For Americans, Nick Clegg, the leader of the UK"s Liberal Democratic Party, remains a nobody. After all who in the land of rape and honey would know about the leader of a party which at the dissolvement of parliament held a meager 3rd place standing in Westminster? However, something extraordinary has happened since the first television debate held between the three leading parties a couple of weeks ago to which all persons in the West should be aware of.
The people of Britain, who to this day remain weary of the Thatcherites and the mealy-mouth platitudes of the Conservative party and have grown equally unsatisfied with the perennial deceit of New Labour, decided that maybe it was time to give someone else a chance at governing. The Liberal Democrats in the past few weeks have rocketed in national polls from 3rd place standing to overtake both the Conservatives and Labour at different times.
Unlike the twedledum and twedledee politics of Labour and the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats have embraced real ideas and proposed real changes to make the UK a better and different place. As today's Observer newspaper states,
The Lib Dems have in recent years developed a habit of getting things right. They were first of the big three to embrace environmentalism, first to kick back against the assault on civil liberties, alone in opposing the Iraq war.
However, it is Mr. Clegg who has infused the imagination of those who dare to think that the lesser of two evils is no longer an acceptable choice. Unlike the slick talking David Cameron, leader of the Conservatives, and the woefully dour Mr. Brown of Labour, Mr. Clegg appeared during those debates to be a very rare type of politician: a man with principles who could generally be described as decent. The Observer editorial elaborates,
Mr Clegg's mettle cannot be fully tested until he is in office. But he did manage, in the televised leaders' debates, to articulate sensible, liberal positions on immigration and on European integration that many Labour ministers might share but would be afraid to express. He resisted the temptations of casual populism and stated his case with passion and clarity.
On this side of the Atlantic, Andrew Sullivan's blog has been providing us with many key quotes and analysis during the British election. Yesterday, he posited a quote made by Mr. Clegg that I thought was beyond anything I have heard from any serious politician during an election:
Every time I go back to Beckett he seems more subversive, not less; his works make me feel more uncomfortable than they did before. The unsettling idea, most explicit in Godot, that life is habit – that it is all just a series of motions devoid of meaning – never gets any easier.
It's that willingness to question the things the rest of us take for granted that I admire most about Beckett; the courage to ask questions that are dangerous because, if the traditions and meanings we hold so dear turn out to be false, what do we do then?
But amid the bleakness, there is also humour, and it's no surprise that there are so many comedians among Beckett's fans. His appeal lies in his directness – the sparse, unembellished prose that can make his meticulous stage directions unexpected. He leaves you with a sense that you knew what he meant, even if explaining it back would leave you lost for words. Direct and disturbing – it is impossible to grow tired of Beckett.
Can you imagine George W. Bush and his armada of maladroits possibly contemplating Beckett, much less philosophizing on the inherent existential meanings of his work? In America, politicians that don't spout prefabricated and dogmatic responses are feared as subversive elite who couldn't possibility understand the woes of self-absorbed fatties who blame the world for their ills!
The people of the UK have a once in a lifetime chance to simultaneously throw-the-bums-out and reform their government while embracing modernity, everyday environmentalism, and pro-Europeanism in a single vote. I wish them and Nick Clegg much luck on Thursday.
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