Or something; I promptly and deliberately forgot all my Latin after O-levels.
After the election of 1997 that made Tony Blair Prime Minister, I was moved enough to send an email with the subject "The red day dawns". This despite my full knowledge that Blair had turned the Labour Party into a pale-blue imitation of the Tories, and that nothing but disappointment and the further rightward drift of all parties lay in store. Anything to be rid of the lingering taste of the odious Thatcher, who had deliberately dismantled almost everything that made the England of the 50s a better place to be a child (as I was then) than that of the 30s (when my parents were). It was left to Major to preside over the dismantling of the railways.
Why, then, was I left almost unmoved by the election of Barack Obama? While not by any stretch of the imagination on the left, he is a decent and honest liberal. Perhaps I knew what was coming next: an outpouring of advice to be "bipartisan" or (ugh) "postpartisan" or to "reach across the aisle". A few people suggest that this comes mostly from the Gormless Old Party, who have not seemed that keen on the idea for the last eight years, if ever. I disagree; it's coming from all over, and it's annoying me no end.
Before continuing, let us clear up the needless confusion sown by Americans' misuse of political terminology. "Liberal, moderate and conservative" do not mean "left, centre and right". An American liberal is much like a liberal anywhere else; that is, a fence-sitting centrist. A moderate is a right-winger who is not quite insane; a conservative is barking mad.
There are two titles from the political literature of recent years that have stuck with me. One is from a short article by Alexander Cockburn: "More bipartisan mush from the wimps". We are up to our necks in mush right now. The other is from a book by James Carville: "We're right, they're wrong". If you don't believe that, but insist on staying in politics, you are a true liberal, and deserve to spend the rest of your life with a fence-post jammed up your fundament.
Rise up, America! This is not a time for conciliation; this is a time for stomping on the enemy with hobnailed boots. Oh, and restoring respect for law and civility.