Hurrah, 'Health, wealth and happiness.' Except for viewers in Scotland

In this period of goodwill to all men and excessive festive overindulgence it's heartening to see that Aberdeenshire has been chosen as the locale with the best quality of life in all of Scotland.

The Scottish media are quoting this 'fact' from the Bank of Scotland's annual Quality of Life survey which is compiled by the banks Housing economist, Nitesh Patel. Down South where the leafy suburbia of Embridge was chosen as the bestest place to live in the whole of the United Kingdom, for the third year running, the media of course refer to Mr Patel as Housing Economist at the Halifax, for some reason the two banks are entirely seperate entities in the public mind, down there, darned if I can figure out why.

Naturally, I was as giddy as he Tartan Overlords milliner  that Aberdeenshire placed so high as to come top of the poll. What's that you say? Aberdeenshire came top of only the thirty-two Scottish authorities. Oh well surely the best place to live in Scotland must have placed quite high in the UK table...Ahh I see Aberdeenshire placed 178th -- ahh that'll be a drop of 25 places from dizzy heights of last years 153rd. Fear not, I'm not forgetting Wales. Monmouthshire came in at a nose bleed inducing 189th.

So that means there are 177 places in England that have a better quality of life than the best place in Scotland. Not to worry, Mr Patel informs us that Scotland benefits from good ratings on the environment, low population density and the absolute clincher for me...low levels of traffic. 

Southernville does remarkably well on such indicators as health, weather, employment levels and average income. The average weekly wage in Elmbridge is £1018. Yes, that's a weekly wage of One Thousand and Eighteen Pounds per week...

I'm quite sure the good people of Embridge deserve this level of remuneration. Stockbrokers and professional footballers, after all are only people who deserve to enjoy to enjoy the fruits of their labour...Although it must be a living hell having to put up with a slightly higher density of population and terrible traffic jams.


Overall, this lovely annual survey convinces me that it's becoming as rare as a smile on Iain Gray's coupon, to find any reason for the continuation of this forced marriage of a Union.

So, to readers in Scotia, where did your local authority place in this survey?

Kirsty Wark : an aide-mémoire...

Lest we forget. Let me take you back to thursday the 7th of June 2007. The Tartan Overlord called for an emergency session in Holyrood to read out and answer questions pertaining to a 'memorandum of understanding' that Tony Blair, the then PM, had signed with Col Gaddafi in Libya about an exchange between each countries nationals held in the other country's prison. As we all know, there was only one Libyan national held in a Scottish prison. 

Blair, his spin doctors and lackeys in the British media kicked up an almighty fuss claiming that this was nothing to do with Mr Al Megrahi. The Libyans went on record saying that Megrahi's case was the whole point of the meeting. Gaddafi's son claimed "When Blair came here we signed the agreement. We signed an oil deal at the same time. The commerce and politics and deals were all with the prisoner transfer agreement."


The Unionists in the Scottish Parliament for the one and only time in nearly four years agreed unanimously that Blair had no right to make decisions which directly affected the process of Scots law without consultation with the devolved Parliament. Within hours the London knives were out for Jack McConnell for having the temerity to agree with Salmond.


BBC Newsnight brought out the big guns in its defence of Blair and unleashed Kirsty Wark on an unsuspecting nation.




The question posed was simple, which government was telling the truth the British, Scottish or Libyan? 

 Now thanks to Julian Assange, we know. Libya and Scotland were telling the truth. The discredited Labour Party in England and Scotland were guilty of lying to the electorate, their friends in the media were guilty of bombast, disinformation and promoting the lies of their friends. 

When will Richard Baker, Iain Gray, Tony Blair, Douglas Alexander, David Miliband, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Jim Murphy, David Cairns, Elaine Murray, David Mundell, Russell Brown, Tavish Scott and Annabel Goldie apologise to the Scottish and British electorate?

The Megrahi effect...

