The 2010 British General Elections

David Cameron – The Fall of the Labour Empire

David Cameron could not quite nail the Obama trick of change. As United Kingdom wakes up to a hung parliament for the first time since 1974. In 1974 a Conservative government failed to win a majority in the UK General Elections which lead to a second UK Election in October ’74. A second UK General Election 2010 is impossible to think of under the current circumstances. The recession recovery has just started in the UK and with Greece debt collapse barely a few weeks ago, the Conservative Party will be hoping for a national reconciliation and support from either Nick Clegg Liberal Democrats or other independents.

David Cameron - Is he the next British Prime Minister

The latest UK General Election news clearly suggests a hung parliament and no clear winners. That was not the case a month ago where David Cameron and the Conservative Party looked as comfortable winners of the UK General Elections. So before we get into what happened – Lord Ashcroft influence,

Gordon Brown’s likeability factors, Nick Clegg’s debate performance or was it something more? Something that has been overlooked.

The UK General Elections Results are still coming but the indications are that the Conservative Party will hold just over 305 seats in the British Parliament. They would surely fall short of the 326 majority needed to win the UK General Elections. There have been several high profile Labour election candidates that have lost their seat including Jacqui Smith who was the most face of the controversial of expenses claims scandal. Mr. David Cameron appeared for the camera with his wife looking quite satisfied but it hides his disappointment over not securing a majority.

The Liberal Democrats – Nick Clegg disappointment!

After the hoopla of the first UK 2010 General Election debate where Nick Clegg seemed to have confirmed his place as a rising star of British Politics. The results of the party have been very disappointing. People really don’t know too much about him in the national stage and therefore he has not succeeded in making a huge impact in the UK 2010 General Elections Nick Clegg has admitted disappointment and has said that David Cameron must form the new British government.

Gordon Brown – The End of Labour Era

The beginning of the end for Gordon Brown and the Labour Party started when British politics was hit with most humiliating political crisis for a century. The politicians expenses claims hit the Labour Party most and led to resignations of prominent Parliament MPs and cabinet reshuffling. He knew that the odds were against him in the British 2010 General Elections. However, Labour has managed to control the damage which had predicted political candidates losing over 150 seats from previous UK General Elections. The next few hours Gordon Brown will refuse to step down as the British Prime Minister and will try to forge an alliance with others. But his end is near and it is time for him to give up his clout and make way for new Labour leadership like – Ed Ball or David Miliband maybe?

Gordon Brown - The outgoing Prime Minister

What about David Cameron?

The reason why David Cameron has lost his control over the 2010 British General Elections is that he does not have a concrete answer to serious issues like the pull-out of British troops from Afghanistan and the British Economy recession recovery, It is quite obvious that Cameron’s rhetoric and flamboyant speeches have fallen short on delivery. The British people are not convinced that he is ready to be the Prime Minister.

Does Barack Obama want David Cameron or Gordon Brown. In politics a status quo is better than change. And Barack Obama would prefer Gordon Brown as he knows Gordon Brown.

India needs Leaderhip on the War on Terror!

Why can’t India learn from Mossad? We have had so many terrorist attacks in India in the last 10 years that we have unfortunately and shockingly just got bloody used to it. I am not going to talk about why or the politics of it all. I want revenge for 26 11, for Pune bomb attack, for Bombay and Delhi blasts. It is all coming from one country – Pakistan. Whether it is state sponsored or not, it does not matter. Forget the dialogue nonsense and our misguided attempts of being a peaceful nation. If they attack us like this it is time to take the war to the terrorists in Pakistan. Take it inside into Faridkot, Muridke, POK, the training camps, the infrastructure, the ISI heads, the ministers who support this movement and the mullahs who radicalize young men to come to my country and spread terror.

Belly of the beast!

 

We need intelligence on the ground. We need money and a complete infrastructure to deal with this problem. It’s not the foot soldiers who we are after, it’s the big boys.

Its Hafeez Sayeed, Maulana Masood Azhar, Dawood Abrahim, Memon brothers and any ISI top brass who supports this anti-India terrorism.

