I have been much criticised for referring to Unionists – and No voters are precisely Unionists – as evil or stupid. I have given this much thought, as a number of very well-intentioned people have urged me to apologise. After a great deal of angst, I have decided to offer a heartfelt apology. Not all Unionists are Evil or Stupid. Some are just Cowards. There, I think that covers it.
My analysis runs thus:
Evil
The United Kingdom has become a force for ill in the World. In invading Iraq against the express wishes of the UN Security Council, Blair and Bush did to the United Nations what Hitler and Mussolini did to the League of Nations. The UK was up to its neck in complicity with extraordinary rendition and torture. Its foreign policy is based on resource grabs for the benefit of a few wealthy corporations. Even this year it is in Court still defending the atrocious deportation of the entire population of Diego Garcia to make way for a US airbase, and still preventing their return. It is actively preparing to do the same to the Ascension Islanders. It supports the hideous dictatorship of Bahrain and was implicated in the overthrow of Egypt’s only elected government by the CIA’s General Sisi. It constantly works against the interests of the Palestinians at the UN.
This week the UK has been passing still more laws attacking fundamental liberties in the name of “counter-terrorism” and increasing surveillance. It has an economy dedicated entirely to the interests of very wealthy people in the City of London. Its wealth gap between rich and poor is massive and still growing. The UK has 100 billionaires, and malnourished children, living on a small island. It is dominated by corporations run on a low wage model and has systematically destroyed workers’ rights.
On balance, the government of the UK has become a force for evil in the world. not a force for good. To support it in full knowledge of the above is evil.
Stupid
Given the existence of the tremendous communications possibilities of the internet, and given the wide range of information available above all in Scotland where a new political consciousness has developed, there are few excuses for having been ill-informed in the referendum. The failure to inform oneself, given the resources available, was itself evidence of a lack of gumption.
Some people are Unionists not because they support the policies outlined under Evil, but because they fail to perceive them. This group overlaps heavily with those who do not believe the Labour Party is now a fully paid up neoconservative party subscribing to everything above, and with only a sham concern for social justice. Despite the Red Tories’ open pledges to be tougher on welfare reform and immigration than the Blue Tories, these stupid people believe social progress is possible within the UK under Labour. They also actually believed that The Vow on Devo-Max would be delivered. This group of Unionists are incapable of perceiving evil when they see it, even when it comes certified with membership of the Henry Jackson Society. These people are stupid.
Cowardly
I have added this last group. These are people who did perceive the evil of the UK, and thus weren’t entirely stupid, but were too scared of social change to abandon unionism. A substantial section of the cowards should in fact be grouped under evil, because the cause of their fear was entirely self-centred. They could see the evil the UK does, but cared rather more about their own pension, job, mortgage etc. than they cared about anything else in the world. This combination of selfishness and fear of social change is of course classically Tory. But not all cowards fell into the Tory category. Some were genuinely fearful that things might somehow get even worse for everybody. They would not have boarded the first trains in case their heads were blown off by the 30mph winds.
Conclusion
After four months of constant thought, I cannot think of any hypothetical unionist position which does not fall into one of those categories. I am grateful for the criticism which led me to realise that I had left out the cowards. Some of that criticism came from nationalists who do not like politics to be described in moral terms, and for whom national independence should rouse no more passion than a change in local council boundaries, being a simple question of the best technocratic management of broadly similar political systems. That is a position I wholeheartedly denounce. For me national independence for Scotland is a great ethical choice for good – and against evil.
Fortunately a great many of the stupid are realising their mistake – being slower on the uptake does not stop you getting there eventually. So now there is a definite majority, for Yes. I am pleased about this, and view Independence as absolutely inevitable in the near term. I shall certainly live to see it. I don’t see converting No voters as part of my personal mission in life. The Wizard of Oz could give the Coward a medal and the Stupid a diploma. I shall content myself with being the one who throws water over the Evil.
Finally, for those who cannot get their heads round the purpose, style and conventions of political polemic, plainly you don’t have to be a No voter to be stupid. I have No voters in my family and among very close friends, including some without whose assistance I couldn’t keep this blog going. An attempt to introduce intellectual rigour into political discussion and test positions as part of political debate in no sense equates to personal animosity. As I have repeatedly stated in the context of the hundreds of political issues this blog has debated over ten years, I do not choose my friends by their politics. Otherwise I guess I wouldn’t have any đ !
WASHINGTON â The Twitter and YouTube accounts of the Pentagon’s command for its forces in the Middle East were hacked Monday, according to U.S. Central Command.
The command’s Twitter and YouTube sites “were compromised for approximately 30 minutes,” a statement released by CENTCOM said. “These sites reside on commercial, non-Defense Department servers, and both sites have been temporarily taken offline while we look into the incident further.