So here we are, the morning after the Megrahi Wikileak. Citizens of a normal country expect to be able to go to their newspapers and read all about the most contentious story in Scotlands recent history. A story that has lead the hyperbole on everything from boycotts of Scotland and Scottish goods, demands that our First Minister and Justice Secretary appear before another countries Senate committee, that his release somehow was responsible for Gary McKinnon's likely extradition, that he was released on the orders of BP. A whole panapoly of accusations, lies, cant and hypocrisy from Labour, Tory and Lib Dem politicians have filled our pages for the past 15 months. So one might reasonably expect that Scotland's fair and impartial media would have some comments to make on the 'Megrahi effect', particularly the opportunity to justify them standing up on their hind legs and braying like donkeys at every possible opportunity. 

So how does BBC Scotland, our nations favourite broadcaster, report the biggest  story this year in their 'What the Scottish Papers' say section? 

Not a chuffing word. But hey let's keep banging on about the weather and how it's the SNP's fault.

Never mind, surely it's reported elsewehere in Scotland, let's see what the Unionist politicians had to say about it in the Scotsman's version...

  
Oh, not a sausage.

Nevermind BBC Radio Scotland have just had an interview with the Tartan Overlord -- about the weather...

A Parade of Treats.

So there we have it, on the day that British justice shows itself to be firmly ensconsed in the US Government's back pocket, Wiki leaks manages to release the cable we've all been waiting on.

It's left to The Guardian to tell us that the London government were terrified that the repercussions Gadaffi threatened would be another 'Switzerland', whilst pointing out that the Scottish Government had turned down a 'parade of treats'.

Just what did Gadaffi try to tempt the Tartan Overlord with?

If it wasn't iced doughnuts, was it perhaps treasure?

Or maybe Gold stuck away in tax free vaults?

Nope,  how about oil deals? 

After all isn't what that weasel Senator Menandez claimed with his Senate committee? That the Scottish Government had been in cahoots with BP, and Megrahi's release was merely pretendy cancer cells greasing the wheels of commerce?

What of those pygmies that stood up and crowed at the top of their lungs exploiting the pain and loss of all the victims that the Scottish Government had been up to shenanigans with Gadaffi.

 

Hey Scotland wake up, is this is the shower of lying, manipulative, underhand bastards you want representing you? 

How do I feel about it? Words can barely begin to demonstrate the disgust and...

Monday, 24 August 2009, 14:05
C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 001946
NOFORN
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE AND NEA/MAG
EO 12958 DECL: 08/24/2019
TAGS PREF, PTER, UK, LY
SUBJECT: SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT HOLDS EMERGENCY SESSION AS
DEBATE OVER MEGRAHI DECISION REACHES FEVER PITCH
REF: A. LONDON 1925 AND PREVIOUS B. STATE 80743
Classified By: Ambassador Louis B. Susman, reasons 1.4 (b/d).

1. (C/NF) Summary. The Scottish Government severely underestimated the both USG and UK public reaction to its decision to grant compassionate release to convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on August 20. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has privately indicated that he was "shocked" by FBI Director Mueller's public letter. The media continue to report U.S. anger over the decision, and concern Scotland will be targeted economically, through reduced U.S. tourism and whiskey boycotts. The media speculate that the UK Government had a hand in the deal to maintain good diplomatic relations with Libya and secure oil and gas deals, which the UK Government has denied as "completely wrong" and "offensive." Today (August 24), the Scottish Parliament meets to hear Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill's explanation of his decision. The media speculates that Scottish opposition parties, all of which are on record condemning the decision, may move against the Scottish National Party's (SNP) minority government in a vote of no confidence, though the two-thirds majority required to secure such a move would be very difficult to obtain. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has not yet made a statement on Megrahi's release, with other Cabinet members maintaining that it was a decision for the devolved Scottish Government. Given growing discontent and speculation about a UK Government hand in the deal, Brown may have to make a statement soon. Meanwhile, local Scottish opposition politicians are using the issue to call into question the SNP government's credibility and competence. End summary.

Reaction to USG Statements

--------------------------

2. (C/NF) The UK media have widely reported on FBI Director Mueller's letter to MacAskill and Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mullen's comments on the Scottish Government's decision to grant compassionate release to convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi. Washington-based Scottish Government Representative Robin Naysmith told CG Edinburgh Sunday, August 24 that Scottish First Minister Salmond was "shocked" by Mueller's comments, which were "over the top" given that President Obama had already commented on the decision. Naysmith underscored that Scotland received "nothing" for releasing Megrahi (as has been widely suggested in the UK and U.S. media), while the UK Government has gotten everything - a chance to stick it to Salmond's Scottish National Party (SNP) and good relations with Libya. (NOTE: We expect Naysmith to be engaging heavily in Washington on these issues. END NOTE.)

