Am I the only person wondering why George Galloway has gone from celebrity flautist with involuntarily suggestive eyebrows to rabid idealogue, apparently overnight? Has he been put on HRT by mistake?

I caught the interview he gave Jeremy Paxman on election night. Very entertaining. If you can get past the reason he was asked to do the interview....

George Galloway GOES strange?

Always knew him to be a wierdo anyway. The guys a numpty.

I still have my George Galloway penny whistle from days of yore - hope I'm not unwittingly tangled up in some flutes for oil scandal.

George Galloway a flautist ? More like a FLATULIST. He talks a complete load of crap.

Well, Im sure that James Galway, presumably George's long lost Irish half cousin, still plays the flute, somewhere

Galloway on the other hand is hoping to put in an appearance at the congressional hearings on Capitol Hill.

Considering that this man knows more about Iraq than most of the people questioning him, it should make for an interesting performance.

A numpty he may be, but he's also the elected member of parliament for Bow & Bethnal Green. And he won that seat with a 26% swing away from labour. He's also an extremely talented orator, a tireless campaigner, an iconoclast and some say a demogogue. And he seems to be in a fighting mood, so hopefully his appearance at Capitol Hill will go ahead, visas permitting.

George gallaway,
is an old fashioned, over confident nutter. Who likes to talk about himself, and how righteous and upright he is, while apparently spending half of his life (or by the sound of it every weekend) in a Portugal paradise, while pleading poverty.

We really need more characters like this in public life. .

Originally posted by muddycoffee
George gallaway,
is an old fashioned, over confident nutter. Who likes to talk about himself, and how righteous and upright he is, while apparently spending half of his life (or by the sound of it every weekend) in a Portugal paradise, while pleading poverty.

We really need more characters like this in public life. .

Has he pleaded poverty ever? He's certainly never made a secret of his love of the finer things in life.

For me, the most interesting aspect of George Galloway is that although he will deny he is a political gadfly, this is precisely what he is.

He shouldn't be so dismissive of the soubriquet, as it is in the finest socratic tradition.

I also love the fact he speaks so well, uses the language to great effect and clearly relishes the art of oratory, especially extempore performances.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme

I also love the fact he speaks so well, uses the language to great effect and clearly relishes the art of oratory, especially extempore performances.

I'd agree, but unfortunately, last time I saw him interviewed, he walked off-screen. Couldn't hack it, obviously.

I hope these accusations are true and that this vile man is shown to be for what he is. (Or, what is blazingly obvious to some of us.)

Oh, and I hope he pays the The Daily Telegraph back as well, after he's given his Swiss Bank Account the necessary 90 day notice.

One of the funniest interviews I heard pre-election was with George Galloway.

They were talking about the Rover situation.

Interviewer: What do you think about it all George?

George: This is a national disgrace. The Government should be doing more for the British Car Industry. These poor hardworking people etc etc etc etc (5 minute rant) ....... did you come here in a British Car today?

Interviewer: Well I came in a black cab so I did actually. What about yourself what car did you come in?

George: A mercedes.

Originally posted by muddycoffee
George gallaway,
is an old fashioned, over confident nutter. Who likes to talk about himself, and how righteous and upright he is, while apparently spending half of his life (or by the sound of it every weekend) in a Portugal paradise, while pleading poverty.

We really need more characters like this in public life. .
I couldn't agree more, I can't stand the bloke but he does spice up the news and he gives the most wonderful oratory (oo-er!).

Give me an old-fashioned over confident nutter like George over a newfangled over-confident nutter like Tony any day.

Originally posted by Ousetunes
I'd agree, but unfortunately, last time I saw him interviewed, he walked off-screen. Couldn't hack it, obviously.

I hope these accusations are true and that this vile man is shown to be for what he is. (Or, what is blazingly obvious to some of us.)

Oh, and I hope he pays the The Daily Telegraph back as well, after he's given his Swiss Bank Account the necessary 90 day notice.

The torygraph ended up losing, despite using the reynold defence (publishing falsified documents believing them to be in the public interest)

I will be very surprised if they are proven to be true (in a court of law).

The allegations themselves have been proven to be false on two occasions so far.