CENTCOM’s operational military networks were not compromised, and there was no operational impact to U.S. Central Command.”
“We view this as little more than a prank,” said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman. “No (Pentagon) systems or computers were compromised.”
Shorty after 10 p.m. ET, CENTCOM announced “We’re back” in a tweet from it’s Twitter
Tampa-based Central Command oversees U.S. forces battling militants in Iraq and Syria, as well as its troops in Afghanistan. Along with the U.S. Special Operations Command, it is located at MacDill Air Force Base.
A group calling itself the CyberCaliphate claimed responsibility for the hack.
A Twitter account from a group identifying itself as Anonymous said Monday it had tracked the source of the hack to Maryland,
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/12/twitter-centcom-isis/21640577/?AID=10709313&PID=4003003&SID=g67uw2os9f6z
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Unsurprisingly Maryland is home to the NSA.
https://www.nsa.gov
A very interesting piece Craig. Your critique of the No voter is a worthwhile one. Perhaps you can now commit the ultimate sacrilage and cast a similar eye over the SNP membership?
The party has grown by such a huge amount. Around 80% of members are new members. This new membership is drawn from a group who were happy to question all facts, and turn a questioning eye over what they were told. So I’m surprised so many are now adopting the very “eat your cereal” attitude they derided but a few shhrt months ago.
You applied to be a candidate in Airdrie and failed vetting. Another candidate failed to make the cut due to problems with his paperwork. This has left two candidates. One, supported by the MSP and virtually every councillor in the area. The other is being frozen out by the party locally, bad mouthed online and having malicious allegations made against him to HQ. To which the response has been silence.
Had one candidate failed selection this would be understandable. Your comments regarding No voters were possibly enough to give the party the excuse to fail you, but that was not enough. A leak from within the party to help remove the competition to Alex Neil’s protege led to your complete removal. Then another drops out, leaving a two horse race in which one horse is having shots fired at it from the stands.
The very sad thing, which brings me to my original point, is that many SNP supporters cannot bring themselves to believe such events occur in their party, the party of fairness and equality, of social justice and transparent democracy. If you can believe that a Labour politician can be rotten, is it a great leap of the imagination to see that an SNP one can be also?
Craig, you would be welcome to stand in Airdrie and there are some within the SNP who are so sickened by local nepotism that they are willing to leave and back you. The Monklands McMafia need clearing out. A rotten SNP MP would only consolidate that group. We cannot allow that to happen.
As a brutal winter storm hits Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians remain without proper shelter after Israelâs summer attacks, a former United Nations official warns of a âhumanitarian emergency of the highest order.â
âThe evidence seems overwhelming as to the commission of massive war crimes,â former UN special rapporteur Richard Falk told The Electronic Intifada.
Yet justice is as out of reach for Palestinians in Gaza as relief from the dire humanitarian situation there.
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/israeli-attack-gaza-was-massive-state-terror-former-un-official
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Where is the UN now as the cold winter bites, its a travesty that millions of people can say “We are Charlie” and the worlds media covers it, but Palestine seems to be Europe’s and the west dirty little secret.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for partaking in an anti-terrorism rally in Paris.
At a Monday press conference with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in the Turkish capital Ankara, Erdogan hit out at Netanyahu for leading “state terrorism” against the Palestinian people, saying that he could “hardly understand how he (Netanyahu) dared to go” to the anti-terrorism march in Paris.
The Turkish president further called on Netanyahu to “give an account for the children, [and] womenâ he âmassacred” during the latest Israeli onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Erdogan noted that the Israeli premier had no right to attend the march, during which he was seen elbowing his way to the front of the parade of world leaders and waving to the crowd, a gesture some commentators deemed to be at odds with the somber mood.
“How can you see this individual, who carries out state terrorism by massacring 2,500 people in Gaza, waving his hand?” Erdogan said, adding, “He is waving his hand as if people are very enthusiastically waiting for him.”
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/01/12/392814/Erdogan-raps-Netanyahu-over-Paris-rally
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Yip I’ve go to agree with Erdogan on this occasion, Netanyahu, murders thousands of Palestinians, yet he has the chutzpah to march in a peace rally, what hypocritical b*stard.
France is home to the largest Jewish population in western Europe, France is also home to the largest Muslim population, in western Europe, a time bomb waiting to explode, I wonder who lit the fuse.
If their is such a thing as radical Islam, then surely it opposite must surely be radical Judaism.
Republicofscotland : “Yip Iâve go to agree with Erdogan on this occasion, Netanyahu, murders thousands of Palestinians, yet he has the chutzpah to march in a peace rally, what hypocritical b*stard.”