3. (C/NF) The media have also reported growing concerns that American anger over the decision will translate into a boycott of Scottish whiskey and reduced American tourism in Scotland, an approximately USD 416 million business annually. In a previous meeting with CG Edinburgh on Friday, August 21, Salmond reiterated that he and his government "had played straight" with both the USG and UK Government, but implied that the UK Government had not. During the meeting, which occurred before the Mueller and Mullen statements, he said he wanted to move beyond the Megrahi issue and deepen Scotland's relationship with the USG. He said the Libyan Government had offered the Scottish Government "a parade of treats," all of which were turned down. (NOTE: Roughly fifty percent of Scottish exports go to the U.S., and over 450 U.S. businesses employ over 100,000 Scots in Scotland. END NOTE.)

4. (SBU) Scottish Government statements, including those from Salmond, have acknowledged the "strongly-held views of the American families," but underscored that those views are not shared by all of the victims' families (referring primarily to the British families). Salmond defended the decision, saying it was "right in terms of (the Scottish) legal system" and "what (they) are duty-bound to do." Salmond is also reported in the media to have said that the USG had made clear that, while it opposed Megrahi's release, it regarded freeing him on compassionate grounds "far preferable" to a transfer under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA). (NOTE: While indicating the USG's preference for compassionate release over a PTA transfer, as described in reftel B, Salmond's statement does not mention the USG's strong opposition to any release, particularly one that would allow Megrahi to travel outside of Scotland. END NOTE.)

Scottish Parliament Holds Emergency Session

-------------------------------------------

5. (SBU) The Scottish Parliament holds an emergency session Monday at 1430 local time (August 24), calling on Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill to explain his decision. All three opposition parties in Scotland (Labour, Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats) have condemned the minority Scottish National Party (SNP) government's decision to release Megrahi. The media openly speculate that a vote of no confidence will occur if MacAskill does not resign, but it would be difficult for opposition parties to garner the two-thirds majority required (87 of the 129 seats), if the SNP is able to maintain control of its 47 Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs).

6. (SBU) Scottish opposition political figures, like Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray and former Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell, have condemned the decision to release Megrahi, calling it a "grave error of judgment." Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavis Scott said, "The SNP's credibility at home and abroad is in tatters. Scotland's must not be allowed to follow with it."

Compassionate Release for Oil and Gas?

--------------------------------------

7. (SBU) The UK media widely speculates that the UK Government had a hand in the decision to release Megrahi in order to maintain good diplomatic relations with the Libyans and to secure oil and gas deals, citing the now infamous 2004 "deal in the desert" between former PM Blair and Libyan leader Qaddafi, recent meetings and correspondence between PM Brown and "Muammar," a recent meeting between Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Qaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, and other high-level trade delegations. Qaddafi's personal thanks to Brown, the Queen, and the British Government after embracing Megrahi in a televised statement have fanned the flames and increased calls for Brown to explain the UK's involvement in the decision-making process. Mandelson insisted to the media that it is "completely wrong" and "offensive" to suggest that Megrahi's release was linked to trade deals. A Foreign Office contact reiterated to Poloff August 24 that such speculation is "completely absurd." He acknowledged that the Libyans had raised Megrahi at every turn in their burgeoning diplomatic relationship, but said that Megrahi's release was "never directly or implicitly" linked to any deal.

UK Government Reaction

----------------------

8. (C/NF) Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is currently on holiday in Scotland, has refrained from comment. Acting PM Chancellor Alistair Darling has said, "you either devolve the responsibility for criminal justice or you don't," a position that Foreign Secretary Miliband supported in interviews on Friday, August 21. Miliband affirmed that "the sight of a a mass-murderer getting a hero's welcome in Tripoli is deeply upsetting, deeply distressing." Conservative leader David Cameron has sent Brown a public message condemning the decision and calling on Brown to "make clear his own views" on the decision.

