Interview with an Independentista... Dave Coull... [the activist]

Dave Coull is a pro- independence activist of well-known reknown. Sometimes loved, sometimes disliked, always controversial and more than often right if you take the trouble to listen... Tragically for Dave the News of the World preferred to insult and defame him rather than listen to what he had to say. The same, obviously, is true of factions within the pro-independence movement. That's a shame, because fighting amongst ourselves doesn't help ANYONE.

Anyway, to the interview. Ladies and Gentlemen: Mr Dave Coull...

Q: Now that you’ve had some time to digest the NOTW article, what are your thoughts on it?

A: That article was a distortion of the truth. Every single alleged "quote" from me was in fact a MIS-quote which distorted what I had actually said, and every single comment from the NOTW was also a distortion. For instance, they turned my garage into a "chicken coop" because they thought that would sound funnier. Because the article was so blatantly inaccurate I wanted a "right of reply". I didn't want to sue for libel because I wasn't after money, just a correction in the NOTW. I consulted a lawyer about this, and he did write to them. They just ignored the letter. My lawyer advised me that the Murdoch Corporation, which owns the NOTW, would prefer fighting a lawsuit to publishing a retraction. He said they never retract anything, even if they have clearly been proved wrong. They are an extremely wealthy corporation with a team of very expensive lawyers who won't give an inch even in a very small case because of the precedent it could set. My lawyer said unless you're a multi-millionaire, forget about trying to take them on. I am not happy about this, and I'm not giving up, but any action is going to have be something else, not through lawyers and courts.

Q: The reaction from the pro-Independence lobby was not good. Why do you think this was?

A: Well, for a start, I reckon so far as quite a lot of folk in the SNP, or who are supporters of the SNP, are concerned, they feel they've got an SNP government, and there will be a referendum on independence sooner or later, so anybody who is demonstrating about this now must be some kind of nutter, and that made them more ready to believe anything the NOTW said about me. Then, so far as a lot of folk on the Left are concerned, there was the precedent of the Tommy Sheridan case. Quite a lot of folk in and around the old SSP, whichever faction they sided with in that party's troubles, probably took the view that I should have known what to expect from the NOTW, and, while what was printed was a distortion, by agreeing to talk to them I deserved everything I got. I had in actual fact been quite reluctant to talk to the NOTW, and would have preferred some other member of Determination to do so, but if I had refused they would probably have made a story out of that refusal, and printed something along the lines of what they were planning anyway. And let's not forget the split in Independence First. For folk who supported the closing down of the IF members forum, and the suppression of dissenting views, the NOTW describing me as some sort of impossible mister angry provided a very convenient way of shifting the spotlight off their OWN responsibility for the resignation of fifteen IF members. So, there's three reasons why some pro-independence folk didn't show solidarity with me.

Q: Is there any response you would like to make about the article?

A: I have written a detailed rebuttal of it. Do you want that? (FFX n.b. I have emailed DC over this).

Q: In your opinion, how will Scotland get its Independence from London rule?

A: I think it will be a combination of factors. There is the international context to consider, and the importance of international public opinion should not be underestimated. Generally speaking, I think the anti-war movement internationally is likely to be supportive. There is also the question of what is happening in England. A lot has been made recently of English Nationalism in reaction to the growing assertion of Scottish independence, but let's not forget that we also have our friends in England who support Scottish independence for positive reasons. Here at home, obviously the SNP government does have a role to play, and Alex Salmond is one very smart Alex indeed. But there are dangers in relying too much on any government, or on any political party, or on any Great Leader. If the troubles of the SSP with Tommy Sheridan proved anything, it was that relying too much on a charismatic leader meant it was a total disaster when something went wrong for that leader. It is important that the independence movement doesn't rely too much on any one leader, or on any one party, or, come to that, on any single campaigning organisation. We should support the initiative of the Independence Convention in promoting a petition aiming at one hundred thousand signatures, but not fall into the trap of seeing that as the ONLY way of campaigning. So far as our group, Determination, is concerned, our contribution will probably be quite small, but, nevertheless, I think it important to have an independent voice which is pushing hard for a referendum and for independence without delay, and not following anybody's party line. All of these factors will play their part. Sooner or later we will get our referendum, I am absolutely certain there will be a decisive majority for independence, and although there will be all sorts of obstacles placed by various elements of the British establishment after that, if we keep pushing hard, and remember to seek and keep the support of folk in other parts of the British Isles, and folk in Europe, and folk in the wider world, I think Scotland will be independent within a few years.

