#And felt said contempt was due to a failing on his own part as opposed to...

[panvani]

ANYWAY. Desperately introducing PH fans to the concept of a child PH SPOILERS IN TAGS

[lessattitudemorealtitude]

Excerpt from Thrawn: Alliances

(Source) Some strong references to Rebels in S3 in here. This makes me really excited to read the book.

 “I have sensed a disturbance in the Force.”

Emperor Palpatine paused, stretching out his thoughts to the two men standing before his throne, awaiting their reactions.

No. Not men. Of course not men. Men were insignificant, pitiable creatures, fit only to be ruled, or intimidated, or sent to die in battle. These were far more than mere men.

A Chiss Grand Admiral, a strategic and tactical genius. A Sith Lord, ruthless and powerful in the Force.

They were watching him, Palpatine knew, each trying in his own way to glean some understanding as to why they’d been summoned. Grand Admiral Thrawn was observing his Emperor’s voice, face, and body stance. Lord Vader, in contrast, was stretching out with the Force toward his master.

Palpatine could feel all that. But he could also feel the tension between these, his two most useful servants.

The tension wasn’t simply because each wished to be the one standing alone at his master’s side at the center of Imperial power. That was certainly part of it.

But there was more. Much more. Thrawn had recently suffered a serious defeat, permitting a small group of rebels he’d successfully trapped on the planet Atollon to slip through his fingers. That failure had earned Vader’s contempt.

Thrawn, in his turn, strongly opposed the Death Star project favored by Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin, and Palpatine himself, pushing instead for his own prized TIE Defender project on Lothal. So far Thrawn’s opposition had not reached the level of open resistance, but the Emperor knew it was only a matter of time. Vader knew that, as well.

But Palpatine hadn’t brought them here to offer an opportunity for reconciliation. Certainly not to mediate personally in their conflict. There were other, far deeper considerations.

Thrawn had given his oath of loyalty to the Empire. But that loyalty had never been fully tested. Vader stood beside Palpatine as the Sith Master’s apprentice But his previous life among the Jedi could not simply be ignored nor casually dismissed.

Here, with this intriguing Force disturbance, was the opportunity to deal with both issues.

Palpatine raised his eyes briefly toward the high window in his throne room. The Star Destroyer Chimaera was visible in the distance, a barely discernible arrowhead shape floating high above Coruscant’s buildings and skylanes. Normally, military craft that large weren’t permitted closer than low orbit. But Palpatine had wished the ship to be present during this meeting, a subtle reminder to both of his servants of what had been given to Thrawn, and what could be taken away.

Vader spoke first, as Palpatine had known he would. “Perhaps you sense the rogue Jedi Kanan Jarrus,” he said. “Or the creature Admiral Thrawn claimed to have encountered on Atollon.”

Palpatine smiled thinly. Of course he wasn’t sensing Jarrus. That particular disturbance had long since been noted, codified, and dismissed, a fact Vader knew only too well. The suggestion was nothing more than a reminder to Thrawn—and to Palpatine—of the Chiss’s humiliating defeat.

Thrawn gave no visible reaction to Vader’s comment. But Palpatine could sense a hardening of his attitude. He’d already promised the Emperor that he would deal with Jarrus and the Phoenix rebels who had so recently slipped through his fingers. Much of that failure had been due to factors not under Thrawn’s control, which was why Palpatine hadn’t taken the Seventh Fleet away from him.

But Vader had no patience for failure of any sort, no matter what the reasons or excuses. For now, he was waiting; but he was more than ready to step in to solve that particular problem if the Grand Admiral failed.

“This disturbance comes from neither,” Palpatine said. “It is something new. Something different.” He looked back and forth between his servants. “Something that will require both of you working together to uncover.”

Again, neither of them visibly reacted. But Palpatine could sense their surprise. Their surprise, and their reflexive protest.

Working together?

This time, it was the Chiss who spoke first. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, I believe my duty and my abilities would be best used elsewhere,” he said. “The rebels who escaped Atollon must be tracked down and eliminated before they can regroup and join with other cells.”

“I agree,” the Emperor said. “But the Seventh Fleet and Commander Woldar can deal with that without you for now. Grand Moff Tarkin will also be joining the commander while his new assignment is being prepared for him.”

Palpatine sensed a flicker in Vader’s emotions, perhaps a hope that Thrawn would mistakenly believe this was the right time and place to once again raise objections to the Death Star project. Palpatine paused, offering the Grand Admiral the opportunity to do just that.

But Thrawn remained silent.