UK-Libya

--------

9. (C/NF) Foreign Office North Africa team leader Rob Dixon told Poloff August 24 that the UK has been telling the Libyan Government, through Saif al-Islam and the Foreign Ministry, that the Libyan Government's handling of its September 1 national day festivities will determine the future of the UK-Libya bilateral relationship. Dixon explained that the UK has explicitly told the Libyans that Megrahi should not be featured in any high-profile way. He said that the UK has also told the Libyans that Qaddafi's personal thanks to PM Brown and the Queen were "unhelpful" and the UK Government's "unhappiness" had been communicated "in clear terms." Dixon said the Foreign Office will take stock after the September 1 festivities.

UK-Scotland

-----------

10. (C/NF) Dixon termed "absurd" MacAskill's comment (in his original August 20 statement about Megrahi's release) that the UK Government's refusal to make representations was "highly regrettable." Referring to MacAskill's welcoming of a public inquiry into the case, Dixon said such an undertaking would be "nearly impossible" given the way devolution works. Dixon implied that the comments were designed to blame the UK Government for putting the Scots in a position to have to make a decision. Dixon told Poloff on August 24 that the Foreign Office had had no contact with the Scottish Government since the decision was announced.

Comment

-------

11. (C/NF) It is clear that the Scottish Government underestimated the blow-back it would receive in response to Megrahi's release and is now trying to paint itself as the victim. It seems likely, especially given the increasing speculation that the UK Government had a hand in the decision, that Prime Minister Brown will have to address the issue publicly. Meanwhile, local Scottish opposition politicians are trying to undercut the SNP minority government's credibility as much as possible.

12. (U) Tripoli minimize considered.

Visit London's Classified Website: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Unit ed_Kingdom

SUSMAN

Like snaw aff a dyke...

Shitting crikey. This weather is not a disaster; it is not catastrophic, Scotland is not gridlocked, there are no Godzilla's roaming the earth munching people in their slow moving cars, flaming meteorites are not thumping into the planet, we are not ruined, we've not ground to a halt, being late to work is not a tragedy, zombie snowmen are not eating your babies as they walk home from school in the snow, roads have no emotions, they are not treacherous, sub-zero temperatures do not equate to a cataclysm. 

It snowed, some people decided to plough on despite the warnings of err snow, more fool them. 

Here's Dougie with the sports news. 

A Scotsman, an Englishman, a Welshman and an Irishman walk into a bar...

I've always been miffed at the stereotype of the cheap, miserly, frugal, parsimonious Scot, the type who created the Grand Canyon when he dropped a penny down a gully. I always believed it was a myth broadcast good naturedly by our English friends, much like they've created jokes about everyone else in the world, you know Krauts, Frogs, Eyeties, Dagos,  Spics, Yanks etcetera. Then there's the really embracing racial ones that I'll refrain from using. But back to stereotypes, much as Paddy is thick and Taffy a thief. Jock is always tight with his money. It's an image that's been perpetuated around the world through popular culture and commerce. 

Companies use it in advertising discounted goods and deals. I've seen tartan clad images extolling the savings to be had from Floridian garden centres to French bags for life. Other nations portray us as tight wads who'd rather die than spend a penny on an indulgence. Take a wander in Southern Germany and grimace while the locals explain to you why the Scots are similar to their covetous, grasping, money obsessed Swabian neighbours...

I don't know the origins of where this reputation for parsimony came from. I suppose a people traditionally never more than a wage packet away from poverty have had every right to be frugal and careful with their money. But to be openly chided as being money obsessed, well it's a bitter pill to swallow. Dr Johnston's quip about oats when he grandly rumbled "a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people" perhaps set the tone. I would have had a lot more respect for Boswell if he'd turned round and lamped the good Doctor rather than obsequiously titter at his wit and erudition. The twat.

Since Charles Dickens misread an Edinburgh gravestone marked 'Ebeneezer Lennox Scroggie - Meal Man' and somehow contrived it to read as 'Ebeneezer Scrooge - Mean Man' and thus created the archetypal Scottish miser in 'A Christmas Carol' we've all been screwed. Even Robert Louis Stevenson gave us the truly wretched miser Ebeneezer Balfour in 'Kidnapped'.  Disney got in on the action as early as 1943 when they created the prototype for Scrooge McDuck in this propaganda film that was supposed to stop honest working Ducks from spending their dosh on zoot suits and hootchy cootchy red hot mamas and spend it on tax for guns instead...