Q: [Since I’m a republican] Are you a Republican or a Monarchist?

A: The only reason I have never described myself as a republican is because I tend to be a bit anarchistic in my attitudes, and the word republican tends to imply support for a government as long as that government doesn't have a king or a queen!

Q: If you had to make one statement about Scotland, right now, what would that statement be?

A: REFERENDUM NOW - INDEPENDENCE - YES OR NO

Give us a damn elected President...

Apparently... your humble narrator was wrong in suggesting Freddie Windsor as being the Royal at the centre of the blackmail plot mentioned in the London Times at the Weekend.

Both Ninemsn and The New Zealand Herald name Viscount Linley as being the target of the blackmail plot. Throneout offer a lifetime supply of smarties to the person who posts the offending video on the internet. I'll match their "lifetime supply of smarties" and up that to a "lifetime supply of cremola foam and the entire Bruce Springsteen back catalogue".

This isn't a personal thing, this is almost entirely political. Our masters have decided that it is better for us to have amatuer, inbred socialites to take the top job in Scotland (President / King / Supremo / etc) rather than someone who WE can select.

Linley is 12th in line to the throne. That means that if there is a couple of car accidents we get someone who clearly isn't qualified for the role to get the job.

Sack the royals. Sack Westminster. Give a real parliament or build a bypass through that shithole in Holyrood.

Legends...

I'm slightly more interested in meeting a few of my bloggerino's than reading the news right now.

Take Leonna for instance, she's linked to me and she's like an internet superstar... Far too many stalkers that one wee paisley lassie should have, but if she needs hauner's I'm there... See me... I'll do anything for a link! Even Michael G has linked to me and he's like a left-wing icon these days (honestly guys: Tommy Sheridan is his bitch...)

Anyway: Legends, yes, Princess Diana: hmm.... Tony Benn... mmm...

Various videos and new articles have appeared detailing all the conspiracy theories concerning how / why / when Princess Diana died. Now, admittedly my Republicanism means that I could officially give a crap how / when / if a member of the Royalty died... but this time it was all rather public and obvious.

The strange inevitability of Diana's death meant that we plebs couldn't get a respite from the conspiratorial moral panic. We couldn't escape the Daily Express diary of Mohammed Al Fayed's Illuminati theory about how his son died. And honestly... who can blame him. "Hi... my son got himself engaged to a Bond Villian's ex-wife. Do you want a bagel?"

Throw into this mix Tony "Wedgewood" Benn and his incessant "I'm the best Socialist. Ever. No contest. Tommy Sheridan can fuck right off and George Galloway is a cunt." Seriously... I'd rather have Tommy and all his sexaholic problems than George Galloway or Tony Benn any day. I could officially give a fuck if he got jiggy with SSP party members or not. My only regret from the SSP is that Katrina Trolle didn't pose with Chanelle from Big Brother in a Daily Star spread.

I mean honestly, who believed Diana's crocodile tears for all her weapons of Mass destraction and land mines, and who believed that it wasn't Tony Benn who shut down the Scottish mines for Hunterston and Torness Nuclear power stations...

What pisses me off, isn't pointless deaths, it's pointless beliefs. You have all the answers to your legends lies and you believe them. THINK!

Dag-nab it...

Occasionally I get caught on film.

And even rarer... I have to put all photos on the interweb.

http://www.taghairmdubh.com/determination.htm

Yep... your narrator has been a-protestin' and it's been caught on camera. MY camera in fact. I didn't know other people knew how to work it...

