Where is Our House of Lords
That very last thing Mrs. Astor will ever do is dirty her gloved hands with the soot of politics, but I had to smile today when I read in The Sun of Britain's House of Lords' impending action. They are today preparing to scuttle Tony Blair's draconian "terror" law that was shoved down the House of Commons like a dry biscuit with clotted cream.
It brings to mind what a civics professor once told us. The British, who had done so much to cultivate government as we know it and spread it around the world, had one advantage on the United States: The House of Lords. This body of 700 had been in existence since the 1300's and is made up of a very small ecclesiastical Lords Spiritual and the much larger Lords Temporal (Lords of Parliament) who are members of the peerage and serve for life. As such, they handle matters no elected official would dare consider, debate issues which mute others, and dare to think with their minds rather than with their campaign chests.
Their power has been greatly eroded by the elected side of Parliament of the years, but they are never afraid to stand up and declare, "NO, gentlemen. That is wrong." That appears to be what they are doing today, and thank God for them.
posted by Alexis du Bois @ 9:35 AM
2 Comments:
The only problem with life peerage, of course, is that a lot of the old bastards who sit in the House of Lords are ancient and, therefore, have an ancient point of view on certain matters - particularly equality issues for gay people in this country.
The House of Lords played a pivotal role in the delay to repeal Clause 28 in England, for example. In Scotland, of course, without a House of Lords to answer to, this revolting law was repealed much more quickly (despite the bank-rolling of a wealthy bus company owner and his witch of a sister, of course).
Don't even get me started on the whole hunting debate!
...and what's a classy lady like you doing reading The Sun, anyway?
GS x
New Planet, I stand corrected (as I thought I may). The point is for US is to need SOMETHING of governmental balance to say "NO". We don't have it. How do we even ask to request for a answer to a difficult problem. I know we would be plagued by "Lords" of Rooselvelts, Kennedy's, and Wilsons, but--then we would challenged them EVERY day and--perhaps get and answer. We have no answer right now. I wish for a House of Lords.
I understand your concern; but we have no answer, excet bayonets.
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