Hear, hear

Last evening, C-SPAN: "Prime Minister's Questions"!
I like seeing that as much as men like watching football, I think.

(The name of the program, though -- elected reps ask the Prime Minister [Gordon Brown] questions. I feel like those aren't "prime minister's questions," those are representatives' questions to the prime minister....? Must be an English thing; their way of using the words and phrases -- like, they "take a decision" instead of "making" / decision -- and last night Brown said, "There are still real risks to recovery, and we must be alive to them...."
Alive to the risks.
Instead of "aware of" them.
Just how they say it.
And the word "sustainable" was sprinkled through -- like here.)
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Tuned in when discussion was robust; there was a guy who wasn't the prime minister -- don't know who he was, Chancellor maybe -- and he was moderating, basically. Refereeing.

One representative was speaking loudly and passionately and getting wound up: The [Chancellor / moderator / ref, whatever) called out to the speaker, and he had a hint of a smile playing on his lips, like he could hardly hold a serious (yet genial) expression and stop from laughing.
He cried, "Mr. Twig! I'm quite worried about you! Calm down!"

And a little bit later the moderator addressed another speaker who was becoming too overbearing: "Mr. ______________! Your heckling is as boring as it is boorish! Stop it now, or leave the Chamber, I don't care which!"

Love that guy.

When tuned in the moderator was calling for order:
"Ohwa - dah! "Ohwa - dah!" about 25 times.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown chided a few members at one point, also: said it was Wrong "to reduce big issues to ridicule...."

He also reminded the assembly of the things they agree on: "it's been agreed that __________... It's been agreed that we must _____________..." (about 10 of those). President Obama does that too -- always reminding people of the common ground they share.

The P.M. addressed the issue of spending money for stimulous during the Recession. He said critics of the spending had said we ought to cut spending in a Recession, "...and they've been wrong, wrong, and wrong again."

Brown also described being in Washington, D.C. to address Congress. He looked bemused as he explained that when you address Congress, they all have already got a copy of the speech, and they've decided ahead of time at which points to applaud.
I got the impression he had been expecting a "cold" audience with whom he could communicate on an immediate and direct basis -- like, "bam!" -- rather than an audience which had already studied his speech and decided about it. I agree with him; can't our guys think on their feet?

(Of course they're sitting down while listening to the speech, but "thinking on feet" is metaphorical -- they should be able to digest information and form an impression spontaneously, even if they are not literally On Their Feet, but rather On Their ...

well you get the idea. ...

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