This may be the most hilarious headline I have ever seen:
Insane donor 'rational to give to Tories'
I'm not sure if it is exactly correct to call Britain's Tories (the Conservative Party) the counterpart to the Republicans in the US, but they are at least the primary opposition to the Labour Party, which bears a faint resemblance to the US Democratic Party (including having had a Bush enabler at the helm). So I'll make the comparison anyway, even though I know someone is going to comment how I "know nothing" about British politics. I'll give you my riposte ahead of time: Get a life. Anyway.
What this is leading to is the story accompanying the headline in The Guardian. It's about an eccentric millionaire who left his £10m estate to the Tories to fight the battle between Good and Evil. If this doesn't sound crazy to you, you will find the Tory party's consultant psychiatrist agreeing with you:
A consultant psychiatrist yesterday argued that a "delusionary insane" Tory donor had been "rational and logical" to leave millions of pounds to the Conservatives to fight "satanic monsters" and "dark forces" around the world. (The Guardian)
Not only does this sound a lot like George Bush's Republican Party, it sounds a lot like George W. Bush himself. His colleagues still maintain that while he may have been "delusionary insane" (or as they prefer it, an incompetent fuck-up), he is now "rational and logical" in his Iraq policy. So there must be more to his delusions than this, because in the US we consider this government policy. Of course government policy and insanity are not mutually exclusive categories. It's just what you choose to call it.
So why do they call donor Zoran Kostic's ideas delusionary? Mr. Kostic believed there was "an international conspiracy of more than 100 people masterminded by sexually perverted pharmaceutical company executives to destroy 'freedom, democracy and human purity.'" Sounds eerily descriptive of US health care policy to me.
Only kidding. I know Big Pharma isn't out to destroy human purity.
Comments
It sounds like Mr. Kostic may have been a Kubric fan. Look for the quote from General "Jack D. Ripper."
Posted by: JohnP | July 27, 2007 4:50 PM
"Sexually perverted pharmaceutical company executives out to destroy the world"
Actually, it was destroy "freedom, democracy and human purity".
Bush might agree about the "purity" (think: stem cells, genetic engineering).
Like Revere, I think the rest (freedom, think: Gautanamo, Homeland security, democracy think: hanging chads.) sounds quite reasonable to me.
I did not know (and am only slightly surprised} that it was the pharmaceutical executives that were the "masterminds".
"sexually perverted" is a subjective call. To some, everything beyond missionary is perverted.
Posted by: bar | July 28, 2007 12:26 AM
The fact that he thought only Maggie Thatcher could save the world from Satan was probably a sign of his delusion...
Posted by: MikeB | July 28, 2007 2:23 PM
I hate to disagree with someone as eminent as a Revere, but I think by local paper's 'Man faces fish in trousers charge' is a funnier headline.
The man was charged with shoplifing haddock by shoving it down his pants. Shame, because had it been another species he could have said, 'but 'lud, it's only a codpiece.' And he should have got a round of applause for adding to the gaiety of nations.
The same paper once reported: 'seagull flies amok in gift shop.'
Posted by: Peter McGrath | July 29, 2007 9:42 AM