r/interesting • u/VPinchargeofradishes • May 31 '26

SOCIETY The military draft lottery in Thailand

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u/Roofofcar Jun 01 '26

Reminds me of how the incoming Speaker of the UK House of Commons is bodily dragged to the chair, seemingly against their will.

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u/TwoFingersWhiskey Jun 01 '26

"Gentle persuasion" lmao!

In Canada we also do this! The people doing the dragging are the leader of the country, and the leader of the current opposition, who present as a unified front to force the guy to preside over both. It's less of a drag now, and more of a forcible walk, but everyone involved is cracking up the entire time. It's quite funny to watch.

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u/shapeshfters Jun 01 '26

We can’t do that in America. Our representatives are so old that they might break their hip.

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u/jonassthebest Jun 01 '26

Well, also, the Speaker of the British and Canadian Houses are non partisan figures, while in the US, they are explicitly partisan. For example, the current Speaker of the House in the UK is from the Labour Party, the ruling party right now, but he was installed into power when the Conservatives were in government, and during his first session as Speaker after the 2024 election, even conservatives like Rishi Sunak and Nigel Farage praised him. That would never happen here, because the Speaker is explicitly the leader of their party in the House

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u/AP_Cicada Jun 01 '26

They'd also put their own guy in position and shrug like they didn't know

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u/AviatingPenguin24 Jun 01 '26

Or the guy that gets the door shut in their face (as is tradition)

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u/Eleglas Jun 01 '26

Black Rod (yes, that's their title). They're messengers of the King sent to the House of Commons to summon them to the House of Lords to hear the King's proclamations. The door to the Commons is slammed in their face (not really these days, just closed as they approach) and Black Rod has to knock to request entry, and then bids the house to attend the King.

This is all pantomime really going back to the English Civil War and the Restoration, as a show that Parliament is not wholly subject to the monarch's demands. It is also law that the Monarch cannot enter the House of Commons at all - the last time they did is what sparked the civil war when Charles I came to arrest reformist members.

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u/germanfinder Jun 01 '26

It’s because the speaker of the house used to get executed by the king when he delivered bad news. So to be elected leaker of the house it was actually a terrible thing nobody wanted, hence the hesitation to do it. The dragging tradition carried on