I wonder if Galloway can sue the house of representatives in the British Courts? Lol

Galloway is a smart cookie. The committee is basically saying that he received options on oil purchases that he sold to Jordanian go betweens who deposited the money in the Mariam Appeal bank accounts, along with one saudi donor and a corporate donation from the UAE.

Having read the report (bit weird that, publish the report then invite Galloway to defend his record, even though the report is out and clearly accuses him of the 'crime'), it is a lot is supposition tied to together with speculation and no actual proof it seems.

It mainly seems to boil down to 2 documents recovered from the oil ministry that name him. It will be interesting to discover if they are forgeries like the others or not.

I'm honestly finding it very hard to believe that this is anything other than a politically motivated action.

Originally posted by Phanerothyme



I'm honestly finding it very hard to believe that this is anything other than a politically motivated action.

That's one comment I certainly agree with!

Originally posted by Ousetunes
That's one comment I certainly agree with!

...as do others

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,9115,1483078,00.html

Originally posted by muddycoffee
G spending half of his life (or by the sound of it every weekend) in a Portugal paradise, while pleading poverty.


I’ve never heard him insist he lives in poverty. He is after all a fully paid MP and has benefited from several libel pay outs after all. I think you are confusing his claims to have come from a background of poverty in Glasgow which is true I believe.

Will this Mcarthy hearing he's going up for in the US be telivised?

I've just heard Galloway's opening statement to the Senate committee. It was brilliant – a thorough, vicious rebuttal.

(I'm sure it will be up on the BBC website soon.)

He's live on Sky News now.

Originally posted by Greenback
I've just heard Galloway's opening statement to the Senate committee. It was brilliant – a thorough, vicious rebuttal.

(I'm sure it will be up on the BBC website soon.)

I have to agree - I don't particularly like the guy, but have to admire him for such a blistering, razor-sharp attack on a bloated, complacent administration.

Just seen his senate performance on Newsnight. No great liking for him but what a performance. Political mavericks are more important than ever in these times of Labour & Tory clones.

Judging from the reactions of the Senators present, it seems that whilst they were prepared for a firebrand they still felt a bit bruised by the encounter.

Interestingly Galloway never denied that his Jordanian Businessman friend, for whom he was best man, may have profited from a oil option around the same time he made a £300,000 donation to the Mariam Appeal.

But every time he was questioned on that topic, he refused to be drawn any further than that.

People have been slinging mud at George Galloway for some time, yet none of it sticks, as he as remained resolutely innocent of all charges levelled at him (Christian Science Monitor, Telegraph, Sunday Record, Charities commission).

What sticks in a lot of people's craw is that Galloway has been demonstrating against and condemning the Iraqi regime for yeards, even back when the incumbent regimes in the UK and US were only to happy to do business with Saddam, to boost defence sales and help surpress 'Islamism' in Iran (through the proxy of the Iran Iraq War).

So accusations of being somehow complicit in Saddams regime must sound pretty hypocritical to him. A point he made well in his hearing.

Norm Coleman was heard to mutter there would be serious consequences if Galloway was found to have lied under oath. Translation (No serious consequences will come solely as a result of his appearance, because it's hard to indict someone with clearly no evidence)

And I have to agree with Galloway - what sort of an investigation publishes it's findings before hearing from the accused?

"We find the defendant guilty. You may call the first witness for the defence now"....

I think his performance highlighted the difference in US and UK political cultures. Oratory and impromptu public speaking now has little or no place in US political life. What we get instead is prepared speeches, usually written by others, and delivery with the aid of an autocue. Image is all, even if the image is totally manufactured.

Many US politicians simply couldn't cope with the cut and thrust of debate in the House of Commons, nor with a Paxman type interviewer. In general, UK politicians tend to be far more verbally articulate than their US counterparts, for this reason (the one notable exception in recent years being Clinton).

The irony is that in previous generations the US produced some fine political orators.

I also enjoyed his tirade against contrarist opportunist Christopher Hitchens:

[from the Guardian]

"You're a drink-soaked former-Trotskyist popinjay," Mr Galloway informed him. "Your hands are shaking. You badly need another drink," he added later, ignoring Mr Hitchens's questions and staring intently ahead."