“While Woldar and Tarkin find and deal with the rebels,” the Emperor continued, “you and Lord Vader will take your flagship to deal with this other matter.”

“Understood, Your Majesty,” Thrawn said. “May I point out that Governor Tarkin is less familiar than I am with this particular Rebel cell. Perhaps a more efficient approach would be for Lord Vader to be offered one of my Star Destroyers and seek out this disturbance on his own.”

Palpatine felt a sudden stirring of anger from his apprentice at Thrawn’s unthinking choice of phrase. A Lord of the Sith was not offered a ship. He took what he wanted when he wanted it.

But like Thrawn, Vader knew when to remain silent.

“You surprise me, Admiral Thrawn,” Palpatine said. “I would have expected a certain eagerness to journey within sight of your home.”

Thrawn’s glowing red eyes narrowed slightly, and Palpatine felt his sudden caution. “Excuse me, Your Majesty?”

“The disturbance is located at the edge of your Unknown Regions,” the Emperor said. “It appears to be centered on a planet named Batuu.” Again, he sensed a reaction to the name. This time, the reaction came from both of them. “I believe you have heard of it?”

Thrawn’s eyes were hooded, the expression on that blue-skinned face swirling with memories. “Yes,” he murmured. “I have indeed heard of it.”

As, of course, had Vader. It was the place where he and Thrawn had long ago interfered, albeit unwittingly, with one of Palpatine’s plans.

But again, Vader remained silent.

“Very well, then,” Palpatine said. “You, Admiral, will command.” He looked at Vader. “You, Lord Vader, will deal with the disturbance.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Thrawn said.

“Yes, my master,” Vader said.

Palpatine leaned back into the depths of his throne. “Then go.”

The two servants turned and walked toward the door between the double line of red-cloaked Imperial Guards silently lining their path. Palpatine watched them go: the Chiss in his white Grand Admiral’s uniform, the Sith garbed in black, his long cloak swirling behind him.

The solution to this particular puzzle would indeed require both of them. But more importantly, it would address Palpatine’s lingering questions.

He smiled thinly. Time for Thrawn to face his future.

Time for Vader to face his past.

[gyrlversion]

PETER OBORNE: I have a hunch Theresa May will be a winner

Let’s take a pause and a deep breath. Let’s contemplate the deep meaning of the week’s frenetic events at Westminster. Let’s count the corpses, praise the winners and be honest about the losers.

For what we are witnessing is one of the great democratic dramas in modern British history.

Of course, many people blame MPs for failing as yet to seal a Brexit deal. But I disagree. I believe that Parliament has done its job well.

A rare laugh: Those who say that Theresa May is finished are making a rudimentary error of judgement

Those who say that MPs are out of touch and letting voters down do not understand how British politics works. Those, too, who vilify Commons Speaker John Bercow as the devil incarnate are misguided. He has allowed our elected representatives the freedom to debate the big issues.

And those who say that Theresa May is finished are making a rudimentary error of judgement.

Let me explain. It is true that Mrs May has suffered a series of humiliations, including a mutiny by some Cabinet ministers led by Amber Rudd.

At moments, the PM looked so frail that one feared for her health. And, yes, she has made blunders.

Mrs May must take much of the blame for Thursday night’s row between No 10 and the Chief Whip, when Cabinet ministers were given the nod that they could ignore a three-line whip.

But regardless of countless headlines of ‘Meltdown’, ‘Chaos’, ‘Despair’, ‘Down And Rout’ and ‘Clueless’, Mrs May is still in Downing Street. Even more crucially, her EU withdrawal deal is still very much on the table. That makes her a survivor.

Those who say that MPs are out of touch and letting voters down do not understand how British politics works. Those, too, who vilify Commons Speaker John Bercow as the devil incarnate are misguided

The Prime Minister was the big winner this week. Which means that as well as Labour, the losers were the Tory Brexit-hardliners.

I believe their risibly misnamed European Research Group, organised by nerdy Steve Baker MP, is in collapse. Thanks to clever generalship by Mrs May, these Brussels-haters are now at war among themselves.

There is no doubt that they are responsible for a delay in Brexit. If they’re not careful, they will scupper it altogether.

Mrs May’s waiting game has outfoxed No Deal fanatics such as Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg. Vitally, their nutty idea that Britain could crash out of the EU on March 29 has been exploded.

This is a strategic triumph for No 10 of the first order.

The available options have been reduced to either a wait of at least a year before Britain leaves the EU or, alternatively, a short delay that gives time for Mrs May’s deal to finally be approved by MPs and then implemented.

