at least two nations during the parade.

Brazil and India were both so described.