Scottish GOVERNMENT

This is a fucking red letter day my brothers and sisters...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6974798.stm

Yes, yes, yes... I know it's just a BBC article, but if it comes to pass, then it will mark a psychologocal watershed for the march towards independence. To get independence, in my view, you need more than just a vote. You need to hotwire the perceptions of the scottish people. You need to overcome three hundred years of failure and mismanagement to get them to believe, just once, that they are good enough.

And they don't. Yet. I think they WANT to, but haven't quite worked up the courage.

I just had a deja vu about something else, but we're not talking about that, we're talking about independence.

Think about it like this: imagine you not only had the army to defeat an emeny, but also the tactics. But you're only problem is that your army won't commit. If your eventual goal is to win the battle, then surely your first problem is rewiring the psychology of your troops so that they WILL commit. To me, calling a Government a Government is just that. It's about rewiring the perceptions of the Scottish Population. A next VITAL step is Scottish People seeing themselves in an International Context, like... say... a Scottish Six (featuring Scottish AND international news created by and from a Scottish Context). More diplomacy with Europe as well... but we're getting ahead of ourselves now...

Mack the non-Rant

According to my clustrmap thingy, not many Canadians read this blog. So... I say we get stuck into those workshy, anti-independence, moose-fucking bastards.... what d'ye say? No... oh well...

I'm going to introduce to you a series of random statements and you can tell me what you think of them? They've all been said, uttered or whispered at various times to me.

I'm going to make a rare disclaimer (usually I could care less about what the Sun and Record reading public thought about this blog. Fuck it... most of the time complain to the retard about this blog and see just how much of a fuck I actually give.) BUT, this time, the statements below are not mine. Don't be stupid and automatically assume I subscribe to the comment.

These statements are anonymous and will remain that way. I'm merely curious about your reactions to them...

1. English people aren't moving to Scotland because they're trying to colonise the place. They see it as being more white than England is, and do not accept multi-culturalism. They want the white Britain of the 50s television sold them in the 70s. English Incomers are in receipt of racism, they're the cause of it.
   
2. Prince Michael of Albany wasn't the true heir to the throne. You can tell by the fact that he's still alive.
   
3. Socialists who have hubris about their socialism and cringe about their Scottish do so because they prefer sleeping with Socialist Workers to Scottish Nationalists. It's tribal, Kenny, not politics. It never was, not now.
   
4. [In response to my self-righteousness about the SSP being more morally right than Tommy Sheridan] People have sex. End of. Are you fucking Jesus? Who gave you the moral right to judge a man when you've done the same? Even if he did, does the man not have the right to save his fucking marriage?
   
5. [In response a speaker talking about how Wallace was "watching" over us] If she starts talking like Derek Acorah, I'm leaving. [not thought provoking, but it made me chuckle]
6. If the Independence Vote in a referendum was closer to losing than winning, it would be better to sabotage the turnout and gain a short-term loss, than lose the referendum with a big turnout and suffer a long term one.
   
7. You want to know why people like Wallace? It's because they want it done. They don't want pussy politics, they don't want old men hiding behind democracy and pacifism that sold them out in the miners strike and the Poll Tax. They want one man, standing up, ready to fight and to say fuck you to the aristocracy. They want someone to give them their pride back.
   
8. [on why a person didn't vote SSP when I suggested it to them] They claim to be the party of the working man. But all I see is a bunch of people on benefits and incapacity benefit. Nobody seems to give a fuck about the working classes anymore. It's all about the underclasses. Where's our party?
   

So, reason for the disclaimer should be obvious. Anyone any thoughts? If you don't like using bloggers comments system, email me. kenny.sheerin@gmail.com

Wikiscanner outs London Bias

This the story of an IP Address. An IP address is merely the number identification of an internet connection. It’s like your National Insurance Number, but for your internet connection rather than your computer.

Wikipedia, where our story takes place, is an encyclopedia. An encyclopedia YOU can go on to, read and edit.

