John Cleese (was "letter of resignation")

["James Daly" <james.irldaly@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Life of Brian is an extended satire on anti-imperialism by a team
of British social chauvinists. Ironically, the real John Cleese is a
master-splitter. He was a PR icon and a bank roller for The Gang of
Four (David Owen et al) who split the British Labour Party after it
had moved significantly to the left (with deselection of candidates
etc) and formed the right wing Social Democratic Party (only after
they had prevented Tony Benn from becoming deputy leader of the Labour
Party).

Cleese's sitcom Fawlty Towers is a miasma of prejudices. The idiot
waiter Manuel is repeatedly explained away by saying to all and sundry
"He's from Barcelona" [-- one of the most sophisticated cities in
Europe.] The idiot, whose English is of course pathetic, refers
unintelligibly and (of necessity)(was hilariously to the scam-artist
jerry-builders as "orrelly (O'Reilly) men" (the Irish element).

I have seen the famous Cleese speech from The Life of Brian "What have
the Romans [sc. British] ever done for us?" quoted in a British
academic journal as an illustration of an argument for imperialism
worthy of Bill Warren -- the answer is of course sanitation, etc. etc.
In my own personal experience, again in an academic setting, the
version of the argument put forward was, in an unconscious masterpiece
of irony, that the English brought the Irish "the rule of law". The
speech could be summed up in words relayed in Arland Usher's enjoyable
autobiography. This descendant of the 18th century Church of Ireland
Archbishop of Armagh who calculated the date of the origin of the
universe as October 4004 BC reported that it was a common saying among
his "class and creed" that the Irish had no word for gratitude in
their language.

In another film appearance Cleese ponderously explains a joke of his
to two small harmless old German professors with (approximately) the
words "He was Irish". When after hearing that repeated they still and
quite understandably look baffled he snorts [the Germans apart from
goose-stepping, notoriously have no sense of humour], turns on his
heel and stalks off.

But of course, I forgot -- he's on our side! Am I BLIND?

comradely

James Daly