Is David Cameron the British Newt Gingrich?

Is David Cameron the British counterpart to Newt Gingrich?

I know comparing someone to Gingrich is among the gravest of insults, but is he?

David Cameron, 41, is the leader of Britain's Conservative Party. And like Newt - Speaker of the U.S. House for 4 years in the '90s - he has some rather odious views.

What does he think about the poor? Like the Newter, he apparently thinks they brang their own poverty on themselves. Such was the message of a speech he gave yesterday in Glasgow, in which he also declared that society isn't judgmental enough.

Maybe he's a little less rabid than his American counterpart, but the content of his utterances was almost pure Newt: judge more, and blame the poor. (See, that rhymes, and you know it does!)

All this from a man who grew up rich himself. He's never had to worry about being poor.

Even if he did try to sugarcoat his ravings, it's a dangerous proposition. When the Newtist platform of classism and judgmentalism gained height in America in the '90s, it encouraged people to shun and mock the poor.

Before the '90s, Americans may have heard strongly classist sentiments expressed on playgrounds of exclusive schools or anonymously on BBS's, but after the fascism wave led by Gingrich, bigots felt much more comfortable with poisoning public discourse as well.

With this type of authoritarian conservatism, why is the Conservative Party doing so well in the polls? For the same reason a similar trend has been seen in other countries lately: The American media is now almost as influential abroad as it is at home.

Britain is also hamstrung by the EU, which seems to encourage such right-wing leadership. The European Union in effect prohibits member countries from being social democracies, instead favoring the tyranny of unfettered market rule. At the same time, the EU gives full faith and credit to policies that suppress free speech and thought, such as when Greece used the EU to extradite an Austrian author for "blasphemy" over a book he wrote.

Gives a whole new meaning to "regulation for thee, not for me", doesn't it?

If David Cameron can show that I would be no better off now if I happened to have been born into wealth, then maybe he'd have a point. But nope. All he has is tired bluster.

(Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4290298.ece)