Smackdown! A Brit unleashed in the Senate
The week's news at a glance.
United Kingdom
Rupert Cornwell
The Independent
An American senator is no match for a British member of Parliament, said Rupert Cornwell in the London Independent. Americans learned that the hard way at a Senate subcommittee hearing last week. The subcommittee had naively invited MP George Galloway, an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, to respond to its charge that he had received kickbacks from Saddam Hussein. It was “manifestly unprepared for what was coming.” Galloway let fly with some of the “juicy invective” that so enlivens British politics. The war, he said, was based on a “pack of lies,” the current Iraq government was “an American puppet,” and the investigation into the oil-for-food scandal was “the mother of all smoke screens.” The subcommittee chairman, freshman Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, appeared shocked, cowed, and “way out of his depth.” U.S. politicians, you see, are used to deference and respect. They are “not accustomed to serious challenge.” Not one of them could possibly survive the onslaught of crude insults and sneering contempt that our prime minister faces each week during “Question Time.” Galloway may be a far-left demagogue, unloved at home. But he certainly gave us all an entertaining glimpse at “the mother of all culture gaps.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 19, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - 2024 votes, AI woes, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 high rating cartoons about Biden's low poll numbers
Cartoons Artists take on checklists, ice creams, and more
By The Week US Published
-
A gastronomic tour of the Costa de la Luz
The Week Recommends This Spanish spot has fantastic restaurants "rooted in the region's distinctive produce"
By The Week UK Published