Saturday, December 4, 2021

Give me an effective tyrant?

For anyone who still doesn't understand - or pretends not to understand - why the Alba Party needs to exist, I can recommend Robin McAlpine's article from around a week ago that summarises the campaign of dirty tricks that the SNP leadership indulged in to essentially overturn the results of the democratic internal elections in November 2020 that saw candidates from the Common Weal slate and the Women's Pledge slate do exceptionally well.  As Robin notes, the end result of that campaign was that the victorious candidates were largely replaced by the very people they had been elected to replace, and without any further vote.  There can be no greater perversion of the democratic process than that.  Of course the leadership loyalist version of what happened is that some of the winners randomly took a huff and decided to leave the party, and that the runners-up valiantly stepped up to keep the show on the road.  The reality is more like the equivalent of constructive dismissal - if it's made impossible for you to fulfil the obligations of your elected role or of your mandate, departure is not really a voluntary choice.  Remember that not all of the people who resigned from the positions they had been elected to ended up joining Alba - some simply resigned and remained within the SNP.  If you genuinely have power and influence within a party of government, you're highly unlikely to relinquish that power to languish on the fringes of the party, and you're equally unlikely to give up that power to join a much smaller party.  The fact that so many people did resign is entirely consistent with Robin's account of a leadership that refused to accept the results of the vote.  The victorious candidates had been left, to coin a phrase, "in office but not in power", and they had nowhere left to go but the exit gate.

But this raises another question. However maddening and unacceptable these events were, are we missing a bigger picture? Some would phrase it this way: is taking a stand against the arrogance and entitlement of the likes of Alyn Smith and Fiona Robertson really more important than securing independence for this country?  If that was truly the choice, I would say no.  There has been many a tyrant down the ages who has nevertheless been an effective leader capable of guiding his followers to the promised land. (To take perhaps the most extreme example, it was the mass-murdering despot Stalin who was more responsible than any other leader for rescuing Europe from the Nazis.)  If I felt that the SNP leadership were serious about delivering an independence referendum and had a viable strategy to achieve that, I would say "let's ignore every provocation and maintain iron discipline behind that leadership". As much as almost everyone who has joined Alba feels far happier in their new political home and are now free to just be themselves, it would be much better being miserable within the SNP for a couple more years and actually getting our independence.  That's realpolitik.  Sadly, however, what we seem to be dealing with in this particular case is an ineffective tyranny, or a tyranny that doesn't even want to be effective.  The determination to achieve independence in the real world, not just as a nice theory, appears to be entirely absent - as does any credible thinking about how that might actually be done.  In the scenario we're actually living in, then, the natural human response to the leadership's outrageous "counter-revolution" a year ago does not in any way conflict with strategic good sense about how to achieve independence.  If the SNP's strategic vacuum can't be changed from within, external pressure from another party will have to bring about that change.

There is one big caveat, though.  If an independence referendum does actually take place in the next two or three years, either because pressure from Alba has paid off or because the SNP leadership's resolve suddenly stiffens for some other reason, it will at that point become counterproductive for Alba to keep harrying Nicola Sturgeon - the only opponents we'll need to be fighting are unionists.  A lot of self-discipline will be required, because the SNP are unlikely to reciprocate with magnanimity towards Alba. Given one or two depressing precedents in recent weeks, I can well imagine that an umbrella Yes campaign will be set up that includes the SNP and the Greens but excludes "the Alba bigots".  If so, that will be an act of monumental stupidity and self-harm, reminiscent of Labour's catastrophic decision to exclude "the filthy SNP separatists" from the main Yes campaign in the 1979 devolution referendum.  But nevertheless, we in Alba will just have to turn the other cheek and get on with our own positive Yes campaign - because independence comes before everything.

18 comments:

  1. Very well said James. We have the worst of both worlds at present - an ineffective tyrant in charge.
    If indyref2 comes along I will vote yes and not say a word about the SNP leaderships failings. However, as you say, I expect nothing but continued abuse from the numpties coming Albas way. These people are Sturgeon first, party second and independence next when Nicola tells them. I managed to hold my nose and vote SNP in May but that is the last time. The SNP have another mandate after having the Scottish parliament vote twice in the past for Indyref2 and doing nothing. So if any elections come along and they try it on again with the blackmail stuff they can shove it.

    Future Scenarios

    1. Sturgeon calls a referendum and loses. Sturgeon will be expected to go.

    2. Sturgeon calls a referendum and wins. The SNP will shortly be voted out of power in a future independent Scotland election and Sturgeon is out of power.

    3. Sturgeon does not call a referendum and tries to convince the numpties she couldn't because of whatever excuse she thinks works best and stays in power.

    If personal power is your thing, and tyrants tend to like a bit of power guess what scenario seems more appealing to Sturgeon.

    I'll be turning the other cheek when a date for a refendum is in law and is definitely happening - until then no chance. When that nutter Somerville is sending out sex questionnaires to school kids how do numpties think this helps people want to vote for independence. Tyrants surround themselves with loyal pals of limited ability and intellect so they can go unchallenged. That is the SNP leadership these days.