The above film was supposedly banned, not for the couthy but biased depiction of the Scot, but instead for suggesting that taxes should be used for guns -- mmkay guns are bad...

The writers of the Beverly Hillbillies created Milburn Drysdale, the greedy Scottish American banker who tried to steal the Clampett's money and stop them spending on luxuries. Generations of kids around the world have grown up with the Glaswegian Scrooge McDuck as their dominant example of what a Scot is like and how we react to money and its non spending. In The Simpsons we have the two best known 'Scots' in the world in C. Montgomery Burns, as a Scottish-American miserly Billionaire and arguably the most famous Scot of them all, Groundskeeper Willie. A man not known for his profligate ways...

So it's fair to say that culture has given us a reasonable kicking as stingy tightwads. Proof of our nations generosity during the annual charity whine-a-thons is always mentioned on our local news but only ever raised for comic effect down south, where it is suggested that we donate more per head, because -- we have to. 

In the world of reality even Andrew Carnegie, possibly the greatest philanthropist the world has ever known, a man who gave away £80 million for libraries around the world was regarded by the London and American press as a miser, because he didn't tip in restaurants... 

In political life, despite all evidence to the contrary, the hard of thinking Unionists trot out the timeless nugget that all Scots are state subsidised spongers too mean and miserly to let go of London's benefits largesse... 

All my life I've fought against this mince, believing that the people and friends I see around me, are generous to a fault, give freely to charity, man the stalls and barricades, lend a hand, support each other. That Scots are far removed from this hurtful and malicious sterotype.  

That was until I had a look at the results of the latest poll done by the Scottish Social Attitudes survey, conducted by Professor Heinz Wolff  sorry Professor John Curtice of the Scottish Centre for Social Research. Media commentators barely able to contain the squirming in their pants gushed forth, telling us that support for Independence was at a low of 23% -- a full one percentage point lower than when the SNP took Government in 2007. 

Ha, they laugh in the face of Independence. I had a look at the poll and yeah verily it stated that when 1,495 folk in Scotland were asked for their Constitutional preference, a mere 23% of the face painted, die hard, deep fried mars bar warriors expressed a desire for an Independent Scotland.


So that's it then, the game is indeed a bogey, there's no point in continuing with the struggle, nuts to all that as-long-as-one-hundred-of-us-are-still-standing malarkey...We're well and truly rammed up the chuffhole without a puggle.


But wait one wee minute, further down the poll, in fact the very last part, has this thoroughly wordy, but worthy set of questiona:


Say that it was clear that if Scotland became an independent country, separate from the rest of the UK, taxes would be the same as now.
 
In those circumstances, would you be in favour or against Scotland becoming an independent country?

Now, let us say it was clear that if Scotland became an independent country, (separate from the rest of the UK), people would on average pay an extra £500 a year in tax.

In those circumstances would you be in favour or against Scotland becoming an independent country?
 
And, say it was clear that if Scotland became an independent country (separate from the rest of the UK) people would on 
average pay £500 less a year in tax.

In those circumstances would you be in favour or against Scotland becoming an independent country?

	Taxes same	TaxesUp	Taxes down
	%	%	%
Strongly in favour/in favour	36	16	45
Neither in favour/nor against	23	15	17
Against/Strongly against	38	66	35
Don’t know	2	2	3
Sample size	1495	1495	1495

So look at that, if your average tight fisted miserly Jock can be persuaded that he or she will save £500 a year on their tax bill they'll be quite happy to vote for an Independent Scotland, all for the saving of roughly £1.37 a day. A jump from 23% to 45% in favour of Independence all for the saving of £500. To those 22% arrivistes, you cheap, miserable, miserly 90 minute patriots, you're selling your countries future for the equivalent of a Daily Record and a Mars bar a day.

Imagine how many more of these free loading bastards would sign up if we could show them that an Independent Scotland, successful in business and society could save them a grand a year? 

Give me fiscal autonomy or give me debt.