Wikiscanner is a tool designed to unmask anonymous amendments made to Wikipedia. The following list of amendments Wikipedia entries come from IP Address: 194.60.38.10

Or… as the RIPE IP Address database puts it: 

netnum:         194.60.0.0 - 194.60.63.255
netname:         HOP
descr:           Houses of Parliament
country:         GB

Or more specifically: 

person:          Jon Daniels
address:         Parliamentary ICT
               7 Millbank
               London
               SW1P 3JA

phone:           +44 20 7219 2001
mnt-by:          UK-HOP-MNT
nic-hdl:         JD2618-RIPE
source:          RIPE # Filtered

person:          David A J Hamilton
address:         Parliamentary ICT
               7 Millbank
               London
               SW1P 3JA

phone:           +44 20 7219 2001
e-mail:          postmaster@parliament.uk
nic-hdl:         DH849-RIPE
mnt-by:          UK-HOP-MNT
source:          RIPE # Filtered

Reference: http://www.ripe.net/whois?form_type=simple&full_query_string=&searchtext=194.60.38.10&do_search=Search

The Wikiscanner page I’m using for this search is located here (so you can check for yourself): http://wikiscanner.virgil.gr/f.php?ip1=194.60.38.10&nolimit=1

Tennis Player Andrew Murray is a Twat

This particular computer decided that Andy Murray’s NAME was wrongly designated on Wikipedia. It changed the Wikipedia reference from ‘Andrew “Andy” Murray’ to ‘Andrew “Twat” Murray’.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=61357681

Labels: personal insults

Spinning the 40% Rule (Scotland Act 1978)

Spin is what Labour brought to the table when they were elected and you can’t accuse them of not applying the same rules to history…

The simple sentence “The British government rejected the referendum because the condition that 40% of the total electorate should vote Yes was not met, and the Act was repealed by Order on 26 July 1979” was rejected in favour of “The British government accepted the result of the referendum in accordance with the Act. Because the condition that 40% of the total electorate should vote Yes was not met, the Act was repealed by Order on 26 July 1979”.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=52659490

Labels: Spin

Tommy Sheridan – Gang Bangin’

In Tommy Sheridan’s Wikipedia reference, surprisingly it wasn’t his old embittered amigos in the SSP who decided to play up the tabloid stories… but… er… the same British Parliamentary IP address as the ones listed above…

They decided to add: “The tabloid stories included allegations that Sheridan had seduced large numbers of young female SSP members, that he used call girls, and that he had accompanied journalist Anvar Khan to an orgy.”

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=9769410

Labels: personal attacks, defamation of character

Too much time on your hands?

Naturally whichever elected members or parliamentary researchers or millbank technicians altered Wikipedia, its good see they’ve got so much insight, wit and intelligence to keep the Union together…

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=30719253

Apparently BBC6 DJ Marc Riley’s musical are all “shit” according to someone called Tom Kiehl.

Labels: Don’t we pay you for something better than this?

The Militant War

In the 1980s the Labour Party expelled a particularly left-wing group of politicians from its ranks, notably people like Derek Hatton and Tommy Sheridan.

Over four separate edits, a series of names were added to the article to make sure no-one was in any doubt who the bad boys were.

This very British computer felt it necessary to tell tales out of school and grass up all the lefties who were chucked out of the labour party.

The baiting failed. The edit acquired “disputed neutrality” tag only succeeded in baiting Militants to actually expand the bloody article.

See for yourself:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=74719741

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=74719842

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=74720560

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=74720997

And the current article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militant_tendency

Labels: Baiting the commies

The Shona McIssac Edit War

I’m not going to lie to you, I never heard of this wummin until she cropped up on the Wikiscanner. The first thing I noticed was the removal of criticism from Ms. McIssacs Wikipedia reference.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=137413484

Fortunately though, sanity broke out and the same IP address deleted a fictional “she’s married to Frank Skinner” reference. Phew.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=137413658

Er… then it deleted the rest of the article altogether…

I hadn’t heard of this wummin before and now she was disappearing before my eyes… Was she so anorexic that her entire history was disappearing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=137413803

Phew. Some nice editor who doesn’t mind people knowing his user name called “YJwong” then put it all back up again.

