Anti-Climacus

'Somebody told me to vote Conservative...':

Results not fully in, but, well, it looks like we'll get the answer to the question "when is a win not a win?' And a good likelihood that the creep and thug George Galloway will be sitting in Parliament. If I were feeling more ironic, I'd do a Kent Brockman reset*, but mostly it signals to me that the typical response to standing on principle in politics is to either get run out of office, or else practically so. Which is to say, indulging myself in a moment of cynicism (and perhaps someone who knows British politics better than me (SIAW?) can correct me if I'm wrong), but Labour is likely to railroad Tony Blair out sooner rather than later (<2 years, unless they're feeling very vindictive, which they might, and I'd give it less than a year), Gordon Brown will take over, and, having as he does slightly less in the way of mass political acumen, will run New Labour back to being Old Labour, which primes the Tories to do exceptionally well in another four to five years**.

900 vote margin for Respect in Benthal Green and Bow on 52.1% turnout. Ugh.

*'how many times do I have to say it? democracy just doesn't work, people!'

**Or, heaven forbid, the LibDems