George Galloway vs. the US Senate

He wasn’t known as Gorgeous George for nothing you know!

Like many politicians, there’s always an element of self-publicity and conceit to Galloway. But you can never accuse him of corruption or diverting attention away from the issues on to himself. Many have tried, and he’s got the big fat libel awards to prove they were wrong.

And again, he’s totally right. The senators here have announced his guilt without once giving him the slightest chance to defend himself, and their accusations, from what we’ve seen of them, are based on bugger-all evidence. He may be a bit of a boor, but he’s been in the right at practically every step of this mess, while his accusers have almost always been in the wrong.

Personally I’d be amazed if any of their accusations were true. Some people’s bottom line isn’t oil. Maybe some in the US Government have a hard time getting a grip on that idea.

Sock it to them George.

I loved your video link. I was wondering if there was a video of the full statement, anyone? It can be a bit dry reading transcript.

Coleman didn’t even stay for the whole thing. He retire before the end. Levin then took over and tried to stand up to Galloway. Galloway can duck and dive and think on his feet with the best of them however so it didn’t phase him at all.

InvidiousCourgette The BBC link in the OP have a link to video. That seems* to be the whole thing including Coleman’s initial accusations.

*I’ve only watched the beginning to check it as I watched in live on TV.

Having lived in the Cities when Colman was governor, I can safely say that the above is NOT really a difficult feat.

Not governor. Mayor of St. Paul. :smack:

Hell, I knew he was somewhere over there in Dullsville…

Thanks yojimbo. I am watching it right now.

Mods: would it be possible to move this again to GD? MPSIMS does not seem like the right forum for this interesting thread. Maybe the debate could be:

Should MP Galloway be imprisoned for perjury with respect to his testimonial to the US senate comittee?

I don’t know if that would be a good debate question, but it seems that the subject matter of this thread is not normal MPSIMS matter.

My favourite quote so far:

Thank you, George.

I now have a more accurate transcript. It is as follows:

Hon. Senators:“Tell us why we should not hang you right now”

George: You just answered the question, the way you would like it to be!

Hon. Senators: Say the words we want you to say!

George:No.

Hon. Senators: Say the words we want you to say!

George:No. Also, I will use the phrase, “Small beer”, as an expression.

Hon. Senators: Say the words we want you to say!

Repeat times(x) a million.

You’d have thought that, given the expectation of concentrating on specific details, they’d have gotten his title correct on the sign in front of him…

Galloway and Norm Coleman were just on Hardabll with Chris Matthews. Coleman characterized Galloway of having low moral character; Galloway responded:

"Be accused of having low moral character by Norman Coleman is like being told to sit up striaght by the hunchback of Notre Dame."

Ouch. The British are the masters of invective.

It’s times like this I really miss having TV at work.

HEY! I’ll have you know I live in Saint Paul, and find it rather nice.

Could I ask a very stupid question?

How and Why is the US Senate grilling this guy? How do “we” have jurisdiction (for lack of a better word) over him?
I swear I am rooting for this guy–if only because he can call a spade a spade and he seems to have balls, which the entire Democratic minority is sorely lacking.

I think we need more debate classes in HS or sumthin’…

I know nothing about the situation, but in the film, upon his swearing in, he was “reminded” that this has no legal consequence, or meaning, so I suspect the answer to your question is: None. Most likely, he wanted to have the ability to say what he said.

Ever seen Parliament at work on C-Span? It makes Congress look like an elderly ladies’ knitting circle. Galloway’s just had way more practice talking smack on the opposition than most of the Democrats have.

What I wouldn’t give for an official “President’s Question Hour” once a week on Capitol Hill…

I LOVE watching the Lower House in Cspan!

I long for something similiar here <sigh>.

Yeah, I think a lot of Galloway’s advantage over, well, any US politician is just how Parliament works. Remember the Presidential “debates?” Kerry and Bush couldn’t even directy question one another. Some debate. See if that crap (I just deleted out my first choice of words) flies in British Parliament.

I thought he did pretty well, although the Senators scored some points too. It would seem GG took his bribe as a legal campaign contribution. Just like the Senators do.

In any case, and oddly, the BBC is spinning this as a failure by GG. I do not see it that way. In any case, a good afternoon’s TV.

I have been waiting for something akin to the Welch-Mccarthy exchange in which Welsh states directly to McCarthy:

George Galloway accomplishes this quite nicely. The other poster is right, it will be a long time before they bring a British politician to be grilled. I think he wanted to be there myself. He’s made me his fan.