Until my current favour IP address deleted all again. Boo hiss. I was never going to learn who the hell Shona is at this rate…

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=137425292

By this point, clearly 194.60.38.10 is getting a bit sick of deleting everything and merely amends the web page by removing that strange reference that she’s married to comedian Frank Skinner by saying: “Deleted stupid and incorrrect reference to her marrying comedian Frank Skinner.” This technically is correct. Apparently she’s married to some guy called Peter. But since would clearly have preferred to delete EVERYTHING… I’m think “Hello Kettle? Erm… It’s pot. We’ve been talking about what colour you are…)

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?diff=prev&oldid=137434579

I left it there since I got bored… You can understand…

Labels: Censorship

Elderslie Reminder

Tomorrow. Elderslie. 3pm.

Go to Central Station, get a train to Johnstone. When you leave Johnstone, turn left. Follow the flags.

It's that simple.

(and thanks to Glasgow for the picture)

Historical Labyrinth

“Never let it be said that any enemy of Macgregor ever saw him defenceless and unarmed,” [offending person shown the door] “Now it is all over - let the piper play "Ha til mi tulidh.” Alleged Last Words of Rob Roy Macgregor

Last night I memorised the entire list of the Kings of the Picts from the Pictish Chronicle. I’m not lying, it was a horrible experience. I was testing out some memory mojo I learned in a book, and surprisingly it actually worked. Drest, Talorc, Nechtan I, Drest 2, Galan, Drest 3, Drest 4, Gartnait, Cailtram, Talorc 2 and Drest 5. Look them on somewhere, cos I didn’t.

You don’t have to believe me. In fairness there’s no way for me to prove this outwith you turning up at one of the events I go to and asking me to do it.

The thing that I find interesting is all the wee details that I didn’t know about along the way. They get obscured by the Bruce and the Wallace and are the kinds of trivia I obsess about. Like Drest I. Drest I was apparently ruler over 100 years and won 100 battles. That, in anyone’s language is pretty cool even though reason dictates it’s probably not the entire truth. Eochaid (king of Picts AND Scots between 878 to 899) it is said, was expelled 9 years into his reign when an Eclipse of the Sun occurred. That’s fucking Hollywood right there. AND that we had a king with the epithet “the great”. That one passed me by. Apparently “Nechtan I” was “Nechtonius the Great” and founded Abernethy. Even Kenneth McAlpin didn’t get “the great” and he was King Swedger of the Swedging people.

But… now I’m just pointing out weird historical things I found interesting. Although you can’t tell me the exile during the eclipse wasn’t a haunting image… I wish I could paint… I guess that’s my point. If you explore Scottish history more, she sucks you deeper in….

" To a Scot, the past clings like sand to wet feet,
and is carried about as a burden.
The many ghosts are always a part of them, inescapable."
Geddes MacGregor

All our yesterdays

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Shakespeare from Macbeth (V, v, 19)


We should be thankful that John Smeaton's senseless disregard for his own life should be so vaunted by Glasgow. Scotland's own Jack Bauer managed to translate ordinary petty violence into something acceptable. Fine by me...

You'll probably note a slightly cynical tone from me, of late. Not a great deal of jokes on here, and to be honest I don't feel like making any in either this, or any of the subsequent ten blog posts. After that, back to normal. But then I doubt you (if you're a regular) come here because you know what to expect. I don't do "safe and normal" in any conventional sense (thus the odd occasion when I post something embarrassing and delete it the day after).

When those civilians saw the authorities fighting with two Al Queda terrorists in Glasgow Airport, a few saw red and got stuck in. They were interviewed, written about, blog-stalked, and subsequently dispensed with. And that should have been it. But it wasn't. People were entranced, in every workplace, in every street, and practically on every scottish forum on the internet, the gallus wee rangers supporter was vouched for (presumably along with his accomplices) as a bona fide weegie hero.

Once, just once, the Weege would shake it's fist at the world and feel something it hasn't felt in three hundred years.