He was accompanied by chief propagandist Mark Regev which suggests his priorities at the rally.
I hate those things. Theyâre horrible. Everywhere you go, spoiling the landscape.
Dangerous feckers, they are as well:
The offshore windmills also have the potential to be horrible dangers to shipping; the renewables industry snake oil salemen’s claim that they can remain operational for 25 years (and thereby justify the massive cost of installation) remains untested. Given the scouring effects of saltwater corrosion I remain extremely sceptical over claims that they will last that long.
The industry experts are similarly sceptical- and see an opportunity to capitalise on the wishful thinking and short sightedness of our political masters who sold this to us as a panacea-
http://www.icorr.org/news/280/index.phtml
Correct me if I am wrong Craig, but do you not live in England ? That being the case you are in no position to call any one anything over the Scottish Independence issue.
Assuming that you do still live in England then maybe the label Coward should be stuck to you as well. Too cowardly to move North and actually have a say. Its easy to be so critical from a distance.
Frankly this is one of the most stupid things you have ever posted. If you dislike this country so much, why still live here ?
“After four months of constant thought, I cannot think of any hypothetical unionist position which does not fall into one of those categories..”
Indeed, the importance of four months of constant thought on the part of a Brilliant person mustn’t be underestimated. Just think, it really should be sufficient to enable one to plan a successful campaign for MP in East Anglia, another successful campaign for MP in Blackburn, and last but not least a successful referendum campaign in Scotland.
But then there’s the democratic system, so awkward for anyone with a Brilliant plan. One may need to use undemocratic methods to implement it. Then there should be no objections..
What?! There are still objectors? As Saddam or Uncle Joe might say, find them. Find them and bring them to me, these evil, stupid or cowardly wreckers. They will learn the punishment for opposing my Brilliant plan. (Saddam might add: They and all their family.) đ
For those who doubt the scouring effects of saltwater corrosion on offshore windmills, take a look at the image appended here-
http://www.slideshare.net/IQPCGermany/24905001-corrosion-article-the-importance-of-corrosion-protection-on-offshore-wind-farms1
So to sum up Craig’s polemic, each and every one of the 55% majority (of which I was not one) who voted no in the Scottish referendum was in addition to being “a unionist” (apparently by definition), also either evil, stupid or cowardly – take your pick. And yet… in the event that a majority choose to vote for UK independence in a future referendum on EU membership, then Craig will be ready to characterise all of those who do – the “anti-unionists” on this occasion, since they are the ones wishing to secede – as evil, stupid and cowardly all over again. But I’m forgetting. The UK is pure evil whereas the EU is all virtue and goodness. How stupid of me.
Abe Rene (5:03pm) – you have got Mr Murray sussed đ
David: “Correct me if I am wrong Craig, but do you not live in England ? That being the case you are in no position to call any one anything over the Scottish Independence issue.”
This is nonsense, why shouldn’t anyone living in England be able to make a fair and proper assessment of the Scottish Independence ‘issue’.
This is as crazy as the many who on the Charlie Hebdo ‘issue’, who say, you’re not French, you cannot possibly understand, how dare you presume to have a view.
Republicofscotland @ 4.00 pm “This one’s for Habb” etc: It would appear your speculative and posited premise, is further strengthened, according to this very recent terse communiquĂŠ, from Hostilities-addicted, Nutty Netanyahu.. đ http://rt.com/news/208187-israel-france-grave-mistake/
Interesting stuff there, Mark Wilkinson,
Despite the massive increase in new membership, the SNP old cronies are still clinging to and manipulating the reins of power.
Perfect opportunity for Craig to strand as an independent SNP candidate.
You have the arguments. You have the support. You have the issues and you have the old cronies as a perfect foil.
The wind will never again be better at your back.
Go for it!
“This is nonsense, why shouldnât anyone living in England be able to make a fair and proper assessment of the Scottish Independence âissueâ.”
Because his assessment is neither fair nor proper. Its biased by the simple fact that Craig hates Westminster……. and anyone who disagrees with him !
Craig sees the UK as broken and so the only solution is to destroy it, what utter rubbish that concept is. Yes its broken, but breaking it further wont fix it or fix Scotland. Unless of course its Europe in which case in the world according the Craig, we must stay in an equally broken system.
“He was accompanied by chief propagandist Mark Regev which suggests his priorities at the rally.”
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Node.
There was picture going around in most papers, of all the leaders walking beside each other arms linked, Netanyahu and David Cameron, are accompanied by Hollande, whilst Mahoud Abbas, the Palestinian leader, was kept well apart from Netanyahu.
