- Tue May 08, 2012 7:26 am
#223925
Only just spotted this:
The knowing in-jokes of the Westminster bubble are the real omnishambles
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1uGDeAsqQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The knowing in-jokes of the Westminster bubble are the real omnishambles
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/artic ... z1uGDeAsqQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
From the comments:['Omnishambles' is] a word coined by the most celebrated character from The Thick of It, the Labour spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.
And it's a great word, meaning many things going wrong at the same time, or multiple examples of incompetence.
But it's an in-joke. A nod to the fact that everybody inside the Westminster bubble all goes home and watches the same thing on TV.
Yet, for the past month, politicians (desperate to appear witty or 'cool' )and commentators have been falling over themselves to say 'omnishambles' in public.
At Prime Minister's Questions by Ed Miliband, on Question Time, the Today programme...
In the past 24-hours alone, I've heard it used by Harriet Harman, and at least two BBC presenters.
Now let's have a look at an example of how the word was used in The Thick of It, in a scene where Tucker is addressing a hapless minister. (Turn away now if you don't like to see an asterisk or two).
'Oh, well that's great. That's f****** great. That's another f****** thing, right there. Not only you've got a f****** bent husband and a f****** daughter that gets taken to school on a f****** sedan chair, you're also f****** mental! Jesus Christ, see you, you are a f****** omni-shambles, that's what you are. You're like that coffee machine, you know, "From bean to cup, you f*** up.'
Not really family viewing in your ordinary living room, with the children by your side, is it?
Which brings me, finally, to the reason why I've been getting so irritated by hearing 'omnishambles' tumbling out of the mouths of Mr Miliband, Ms Harman and others.
Trust in politicians is very close to an all-time low. They need to talk to the voters. Show they understand their lives.
Instead they talk only to one another, making jokes and references intended only for themselves and the inhabitants of the Westminster village.
And then then they wonder why two out of three people didn't bother to turn out and vote
What a surprise - Lefties use a word devised in a Lefty BBC programme - well they would, wouldn't they - they don't have a decent original idea in their heads, nothing but dogma.
- Barking Spider, UK, 05/5/2012 22:58