Robin Cook Dies

I find such untimely deaths very humbling, making me realise it could happen to me or any one of my family tomorrow, that for all we try to live by the rules and do the best we can in our family lives and in our working lives, that life can be ripped from us through simple failure of the human body.

I cried when John Smith died as I believed he was the Labour leader we had needed for a generation. I thought Robin Cook was very much as generally described in the media today and by his constituents, a good number of whom were not Labour supporters.

The one hypocrisy I find in the tributes being paid was about his integrity. He was carrying on an illicit affair which led to him abandoning his wife and two sons and yet it was a 'matter of principle' which led to his resignation. Where were his principles when he was getting his leg over?

It is perhaps appropriate that his family life remain irrelevant when discussing his immense contribution to British politics but I just wish the media would choose their words a bit more carefully.
 
Originally posted by Desert Orchid@Aug 7 2005, 03:28 PM


The one hypocrisy I find in the tributes being paid was about his integrity. He was carrying on an illicit affair which led to him abandoning his wife and two sons and yet it was a 'matter of principle' which led to his resignation. Where were his principles when he was getting his leg over?

It is perhaps appropriate that his family life remain irrelevant when discussing his immense contribution to British politics but I just wish the media would choose their words a bit more carefully.
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Many a great man has been undone by the temptation of a bit of skirt. I dont consider it a weakness or a stain on one`s integrity. It`s just a shag.

R.I.P
 
Originally posted by Ardross@Aug 7 2005, 02:40 PM
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
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Which would you prefer, a pebble, a bit of aggregate, a half-brick, a full brick, a boulder?

I might not be without sin, but I'm not guilty of extra-marital shenanigans :what:
 
Originally posted by Euronymous@Aug 7 2005, 03:11 PM
Many a great man has been undone by the temptation of a bit of skirt. I dont consider it a weakness or a stain on one`s integrity. It`s just a shag.
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Try telling that to the first Mrs Cook and her boys :huh:
 
Funnily enough she described him as an exemplary father tonight .

Gosh Desert Orchid you are judgmental - Married people sometimes fall in love with someone else .
 
Good Evening.
Lots of heart felt tributes to Robin Cook today and well deserved they are.

I missed Tony Blairs tribute,was it a nice one?
 
Another basically sound man down - yes, he had his faults but who doesn't?

One to have on your side, I reckon and one we can ill afford to lose.
 
Originally posted by PDJ@Aug 7 2005, 10:53 AM
Kathy, that is a theory with only one backer I think. Sounds like rubbish.
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Conspiracy theories now starting to circulate on the internet as predicted.

This is clearly not the thread to discuss it BUT for me, it was only a matter of time. Rubbish was it PDJ?
 
Erm yes it was and is rubbish. Unless you believe all you read on the internet, Kathy? In which case, I hope you see Elvis shagging Bigfoot while aliens take the photos.
 
Originally posted by Latefortheraces+Aug 9 2005, 07:51 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Latefortheraces @ Aug 9 2005, 07:51 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-rumoursabound@Aug 7 2005, 06:51 PM
I missed Tony Blairs tribute,was it a nice one?
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Don't know about a tribute but he isn't going to be at the funeral on Friday.

On holiday I believe. [/b][/quote]
That`s a disgrace, imagine if Mandelson had bought it instead. Would he miss that sneaky twat`s funeral?
 
I don't see why it's a disgrace at all. I wouldn't go to Maggie Thatcher, Milk Snatcher's funeral. Cause I despise the old boot. Why should Tony be forced to go to funeral of someone he probably didn't like that much just because he's PM????
 
Because he's the leader of the party to which the deceased dedicated most of his professional life.
 
So?

Personally, I would rather he didn't go if he doesn't want to - at least he's tacitly speaking his mind by doing so. Heres another thought. Would Robin Cook want Tony at his funeral?
 
So he should go to represent the party leadership, regardless of their personal relationship. Anyone other than the leader doing so is an insult. It's protocol, as PM and leader of the party he doesn't get to decide if he wants to, nor does he get to use it as an opportunity to make a point.

Would Robin Cook want Tony at his funeral?
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Good question. If he was asked not to go by the family, I'd have thought the press would have picked it up, but you can never be too sure.
 
Originally posted by Gareth Flynn@Aug 10 2005, 08:32 AM
It's protocol
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Protocol schmotocol. :D

If you ask me the sense of "protocol" which pervades almost every facet of society is the root of a fair degree of evil - no one says or does what they actually think any more (if they ever did), they continually say and do what they think people want to hear or see.

Gareth, I understand your point, and agree with it to a degree, but I still don't see any problem with the action.
 
Originally posted by Ardross@Aug 7 2005, 05:16 PM
Funnily enough she described him as an exemplary father tonight .

Gosh Desert Orchid you are judgmental - Married people sometimes fall in love with someone else .
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Michael Jackson's ex described him as an exemplary father too. Maybe the first Mrs Cook is showing the kind of dignity an errant husband lacks, rather than further sully his name publicly which would, let's not forget, be fresh flesh to the tabloid pirhanas.

I'm not trying to be judgmental. I know only too well that married people can and do fall in love with someone else but some manage, often with tremendous personal difficulty, not to act upon it.

I'm simply saying that there's a conflict somewhere in someone who can resign from a government post on a matter of principle yet didn't have the principle either to resist his feelings for another woman or to own up to his wife until the affair became public knowledge.

There is another possibility, one which I hope would be the true scenario. Maybe his experiences leading up to and during his marriage break-up made him realise that he could only live with his conscience if he was honest in such matters and that he had resolved from then on to do the right thing as a result of his experiences.
 
D/O yes I agree with your synopsis entirely........... :)

Why does one attend a funeral??? Out of due respect for the deceased or as a personal friend you may have encountered in a working environment or and to support the family...............

If one has no respect for the said deceased, well I doubt you would want to go and vice versa they don’t want you there either, so it could be either way in this R/C instance?.......

I attend another funeral this Friday of an ex work colleague the 2nd in 3 weeks but I attend for the reasons as above out of respect for the person and his family...
 
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