Politics of the British Isles

[Robovski]

It was Clinton's (and the DNC's) election to lose and they managed that just fine by continuing to look like the out of touch more of the same politics. Collude/conspire to fix the nomination? Nah, that wasn't the issue, the real issue was getting hacked in the first place. A LOT of voters (about half, and embarrassment in and of itself that the party system can't engage the populace to get even a real majority turnout) didn't even vote because they have had enough of this same old crap while everything keeps getting worse for them. Of those that voted enough voted in states that mattered to vote for the candidate that at least talked about change and wasn't perceived to be an insider grubbing for power as he had not held public office previously. And if you feel that throw the bums out sentiment has gone away you will be very mistaken - as I expect the DNC will be about the mid-terms as they seem to have learned nothing by the election they lost.

But to tie this back to the topic, I lived in Scotland for 15 years up until late 2014; I was not surprised by Brexit one bit. The Scots have all kinds of smoke blown up their behinds by the SNP but I've read what passes for newspapers and seen the TV coverage and read the BBC and Economist regularly and saw just how popular the EU was generally seen by the general populace (a perception problem), how the people failed to see the benefits of being inside but did see the penalties and costs of being inside (both in money and immaterially, such as sovereignty)

As for the Conservative pop election? May would have to be an utter fool to not capitalize on the current situation and do what all governments do in the UK, run an election while the getting is good (or wait the full five years) as 1. Tony's New Labor really did destroy Labor prospects for the foreseeable. 2. By sharing power with the Conservatives the Lib Dems might as well have gutted their party too, but they never had as much to lose as Labor ever did because Lib Dem (and Labor) supporters suddenly felt betrayed. Because heaven forfend they actually have a taste of being IN the government for once because of the ghost of Margaret Thatcher and because generally people claiming to be liberals see associating with people you disagree with and/or working inside a problem even temporarily as serving Hitler. But old people vote well ahead of any other demographic and if you have a demographic that likes things to be the old ways it's old people. 3. The SNP has Scotland sewed up but it won't make any further progress as it is what it is - the Scottish Nationalist Party - and as such has made itself effectively irrelevant in just who will be Prime Minister. No sudden upswing for Labor (or Lib Dems or anyone) will be coming from Scotland for a long time, if ever again, as the SNP will not stop about independence and North Sea Oil (without which all their promises are just vapor) no matter how many times you let them vote on it.

[Fixer]

Family and friends have kept me busy of late, want to pop back in here to cover EU stuff but need a bit more free time.

So, for now just a quick post on some truly remarkable stupidity from the shadow cabinet.
John McDonnell who famously took out Mao's red book in parliament as a "joke" and was recorded saying he's a Marxist passed on some words of encouragement to a group of Stalinists from Corbyn at the May day parade Yesterday.

They've gone full communism. Never go full communism.


Just hammer the nails in the coffin. Labour's done.

[TGLS]

So are women who lead the Tories all witches who can curse Labour with inept leadership or what?

[Fixer]

Might be like the Drow priestess of Lolth prestige class, where you have to be a female Tory leader as a prerequisite.

Would certainly explain a few things.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-39775693

[The Romulan Republic]

Family and friends have kept me busy of late, want to pop back in here to cover EU stuff but need a bit more free time.

So, for now just a quick post on some truly remarkable stupidity from the shadow cabinet.
John McDonnell who famously took out Mao's red book in parliament as a "joke" and was recorded saying he's a Marxist passed on some words of encouragement to a group of Stalinists from Corbyn at the May day parade Yesterday.

They've gone full communism. Never go full communism.


Just hammer the nails in the coffin. Labour's done.

Okay, first of all, I'm going to need a much better source than the Daily Mail. They're a Right-wing pro-Brexit tabloid- it would be entirely in keeping with that for them to take something out of context to portray Left wing opposition as communists.

That said, if it is valid, then Corbyn ought to demand McDonnell's resignation. Endorsing Stalin is only one step shy of endorsing Hitler, and its particularly irritating given how much effort the Left, at least here in America, has had to put into overcoming the false perception that we're all Communists.

[Fixer]

Okay, first of all, I'm going to need a much better source than the Daily Mail. They're a Right-wing pro-Brexit tabloid- it would be entirely in keeping with that for them to take something out of context to portray Left wing opposition as communists.

That said, if it is valid, then Corbyn ought to demand McDonnell's resignation. Endorsing Stalin is only one step shy of endorsing Hitler, and its particularly irritating given how much effort the Left, at least here in America, has had to put into overcoming the false perception that we're all Communists.

Here you go:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/05 ... ymnastics/
http://metro.co.uk/2017/05/02/the-pictu ... e-6609968/

You're not going to see any sort of action. Standard Corbyn procedure in this situation is to pretend nothing is happening and hope the problem tends to itself.

Insert this is fine meme here.

Interesting strategy. Let's see if it pays off.

edit: Bonus history link from hard left publication. March 2016. McDonnell names Lenin and Trotsky his biggest influences.
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk ... ences-2006

[The Romulan Republic]

To be honest, I don't trust the Telegraph either, and I don't really know the other sources, but it sounds like McDonnell is an ass hat, and Corbyn ought to know better than to associate himself with such views.

There is strong public support for progressivism and democratic socialism. There is not (in any English-speakign nation, at least), strong public support for actual communism, much less Soviet or Maoist-style communism. We need a stronger and bolder Left, but embracing communism is tying us to a losing position we've spent decades being straw-manned with.

[Fixer]

It's wise to apply that same scepticism to everything.
You shouldn't trust any sources but understand the implicit bias of each publication.

That's I prefer to get my news from multiple sources from across the political spectrum and go to the direct source if possible. What some papers omit from publishing or what tone they present it in is often more interesting than the subject itself.

Corbyn associates with McDonnell and Abbot because that trio share the same general political ideals.
Corbyn and Abbot particularly have been close since the 80s and there's a lot of dirt you can find just by searching for their names.
Back in 2015 when the Labour leadership election ended up with Corbyn, most of his party would not serve or take the shadow cabinet positions under him, so it's only a handful of his closest supporters in place and woefully unqualified.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politic ... -live.html

In fact, there's so much dirt on Corbyn and his closest buds in terms of appeals to communist ideals or repeat Maoist apologism it makes me wonder why the Tories and the right wing media haven't buried them with it yet.

Anyhow. Local elections today.

Looks like the Tories are making some clear gains. Labour's falling back, Lib Dems faltering, UKIP is being wiped off the board. It's only good news if you're blue or green.

Tories making some serious inroads into Scotland with Labour falling into third place.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/8201e7 ... tions-2017

[ScreamingDoom]

I'll just leave this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvzgZR1Dp4s

Also, video proof of McDonnell declaring himself a Marxist and at the Communist Rally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-pNGieLjQg

I highly recommend Sargon's main channel as well, as he goes in more depth on various issues: https://www.youtube.com/user/SargonofAkkad100

[TGLS]

Prediction: Labour gets smashed, Tories grow, and SNP is the only party large enough to be official opposition. Another Scot referendum, No by a smaller margin. A Labor replacement party rises from the ashes of Labour and merges with the remnant to gain name recognition. May's successors is inept and there are hung parliaments, some led by labour replacement. Labour replacement reaches it's height in 2035, securing a majority government, and the SNP is annihilated.

Ok, ok, I'm just grafting Canadian elections 1993-2011 onto Britain, but it still feels plausible.