Yep, I know I've been quiet of late, weather, family, life etcetera has got in the way. Also, every time I've spotted something approaching half interesting to write about, the ever expanding and fact-tastic Scottish bloggeratti usually get to it by the time I've stopped musing...yep I do have occasions to muse.

Anyhoo, I spotted something yesterday that seems to have been lost in the plethora of St Andrew's day malarky of Scotland Bills, hilarious and terrifying Wikileaks and the ongoing snowpocalypse.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, she of President Bill and the current US Secretary of State, sent Scotland a Happy Saint Andrew's Day card on behalf of the American people. 

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I congratulate the people of Scotland as you celebrate St. Andrew’s Day on November 30.

Scotland’s unique culture and traditions have long been admired around the world, and the special ties between our two nations date back to the founding of the United States. From Patrick Henry and John Paul Jones to Davy Crockett and Neil Armstrong, trail-blazing Scottish-Americans have helped shape the history of our country in profound ways.

Today, the United States and Scotland continue to share strong ties rooted in our common ancestry, values, and interests. Our people work together on many of the most pressing challenges of our time, and both houses of the United States Congress have Friends of Scotland Caucuses to further promote friendship and cooperation between Scotland and the United States.

I wish the people of Scotland a joyous St. Andrew’s Day celebration and a successful year ahead. We look forward to further deepening our friendship throughout the future.

Now colour me sentimental, but I was really chuffed by that random act of pleasantness. Naturally I'd have been happier if she given us a wee row of kisses at the bottom, however, the sentiment is there and that's enough for me. Given the madness emanating from the Megrahi affair, I found it comforting that the USA could be bothered to extend a friendly hand for shaking. Naturally this err positive story didn't impel the Scottish media to give it much coverage as they were universally writhing in paroxysms of orgiastic delights over the fact that we can now set our own speed and alcohol limits and shock horror oh and ban neds from shooting drug dealers with air rifles. Only STV managed a bit of online presence and covered the story, highlighting the fact that this greeting was delivered by telegram. The site of a young feller wading through the snow to deliver this missive to his Eckness fair cheered me up no end.

It was particularly nice, as some of our blessed Unionist dependence junkies have decided to add the Megrahi effect to the Gary McKinnon extradition bollocks mix and come up with the entirely without-any-foundation claim that McKinnon will be extradited to the USA. This despite the intervention of that one eyed bloke who used to be Prime Minister's intervention, who, fair do's to him, plead for McKinnon to serve any sentence in the UK.

My local MSP Elaine 'Tiny Tears' Murray in  The Herald

was front and centre with her own distinctive brand of caterwauling. “There is no doubt that Kenny MacAskill’s flawed decision to release the Lockerbie bomber damaged our international relationships, but it is important to establish that it did not have an impact on other specific cases.” 

Now that sounds to me like she's calling for an investigation into the Megrahi release which will display concrete examples of how compassionate release equates to 'damaged international relationships. In the words of the Wendy, bring it on. It'd be nice to see Tiny Tears doing something worthwhile for a change, she's been gulping at the public teat in Dumfries since 1999 and has exactly diddly squat to show for all her harpy like shreiking.


Anyhoo back to the 'telegram' from Mrs Clinton. She makes reference to trail-blazing Scottish-American's Patrick Henry, John Paul Jones, Davy Crockett and Neil Armstrong. John Paul Jones and Armstrong are well known for having Dumfries and Galloway backgrounds. I might claim Davy Crockett as a D&G boy, although I can only loosely presume he is connected to Crocketford... Patrick Henry, on the other hand is someone I'm not too aware of, other than his "Give me Liberty or death." speech he's never really registered on my Scottish connection radar. So I was delighted that a wee internet trawl revealed that his father was from Aberdeen and attended the city's Kings College before heading off to Virginia as an, ahem, plantation owner...where young Patrick was born.

There's a fabby wee biography about the chap here I particularly like his role opposing the Stamp Act which revolted against the Westminster Parliament's claim of authority to tax the colonies...sounds familiar!  One of his more famous orations, the Ceasar-Brutus speech, inferred the British king was facing assasination if he continued to quash American liberty, I'm sure things don't have to go that far today, after all we live in a democracy, don't we?