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  2. PeeJay: You cannot seriously expect me to publish a comment in which you call (ironically, I trust) for a named politician to be murdered. Why do you sabotage yourself by making it impossible to publish so many of your comments? Probably a good 20-30% of your attempted comments are technically illegal.

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  3. Is there a bigger thicker WGD Numpty than Hamish100?

    This is Hamish on Alba: "If they want to be taken seriously then they need to put candidates up for every seat in Scotland or keep quiet."

    Now even I know that the Scottish Greens don't always put up a candidate and they are in Government with the SNP. But Indyref2yespleasenicola demolishes Hamish by pointing out that the SNP only put up 23 put of 72 candidates in the 1966 general election and only 2 candidates in 1955. But best of all was: " why, to this day, the SNP only usually stand an average of 2 candidates in 4 councillor wards? Why not stand 4? "

    In summary, Hamish100 is saying the SNP and Greens cannot be taken seriously and should just keep quiet. YA NUMPTY Hamish.

    So you might think Hamish would be chastened by publicly embarrassing himself but no he quotes a line from the above article to then attack Alba again. Hamish says: " Who needs people that would attack an Independence Party first and then the Tories second." Hamish and his fellow numpties fit that description pretty well. In fact that is all Sturgeon did in the run up to the Scot Parliamment election in May.

    Hamish - what an embarrassing numpty.

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    1. Give Hamish his due - he's clearly a dedicated reader of Scot Goes Pop. Impeccable taste.

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    2. Aye James but will Hamish click on the McAlpine link you provided and read it and be concerned?

      That sort of going on in any political party would be very worrying but in the party of government and a party that could be in government for a long time is particularly worrying. Do Numpties care? I don't see any sign of that. They seem to prefer believing in some sort of SNP fantasy and anything that is not compatible with the fantasy is just blanked.

      I do remember SNP members in the past boasting about how democratic the party was. Not so much now!

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    3. The phoney supporter of SGP Indyref2yespleasenicola fails to say he has contributed to the SGP fundraiser. He also fails to request other WGD numpties to contribute to the fundraiser. He claims he loves SGP and I am the problem. Do I force James to write what he says in his articles - of course not. Do I force James to publish my posts - of course not. Do numpties like Indyref2yespleasenicola address the points I make - no.

      Indyref2yespleasenicola makes it personal by othering me by calling me "it" and telling me to F.O.A.D - that is fuck off and die. The WGD moderators let that pass and unlike James's comment re peejay above anything goes on WGD other than criticising Sturgeon and her gang.

      I will each payday continue to contribute to the SGP fundraiser until it meets its target. If you support independence and democracy I suggest others do so as well.

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    4. The WGD numpties cannae leave it alone. I might have known that Lomax, the king of the snidey one liner, would pop up on WGD.

      Lomax says: " James is happy to post abusive posts from Independence for Somerset, however anyone critical of IFS is barred. Cancel culture on SGP?"

      Lomax ever thought your contributions might just be snidey one liners all the time and of zero worth and that might be the reason. Of course Lomax never mentions a cancel culture on WGD. Hypocrite and a numpty - is that abusive or accurate comment about you Lomax?

      Next up is Indyref2yespleasenicola who says: "Someone tried to point out the distortion that Wormtongue uses, but then later postings from him or her were blocked."

      Listen you numpties I posted your full comments this time because they are short and stupid but James does not want screeds of other posters posts replicated on his site and I try and follow his request. You numpties have no answers to valid concerns about the leadership of the SNP so you resort to personal stuff.

      I do not misrepresent anyone I'll leave that to the mad liar Skier.

      Unlike Indyref2yespleasenicola I do not ask SGP to block anyone's post. Certainly by WGD numpties as they are normally embarrassing crap. Perhaps that is why James is blocking you - he is a kind soul you know.

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    5. Nobody is "barred" or "blocked". As I've pointed out a billion times (not that anyone ever listens) it is literally *impossible* to ban anyone on the Blogger platform. All I can do is pre-moderate individual comments - and what they're really whingeing about is that I don't let them use my own blog to abuse *me* with impunity, something they appear to feel they have a God-given right to do.

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  4. The thing about WGD numpties is they just keep on digging proving to everyone they are thick as a brick numpties.

    Hamish now claims James and I are juveniles. I specifically am a 3rd year at school. It makes a change from being Stu Campbell or Wormtongue or any of the other crap they come up with. Hamish I thought I was a failed SNP candidate - that's what you posted yesterday. Can you apply to be an SNP candidate in 3rd year at School?

    The best laugh is when Hamish100 claims to be open minded. 🤣🤣 Side splitting.

    The numpty thinks that because Alba is 1% in the polls we should just shut up. Very open minded Hamish. The numpty cannae even see where he contradicts himself.

    So open minded Hamish please give us your take on Robin McAlpines article that is linked to in the SGP article above. Presumably you read it or is your open mind stuck with your head in the sand.

