Most sensible woman...

[Rilla]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4719977.stm

I've always thought that Cherie Blair was a most sensible woman. Someone needs to keep an eye on civil liberties and I think she is one of the more trustworthy people to do it.


[hr]

"O unworn world enrapture me, enrapture me in a web
Of fabulous grass and eternal voices by a beech"

[The Unwilling]

Quoting Rilla from 09:21, 27th Jul 2005
I've always thought that Cherie Blair was a most sensible woman. Someone needs to keep an eye on civil liberties and I think she is one of the more trustworthy people to do it.

I've always thought she was very intelligent, but not that sensible or trustworthy. It's not surprising she is espousing this view - one of her specialities is human rights after all...

Oddly enough, so is media and information law. No wonder she knows how to play them all. Like I said, a very intelligent woman.

[Steveo]

She is an iuntelegent woman, no doubt about it, she certainly didn't get to be a barrister by good looks. Trustworthy though, I'm unsure, I think she's oppertunistic like her husband.

[flarewearer]

Intelligent and succesful yes, trustworthy and principled? Well the way she has been acting of late it's just MONEY MONEY MONEY trading on the fact she is "The First Lady of Britain", which of course is complete balls. She should go and make speeches about being a succesful woman off her own hard work and accomplishments, not that of her husband, she's just giving herself a bad name and letting the side down for succesful women.

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[exnihilo]

And Britain already has a first lady, and a damn fine one at that.

[Eliot Wilson]

She is, as I think we've discussed, both a and the top sheila.

[hr]

Bill and Ted beat the Grim Reaper at Twister

Bill: "You played very well, Death, especially with your totally heavy Death robes."

Death: "Don't patronise me."

[The Unwilling]

Quoting flarewearer from 15:04, 27th Jul 2005
She should go and make speeches about being a succesful woman off her own hard work and accomplishments, not that of her husband, she's just giving herself a bad name and letting the side down for succesful women.

Sometimes she does, she is meant to be a damn fine barrister (if you can afford her rates), but it is getting tiresome hearing of her as Cherie Blair the PM's wife as opposed to Cherie Booth QC.

And like exnihilo and Mr Wilson said, we already have a First Lady of Britain.

[flarewearer]

Quoting The Unwilling from 16:22, 27th Jul 2005

Sometimes she does, she is meant to be a damn fine barrister (if you can afford her rates), but it is getting tiresome hearing of her as Cherie Blair the PM's wife as opposed to Cherie Booth QC.

And like exnihilo and Mr Wilson said, we already have a First Lady of Britain.

Thats exactrly my point! We have a first lady, well 2 really if you think about it. And she is eminently succesful in her own right, so why is she doing £30 000 speeches about what it slike to be married to tony blair and hang out the washing at #10?

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[Bonnie]

But Mr Mercer said: "Cherie Blair or Cherie Booth, whichever name she's going under just at the moment, is entitled to her private opinions of course and to express those.

"But she is the prime minister's wife and I think this is a desperately insensitive time for her to be making those sorts of comments."

What a load of twaddle!!!! I can't believe he came out to say that a wife shouldn't make comments, wives should be quiet and just be their husband's shadows.

Cherie Booth QC is much more qualified to comment on safeguarding human rights within the law then this guy is, but because she's a woman, Mercer wants her to sit by the wayside and let the old boys handle it. If Cherie's exact same comments were made by a man, even one of much less academic standing, there would be no question about whether it is right to make such comments. We live in Britain where free speech is one of the core values we wish to protect from terrorists. However, some people seem to want to restrict that value from women.

He really should be ashamed of himself. He is a Tory spokesman and I think it's a desperately insensitive time for him to be making those sorts of comments.

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I love cheese.

[munchingfoo]

Since when did this become about sexism. I hate it when idiots just scream sexism, or racism without actually looking at the facts. I believe you to be quite wrong, if this had been a man who was married to a female prime minister exactly the same principle would apply.

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[s]
My entire life in boolean logic

¬emptyGlass(pint) => drinking(Andy)
emptyGlass(pint) AND ¬stomache(full) => buy(pint)
emptyGlass(pint) AND stomache(full) => buy(vodka)
emptyGlass(vodka) => buy(vodka)
¬emptyGlass(vodka) => drinking(Andy) [/s]

[Prophet Tenebrae]

So you're saying, Bonnie if the American First Lady stood up and said "My husband is an idiot who took us to war in Iraq for no reason." that that would be just fine and dandy. The everyday work of the President's wife?

It's not about sexism you silly bint, it's about common fucking sense.

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IMAGE:www.btinternet.com/~brother.war/white10-2.gif

[Bonnie]

Has Cherie made any personal comments about her husband? No
Has she commented in a field she is an academic expert in? Yes,
So why does Mercer bring up her martial status?
He pute her down using her sex and marital status, he even questions her professional name.

[hr]

I love cheese.