If it really was peace protest march, shouldn’t Abbas and Netanyahu have walked arm and arm, to show solidarity.
we live in a system that is controled and manipulated by the Capitolist elite they will never give up control of the organs of information or goverment, they will do anything to put worker against worker.The incident in Paris if you look on the Internet displays a completely different view to what the mass media is showing,it is showing so many inconsistencies that the whole incident was staged by the French secrect service to discredit the Muslim population.
If Craig sees the UK as broken then perhaps he’s trying to ensure Scotland doesn’t go down with it.
There’s no need. Scotland had the opportunity, still has, to escape this fate.
Should the UK go down, it will be because of the bad alliances it has made.
Scotland didn’t choose these alliances.
The EU too will be much better off when they ditch the transatlantic alliance which is now causing such misery to them and to the world.
Evidently Francois Hollande was thinking the same thing, at least until a barbarous terrorism was visited upon his land:
http://www.france24.com/en/20150105-france-hollande-russia-sanctions-putin-ukraine-libya-intervention-greece-syriza/
Where France goes, the rest of Europe will follow.
The future belongs to producers, not bankers!
To who it may concern.
Craig lives in Edinburgh.
“Republicofscotland @ 4.00 pm âThis oneâs for Habbâ etc: It would appear your speculative and posited premise, is further strengthened, according to this very recent terse communiquĂŠ, from Hostilities-addicted, Nutty Netanyahu.”
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JermynstreetJim.
That’s right it wasn’t so much as a veiled threat as an outright one.
I can’t think of a countries leader, in recent times that’s threw about so many veiled threats as Israels Netanyahu.
Even Kim Jong Un, at only 32 years of age, knows when to keep it shut.
RoS
“Now why would you mention Mossad, I havenât once referred to them in any post, interesting indeed.”
__________________
But others have.
So don’t be shy, tell us which theory has your favour : Mossad or actors/holgrams?
đ
holograms
Keep posting those oil prices, Fred. đ
Herbie
“Perfect opportunity for Craig to strand as an independent SNP candidate.”
__________________
Was that a Freudian slip, Professor?
“Looks like Habbaclusterfuck is back in his cell.”
_____________________
Calgacus.
I’m afraid the zookeeper has left the gate unlocked, and the rare species Habbenya, (A creature that looks for other creatures droppings,and mixes them with dirt) has managed to escape again.
The Habbenya, is also commonly known as the shit stirrer.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says the terrorists who attacked Charlie Hebdo would never have been caught had they not made one fatal mistake: They conveniently left an ID card in their abandoned getaway car.
Since when did criminals leave their identification cards in abandoned getaway cars?
An ordinary citizen, taking no precautions, might accidentally leave a wallet or purse in their parked car. I have driven automobiles approximately 50,000 times in my life, and I think my wallet might have slipped out of my pocket and fallen into the crack between the driverâs seat and the door…once.
What are the odds that skilled terrorists who have just carried out an ultra-professional special-forces style attack will accidentally leave their ID card in the abandoned getaway car? Answer: Effectively zero.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/01/10/392426/Planted-ID-card-exposes-Paris-false-flag
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Eye witnesses said the armed terrorists carried their weapons in a professional manner, the eye witnesses also recounted that the terrorists, demeanour was one of a single mindedness, in cool calculated fashion kind of way.
Yet these proficient and experienced looking killers, somehow left their ID’s in the getaway car, for all the world to see.
An astonishing and inept thing to do, if indeed you’re gullible enough to believe that, in the first place.
Craig, I am startled by your hubris and bigotry.
Your supreme confidence in knowing how Scottish independence would succeed is belied by the fact that you hadn’t even a clue that the campaign would fail.
Nobody knows the future, Craig. Not you, not anybody. And nobody knows everything.
So maybe you ought to respect those who do know better – whoever they might be – and acknowledge that they have their own reasons for voting ‘No’ which is explained by none of your insults to their character and intelligence.
EoS
Have you ever thought of applying for a job with the police or security services?
If you did, society would be so much safer: no criminal or terrorist would ever again slip through the net, so brilliant are your insights and conclusions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PS – are you on the afternoon shift this week?
Republicofscotland : “If it really was peace protest march, shouldnât Abbas and Netanyahu have walked arm and arm, to show solidarity.”
It wasn’t even a march – it was staged photocall. Nothing is what it seems ……..
https://twitter.com/borzou/status/554605138426736640/photo/1
David,
I moved to Scotland to pursue independence. Have been here for five months now, and in my new home for approaching three. Nadira and Caneron joined me a month ago, and Cameron is now at school here. Jamie was already living in Glasgow. Emily remains at University in Bath, but at least she’s close to Wings Over Scotland.