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  5. Hamish, mate, I can't think of anything much more juvenile than the indirect, slow-motion communication you're currently attempting. I've got a much better idea - come on the Scot Goes Popcast this week and debate properly. If you're interested (and given how you keep going on and on and on, I don't see why you wouldn't be), email me and we'll fix up the details. My email is: icehouse.250@gmail.com

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  6. AN EARLY XMAS GIFT

    Indyref2yespleasenicola says: " I hope I won't be posting much till next yeare - time to get ready for Jingle Bells and snow☃️."

    I hope you don't think this misrepresents you. I put in your spelling mistake but the Santa is not exactly the same as yours.

    Despite multiple posts by you saying I misrepresent what WGD numpties say not once did you ever give an example. YA NUMPTY

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  7. I've posed this question before but I'll pose it again to the SNP/WGD numpties.

    Just how does having the nutter Somerville and her school sex questionnaire help Scottish independence.

    It was bad enough when John REDACTOR MAN Swinney was in charge of Education but Somerville is the person that shows what the Scotgov priorities are for all to see and it ain't Scottish independence. It's finding out about children's sexual experiences. What sort of people are interested in this? What are doing with any info they get?

    James says: " because independence comes before everything." To a lot of people this disgraceful peeping tom questionnaire will be the breaking point.

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  8. For a Dugger to complain about another blog's moderation policy or 'cancel culture' beggars belief. I would ask Lomax if he's had an irony bypass if the WGD mods would allow me to comment! As I've said before, he often pops up on other blogs with a sleekit comment before scurrying back to the Dughoose to tell them what a big boy he's been today. Probably the most inadequate individual in the entire Nicola fan club.

    At least Skier has found his spiritual home there. The blind faith in the Dear Leader, the waving of burning torches and pitchforks at those not of the 'one true faith', above all, the freedom to post book length epistles several times a day (does this guy ever have to work at one of those multitude of careers he claims to have had?) - it's a winter sports enthusiast's dream site.

    Having apparently satiated his anger with James over that fabled £20, he is now content to bore the unfortunate denizens of WGD with his graphs and analysis. Of course, all the old favourites - his French 'wife', his Irish passport, his chosen 'profession of the week' - still appear but not with the monotonous regularity so beloved by readers of SGP. Worryingly though, I've not read an update on the availability of mixed sex toilets in the south of Scotland for some weeks. Given his oft-stated distaste for using the gents urinals, I hope he's not having to tie a knot in it!!!😁

    I'm not, and never have been, a member of a political party but I'm happy to support any party which brings us closer to independence. Sadly, it would appear that no longer applies to Sturgeon's SNP as Indy seems to have been put on the back burner. Fair play to Nicola, when she said the referendum in 2014 was a 'once in a lifetime' opportunity, she obviously meant it.

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    1. Oops! Just realised to be scrupulously fair to the Dear Leader, she actually said once in a generation not a lifetime. (I'm afraid my crypto-unionist mask slipped there😁).

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    2. Aye Felix you wouldn't want to be accused of misrepresenting her would you😀

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  9. WGD numpty Arthur+ Thomson completes a long post with this: " That will be despite the sleekit efforts of people who want to undermine the trust that Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have worked diligently to build."

    You mean like Iain Blackford saying a zillion times that Scotland will not be dragged out of the EU against it's will. You mean that type of trust Arthur.

    Or do you mean last November when Blackford assured us all that Indyref2 would happen by the end of 2021. You mean that type of trust Arthur.

    What is wrong with these people? Have they no memory at all? How do they accept this?

    I always wondered why do Scots put up with being second class citizens in their own country but this selective amnesia by independence supporters is incredible. In their mind telling the truth is sleekit.

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  10. If I disagreed with every SNP policy, but thought Nicola would deliver independence. Then I would still support her. The problem is I don't think she will deliver. So all the bad policies of the SNP are highlighted in the glare of a failing independence strategy.

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  11. I'm late again, sorry.

    James, although I agree with much of what you're written, I suspect many still active 'Yes' groups will side with Alba should the SNP Elite decide to continue with the demonisation.

    I'm a member of several of those groups, and while they do have members who are SNP, the majority aren't - and they're still raging about the SNP 'capturing' the word 'Yes' !

    They know that many independence supporters aren't SNP (many never have been), and they in turn know many switherers/ubdecided folk who will stick with the union if they think the Scottish National Party IS the Yes campaign - which is what the SNP Elite is planning to be.

    That mistaken belief - promoted by the opposition and a hostile media in 2013/14 - cost us tens of thousands of votes, and I'm sure I've heard AS himself admit he and Yes Scotland did little to counter that belief.

    Next time it will be even worse as the SNP Elite are determined to control every aspect of the next campaign, and capturing 'Yes' was simply the start.

    I don't know if there's a collective noun for a group of rabid narcissists, but if there is we could apply it to that SNP Elite.
    They've convinced themselves that they, and only they, can win another referendum - and the resulting Scottish general election.

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