[munchingfoo]

Oh come on now Bonnie, it's not like she is married to Joe Blogs the cleaner. Her husband is the Prime Minister. This will always be one of the prevelant things mentioned when talking about her. Like I said, the EXACT SAME would apply to the husband of a female PM.

The very nature of the english language makes it impossible to construct a complex sentence about a particular person of a known sex without mentioning their gender.

Seriously, please come back with something a little more substantial.

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[s]
My entire life in boolean logic

¬emptyGlass(pint) => drinking(Andy)
emptyGlass(pint) AND ¬stomache(full) => buy(pint)
emptyGlass(pint) AND stomache(full) => buy(vodka)
emptyGlass(vodka) => buy(vodka)
¬emptyGlass(vodka) => drinking(Andy) [/s]

[Senethro]

What are you even arguing over? :/

[Prophet Tenebrae]

"So why does Mercer bring up her martial status?"

The fact she's married to the Prime minister perhaps? If she was just a barrister, it would be fine. She isn't - hence her marital status IS relevant.

The whole issue is that she's the prime minister's wife. If she wasn't, it wouldn't be an issue.

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IMAGE:www.btinternet.com/~brother.war/white10-2.gif

[munchingfoo]

Quoting Senethro from 17:41, 27th Jul 2005
What are you even arguing over? :/

Bonnie tried to make this discussion look like it was based on sexism, when it quite blatently is not.

[hr]

[s]
My entire life in boolean logic

¬emptyGlass(pint) => drinking(Andy)
emptyGlass(pint) AND ¬stomache(full) => buy(pint)
emptyGlass(pint) AND stomache(full) => buy(vodka)
emptyGlass(vodka) => buy(vodka)
¬emptyGlass(vodka) => drinking(Andy) [/s]

[Bonnie]

It's not at all about common sense. Where in any of Mercer's comments is there common sense? He is talking about how he feels it's inappropriate for her to make comments purely because she is married to someone. He does NOT, and I ask you to read the article again, he does NOT say it is inappropriate to consider human rights. On the other hand, does someone's marital status makes the comments dissensitive? According to Mercer, Cherie is wrong even if she is speaking to a group within her own profession simply because she is married.

I see absolutely no comments made by Ms Booth that warrants such a reaction. Where does she mention her personal life in her comments? She is a professional at that conference and should be redeemed as such.

I do truly believe that if a male had said it, he would not be comdemned, and you know why? Academics have been saying this stuff for years, even before the London terrorist attacks! Cherie has not come out with anything new here, comments such as this are made every night on the news talk shows, but this Tory somehow believes that she should keep her lips shut and stand in the corner. A cup of tea would be lovely dear.

Yes, Mercer is a sexist for saying such things. If you disaggree, then you obviously have no idea what sexism is. I hope you never ever ever come to a postion of power, unless Britain wants to revert back to a sexist old boys society.

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I love cheese.

[Senethro]

It looks to me like Mr Mercer is just a big noob...

[Bonnie]

[quote]Quoting Prophet Tenebrae from 17:03, 27th Jul 2005
So you're saying, Bonnie if the American First Lady stood up and said "My husband is an idiot who took us to war in Iraq for no reason." that that would be just fine and dandy. The everyday work of the President's wife?[hr]

Where was Cherie commenting on war in Iraq? Where was she making any comments about her husband or at all about her personal life?

Firstly, Mrs Bush is not an academic nor a professional and thus this cannot be a true analogy. However if Mrs Bush was commenting on something she was a recognised expert in and made no comment about her personal life, I would not expect Democrats to say that that was inappropriate basing their reasoning entirely on whether she wears a wedding ring or not.

[hr]

I love cheese.

[Bonnie]

Quoting munchingfoo from 17:36, 27th Jul 2005
Oh come on now Bonnie, it's not like she is married to Joe Blogs the cleaner. Her husband is the Prime Minister. This will always be one of the prevelant things mentioned when talking about her. Like I said, the EXACT SAME would apply to the husband of a female PM.

The very nature of the english language makes it impossible to construct a complex sentence about a particular person of a known sex without mentioning their gender.

I never questioned his use of the English language. I question his insistence that a QC of high professional standing should not be allowed to comment on making sure human rights are protected by law. One can still report on her comments without Mercer making a complete ass of himself. If she were the husband of a male PM and was still a leading QC and was an expert in human rights, I don't think anyone would dare question whether he could comment.

Let me put it this way, where are Mercer's comments on all the other academics and professionals who are saying the same thing? Are they also insensitive? Should we lock up every dissenter and then the rest of us sit down and shut up while a police state takes over simply because this is "a sensitive time"? Absolutely not! What Ms Booth QC is saying is that we must be sure to not forget the core values and freedoms of our society, these things which make our society strong. We must not be reactionary in our reactions.

However, Mercer seems to think that Ms Booth's comments about what makes our society strong are inappropriate.

(This is the exact reason why she goes by her maiden name professionally, because she wants to keep that separated from her husband. She is not Mrs Blair.)

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I love cheese.