 Just imagine what would have happened if she’d sacked Amber Rudd – she’d have won praise for being strong and decisive. But she’d probably have split her party

This means that the members of the ERG face a stark choice. Either they sheepishly admit defeat and back Mrs May’s deal — or they carry on opposing her but risk their long-cherished Brexit never happening. By forcing those hardline Brexiteers on her backbenches into a box is evidence that Mrs May has followed a clever strategy.

Those who doubt me should consider the words of her closest adviser, Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins, which were overheard in a Brussels bar a month ago.

The mandarin predicted exactly the situation we are in today — that a ‘long’ extension was planned if MPs turned down the PM’s deal.

In other words, MPs would ultimately be faced with the choice between backing it or having to engage in what would most likely be yet more fruitless talks with Brussels.

We should give credit where credit is due. Mrs May’s feline statecraft has completely outmanoeuvred the hardline Brexiteers.

This weekend, I’m convinced, she is tantalisingly close to realising her vision of Brexit.

Furthermore, she has reached this point without splitting the Conservative Party.

This is a far greater achievement than many realise. Many (me included) predicted the Party could formally split between Brexiteers and Remainers. That could still happen, but Mrs May has so far averted this calamity.

This brings me to a profound political paradox.

To win her long-term objective, Mrs May has had to endure buffeting defeats. She had to risk looking weak in order to succeed.

Just imagine what would have happened if she’d sacked Amber Rudd and fellow Cabinet rebels Greg Clark and David Gauke for defying a three-line whip on Wednesday.

She’d have won praise for being strong and decisive. But she’d probably have split her party.

It is certainly true that never before in modern political history have Cabinet ministers defied a prime minister in this manner and survived.

But we’ve entered a period in politics where all conventional rules can be forgotten. A typhoon is sweeping through Parliament. The objective is survival by any means.

Mrs May apart, the other winner from this week’s events is Parliament.

Many, including the historian Dominic Sandbrook (writing in today’s Mail on Pages 18 and 19) have condemned MPs for being irresponsible and deeply detached from the lives of ordinary people.

I fundamentally disagree. I have never felt prouder of the British political system than over the past seven days.

Bear in mind that the Brexit debate has divided the country. It’s divided families. It’s split political parties. It’s aroused immensely strong passions.

So it is natural that it’s led to divisions, splits and passion in Parliament. Yet there has been no violence in the streets. This is because all sides of the argument have been aired by MPs.

Parliament has done its job.

Across the political spectrum, there have been the admirable performances of Labour’s John Mann and Caroline Flint, who have stood up for their constituents who voted to leave the EU. 

On the Tory side, Sir Oliver Letwin MP has fought valiantly try to bring about cross-party political co-operation.

These are not self-centred individuals representing their own interests or an out-of-touch political class. They are engaged in an honest struggle towards a workable solution.

Readers will know that I have often criticised Speaker Bercow’s vanity and foolishness. That said, over the past few months he has stood up for Parliament.

But if there was a gold medal for the person who has most steadfastly upheld British democracy, it ought to go to Theresa May.

Show some steel 

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir David Steel stands accused, in his own words, of ‘hiding his head in the sand’ over the horrible child abuse allegations against his now deceased colleague Sir Cyril Smith. Lord Steel deserves praise for his belated honesty, but he should nevertheless voluntarily give up his peerage.

Blunderer turned back-stabber 

An egregious example is Nick Timothy, chief of staff to Theresa May when she became Prime Minister. Sadly, he was responsible for a series of cack-handed blunders

One disturbing phenomenon in modern politics has been the increasing behind-the-scenes influence of advisers. They have power but are unaccountable to the public.

An egregious example is Nick Timothy, chief of staff to Theresa May when she became Prime Minister. Sadly, he was responsible for a series of cack-handed blunders.

These included being part-responsible for what was seen as ‘the worst election campaign [2017] in living memory’ and putting forward a deeply flawed social care plan which Mrs May was forced to scrap. Following his enforced resignation, Mr Timothy has been firing broadsides in articles for hard Brexit-supporting newspapers. This week, he launched an unforgiveable attack on his former boss — saying Mrs May had lost control of Brexit. Such disloyalty is contemptible.

Justice for all  

There has been widespread criticism of the decision to charge a former British paratrooper with murder in the wake of the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

I cannot comment on the facts of the case. However, the British Army is the finest and most decent in the world. If it slips from its very high standards, it is right that any charges should be tested in court. 

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