I don’t have anything against the people of Pakistan; its civilians are also the target of many terrorist attacks in the last few years. The snake which they fed, trained and radicalized is now an uncontrollable monster within. But that’s not our problem. We want the terrorism to end. And it can only end if we take it their backyard! No more peaceful protests, no more tears on TV, no more 24/7 news channels giving breaking news of an attack, no more the victim. Our peaceful dialogue approach is taken as a sign of weakness. Our patience has run out.

Taj Aftermath

 

The Solution:

Going to Pakistan and kidnapping these people and bringing them back to India for a trial is next to impossible. But just imagine the reaction, the fear in these people that the next time they attack us, India will respond. They should fear our reprisal, our wrath! If we cannot kidnap them then assignation is the only choice. But we need strong leadership and infrastructure to do something like this. No body in the Congress government strikes to me as someone who can do be this leader. Narendra Modi in Gujarat might be too extreme but he is the best we have got. Problem is that he is not a national leader and only a regional player enjoying his own celebrity status. We need an ex- army or maybe JK Dutt the person leading the NSG at the time of Mumbai attacks. See if they can do it, so can we. It will take time and we have to sacrifice but it will make us strong. They don’t fear us. This will make them tremble. We have on ground support in Balochistan, something which we can take advantage of. This is not about religion, this is not about Hindu vs. Islam, and this is about protecting our people, our citizens, and our children.

PRIYO TAKE:

If we need peace in India we need to start the war on terror in Pakistan!

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India needs Leadership on the War on Terror!

 

“We can forgive you for killing our sons. But we will never forgive you for making us kill yours.” – Golda Meir quote

 

Take the War to the Terrorists

Why can’t India learn from Mossad? We have had so many terrorist attacks in India in the last 10 years that we have unfortunately and shockingly just got bloody used to it. I am not going to talk about why or the politics of it all. I want revenge for 26 11, for Pune bomb attack, for Bombay and Delhi blasts. It is all coming from one country – Pakistan. Whether it is state sponsored or not, it does not matter. Forget the dialogue nonsense and our misguided attempts of being a peaceful nation. If they attack us like this it is time to take the war to the terrorist in Pakistan. Take it inside into Faridkot, Muridke, POK, the training camps, the infrastructure, the ISI heads, the ministers who support this movement and the mullahs who radicalize young men to come to my country and spread terror.

We need intelligence on the ground. We need money and a complete infrastructure to deal with this problem. It’s not the foot soldiers who we are after, it’s the big boys.

Its Hafeez Sayeed, Maulana Masood Azhar, Dawood Abrahim, Memon brothers and any ISI top brass who supports this anti-India terrorism.

I don’t have anything against the people of Pakistan; its civilians are also the target of many terrorist attacks in the last few years. The snake which they fed, trained and radicalized is now an uncontrollable monster within. But that’s not our problem. We want the terrorism to end. And it can only end if we take it their backyard! No more peaceful protests, no more tears on TV, no more 24/7 news channels giving breaking news of an attack, no more the victim. Our peaceful dialogue approach is taken as a sign of weakness. Our patience has run out.

 

The Solution:

Going to Pakistan and kidnapping these people and bringing them back to India for a trial is next to impossible. But just imagine the reaction, the fear in these people that the next time they attack us, India will respond. They should fear our reprisal, our wrath! If we cannot kidnap them then assignation is the only choice. But we need strong leadership and infrastructure to do something like this. No body in the Congress government strikes to me as someone who can do be this leader. Narendra Modi in Gujarat might be too extreme but he is the best we have got. Problem is that he is not a national leader and only a regional player enjoying his own celebrity status. We need an ex- army or maybe JK Dutt the person leading the NSG at the time of Mumbai attacks. See if they can do it, so can we. It will take time and we have to sacrifice but it will make us strong. They don’t fear us. This will make them tremble. We have on ground support in Balochistan, something which we can take advantage of. This is not about religion, this is not about Hindu vs. Islam, and this is about protecting our people, our citizens, and our children.