This IS, of course, in spite of the fact that we actually caused the problem in the first place. This IS, of course, in spite of the fact that we hadn't we taken the Spainish approach of "oh right. Imperialism is a bad thing. Okay, we'll stop and not get bombed..." I even heard the term "Blitz spirit" used as if it was a good thing. Blitz spirit is fine if you're using it against something that can't be avoided. It's great. But if your troops are the ones massacring the bosh to get some black gold for a few mad americans then where the hell is the glory in that?

Maybe the glory is in the fact that we've probably voted against it all and are ignored. The SNP are against the war, as well as a fair few of almost every party IN the Scottish Parliament. Maybe the glory is in the detail. No-one asked us, but no-one is going to fuck with us without impunity either. THIS bit, I agree with.

But my optimism only extends so far. What walking abortion takes solace from violence without trying to solve the underlying cause? At least the IRA had an objective... once... They wanted a united Ireland and used it until they realised their tactics were being impeded by a much more powerful security service. But can we vaunt our civilian heroes without trying to argue for a solution to the very thing which caused the attack in the first place?

Do you preach pull-out or extinction? What do you propose for Iraq, or Afghanistan, or any other country in the Middle East? Did you know that when the Muslims learned (back in historical history) that the Messiah was predicted to enter Jerusalem throught the eastern Golden Gate in the Bible, the Ottoman Turks sealed the gate shut and built a graveyard in front of it so that the Messiah would literally have to enter Jerusalem over their dead bodies... Nasty, isn't it? Almost as nasty and the hundreds of thousands Scottish Soldiers have helped massacre under El Presidente George Dubya! Proud yet? Still feel gallus?

It's a vicious circle of violence and no-one benefits. I'm not a pacifist, but I don't see the reasons for any of these deaths or attacks.

The only thing we, as Scots, have is each other in a community. If circumstances beyond our control target US, then it's right we celebrate protecting ourselves. Most of us would like to think we'd do the same. It's tribal, a common ID painting the blood of the aggressors onto your faces and roaring at the hills.

But then we're not exactly civilised, are we? No matter how much we pretend we still worship trees, rocks and pools of water. Your little Jesus Crucifix is nailed to a tree. Most versions of Christianity have that tree with or without a man on it. You worship the tree either way. Your baptism recreates that nice moment when pagans worshiped their local stream and your rocks are your altar. You even have a pantheon of gods and demi gods. Although chances are you call the "Saints". And we still squabble over the dirt of someone elses land here or there. Your heroes are the best warriors and you, inevitably, are Agamemnon in Troy.

Didn't Carl Jung call it the collective unconscious? Didn't Aristotle and Plato reveal it as archetypes? Can't you see yourself in every picture of every art gallery? When you smoke the weed to escape all this madness, aren't you just becoming Shamans and Druids again?

"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything." Friedrich Nietzsche

[whiteamerica]

"America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilisation in between" Oscar Wilde

Scotland has a strange relationship with America. On the one hand our socialist politics are entirely incompatible with their way of life, yet we lap up their movies, bands and pseudo-morality as if we were an alcoholic in an empty off license.

I can never get a handle on America. For the record, most of my favourite movies are American, but I despise almost all of its politics. I’ve friends who are Confederates and support it being broken up into its constituent parts. The rise of Microsoft and Haliburton is reprehensible to me. But the cultural contribution of the people is a great thing. “So wash you car in your X Baseball Shoes…” Yeah…

One of my favourite bands, Rage Against the Machine, have been guilty of being naïve and blurry on their beliefs. Their classic line: “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me…” repeated various times, is as vague as you’re likely to get from any cock rock band. But they combine Rap music with Rock music and quote communism and mention Carlos from Mexico. So that’s okay then.

Rap music though, is equally as a fascinating for a quick digress. This is street poetry corrupted by the iniquities of the American system. Bono can laud Martin Luther King all he likes, but the system he pontificates upon spawned Malcolm X and Cassius Clay when he refused to go to Vietnam. More recently it spawned the Washington Sniper and held court to a war of Gangster Rap musicians who decided that killing Tupac and Biggie whatever was more important than the street poetry.

But here’s my point. The declaration of Arbroath was the founding statement of America. We should, apparently, be proud of this. Scottish people were present at the signing and did this, that and the other. We provided the philosophy, yes, but that just makes us part of the blame. We provided tactics and expats for the confederates, so apparently we tried to be a part of the solution, but I guess the loss suggests the time wasn’t right. Either way we are the inheritors of our own mistakes. The Confederacy has itself to free, and we have ourselves to free. Little people in little houses with a few votes with which to free ourselves.

We are the seduced, the protagonists and the exploited. And in every Native American reservation, in every film, in every song, in every band, in every genre it spawned, in every cynical quote you’ll find on the internet, you’ll find Scotland’s influence. We’re the guilty and the victims. We’re the poodles who now bark at Iraq for the black gold. We’re the supporters of the CIA torturers of Guantanamo Bay. We’re the victims of suicide bombers. We reside in a bankrupt culture, alienated and pretentious without Embra Tattoo and Festival.

“Europe will never be like America. Europe is a product of history. America is a product of philosophy.” Margaret Thatcher

New Moral Saviours

“The greatest nations have all acted like gangsters and the smallest like prostitutes.” Stanley Kubrick

Yes… I can’t tell anymore whether the SNP’s austere sincerity since election is a good thing or an intelligent thing. They’ve managed to straddle public opinion with the high values and expectations of its membership, and crucially, the non-member fringe groups (of which I am a proud member of at least two).

The terror attack showed a Presbyterian restraint on linking the issue to Scotland’s involvement with the union. Clearly the SNP leader knew that its ousted Fundie wing would do that for them, and still be onside.

You’re wondering why, aren’t you? How can the fundies stay loyal after being chucked, or at the very least distanced? They do it for the same reason that Socialist Workers vote Labour in General Elections: to keep the ones they REALLY dislike out of power. For the fundies: that enmity is reserved for Labour.

The SNP approach, in my opinion, is a rather bi-polar one. The SNP acts all statesman, and allows fundies to whore themselves to the independence argument. For people like me: EVERYTHING is about independence. Two things happen: the SNP look like ministers (after 73 years of trying and dreaming) and finally get an official stamp. Also, the independence argument gets pushed, covertly by the SNP and overtly by bloggers, independentistas, anarchists, left indies, indy indies and whatever the hell I am this week.

I guess this is how a Socialist Worker must have felt in 1997 when Blair got in. Whilst Tony et al got their Special Branch Escort and their expensive Ministerial Suits; the Socialist Workers were putting on their lippy and mascara and trawling for business on picket lines and at anti-thisandthat rallies. I used to laugh, and now it’s my turn (and I was an SSP member…)

With the benefit of hindsight, it turns out three things happened to cause this:

1. Most of my friends are SNP supporters. They’re the ones in Black T-shirts and kilts, by the way. Siol.. Siol… Siol nan… etcetera. It’s part social psychology and part necessity to keep the independence dream cooking until it’s ready.
2. My amigos in the SRSM come under the second thing that happened. We were rather schizophrenic about the Solidarity and SSP debacle. Yes Tommy was a bit of a bastard. And Yes he is a great politician. But no MSPs got elected and one of those parties got less votes than the BNP. Everywhere. There’s a stark fucking reality check for you right there.
   
3. Combine this with cliché numero three and you have yourself a campaign badge for the executive whether you want one or not: “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” This is a cliché whether you’re in Siol nan Gaidheal, a Dalek in Doctor Who or talking to that psycho in work you’d rather not, but you know pisses the boss off… But it’s still a valid tactical position.

“The profession of a prostitute is the only career in which the maximum income is paid to the newest apprentice. It is the one calling in which at the beginning the only exertion is that of self-indulgence; all the prizes are at the commencement. It is the ever-new embodiment of the old fable of the sale of the soul to the Devil. The tempter offers wealth, comfort, excitement, but in return the victim must sell her soul, nor does the other party forget to exact his due to the uttermost farthing.” William Booth