 

PRIYO TAKE:

If we need peace in India we need to start the war on terror in Pakistan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

India lacks such leadership. Releasing

 

 

Barack Obama: End of the Celebrity, beginning of the Presidency!

So after 1 year of Barack Obama as the President of the Free World – what we’ve learned about him and the future. Perhaps this just might be a single term presidency! 

Barack Obama: The promises of a lifetime

After the global euphoria over Barack Obama’s rise to the most powerful job in the world, the perfect inauguration and the now famous dance with the First Lady Michelle Obama over Etta James eternal longing love song “At Last”, it seemed the world had fallen in love with the First Black President of America. The world believed in his words, his love for equality and peace, that charismatic smile and of course the good looks! The legendary “Yes We Can” speech which still lives fresh in memory, Obama was quickly becoming the new JFK of Internet generation.

From Day 1, the unparallel global media attention over his every move, political pundits predicting the dawn of a new world, everything seemed to be going well. Even people like Bill O’ Reilly, the right-wing Fox commentator, was impressed and gave him a cautious thumbs up!  His inner circle – Robert Gibbs became White House spokesman, Rahm Emmanuel – the White House Chief of Staff, his best friend and “soul mate” David Axelrod becomes his Chief Advisor. The former First Lady and his main rival for the democratic ticket Hillary Clinton becomes the Secretary of State.

And let’s not forget Mr. Vice President – Joe Biden whose gaffe prone image was the perfect foil for the straight talking Obama! So what happened?

The first glimpse of a rookie administration started when there were goof ups on appointing a Treasure Secretary. Senator from South Dakota – Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination because of not paying taxes. He then roped in Timothy Geithner, who again was investigated due not paying taxes. But the polls forgave him after he appeared on Anderson Copper 360 and said he was sorry. I have never heard a head of state say “sorry”. Public support was vaguely back. The Obama spin machine’s constant drive for media attention drove him to Jay Leno and David Letterman; notwithstanding the “Special Olympics” comment. He again challenged the media by appearing on Al-Jazeera which was seen more as a deliberate media photo-op! Barack Obama’s one trip to Iraq after a day in Turkey was to shore up the support in the arm forces low on morale. His campaign promise of pulling out of Iraq seemed to go nowhere during the first six months. Obama’s defining moments during his election campaign was Universal Healthcare; it had run into road blocks in the Congress from his own democratic party. And then it was “the economy stupid”! Recovery from the recession as expected was very slow. The AIG bonus payout made a huge dent on his “control Wall Street” credentials.  The final blow came last week when the Democratic Party lost the coveted and previously assured Massachusetts senate seat to Scoot Brown. Robert Gibb during the White House briefing had to quickly douse the fire and blame Martha Coakley for being “dull” and uninspiring.

So here we are, a year later, it seems Joe Biden gaffes were the least of Obama’s problems. In fact he just might be the good guy! Did Barack Obama show us hope and change in a way that the cynical world had not seen before. The expectations were obviously so high that it took the President less than a year to make the “I don’t have a magic wand” statement.

Priyo’s Take: Barack Obama needs some measurable successes. Here are some of them:

• Catching a major terrorist in Afghanistan, perhaps Osama Bin Laden or Ayman Al Zawarhi
• Pushing the Healthcare reform through the congress and the senate before the mid-term elections
• Removing Robert Gates and Ben Bernanke, the two prominent relics of the Bush administration
• Spend less time with the MSNBC Brian Williams crowd playing the President
• During his “Real Time” show on HBO, Bill Maher said that Barack Obama should be a little like Bush when it comes to getting his agenda. He is the President; he can push the Congress on signing the Healthcare reform bill. He does not need to try and get support from both sides of aisle.

Or maybe just maybe, all of his moves, trying to resolve so many issues at once, will pay rich dividends in the time to come. But if he wants to win in 2012 he should hope the GOP make a certain “amazingly stupid” woman from Alaska their candidate.

Oh and one last thing, no more talk shows!