Impunity 1959


After such an extended break from blogging, you will be deeply disappointed that I restart with something as mundane and trivial as Jeremy Clarkson. I have defended the man in the past, because I much enjoy Top Gear and consider that much of what he has been criticised for in the past had been an amusing winding-up of the po-faced of the kind I employ myself. But nasty, indeed vicious bullying of a subordinate should always be a sacking offence.

That did not ought to be the question, though. He hit someone and they had to go to hospital. Where are the police? They are incredibly fond of sweeping up scores of teenagers for thought crime, but here we have an actual violent assault that spills blood, and it seems completely out of the question the perpetrator is brought to account. Why is that? I had a personal experience a couple of years ago when I was very mildly hurt – less than young Oisin – in an assault, and the police insisted on arresting the perpetrator despite my repeated requests to them not to do so. They told me rather firmly that the idea that it is the victim who has a say in pressing charges, is a myth. Why was Clarkson not arrested?

I cannot in my mind dissociate this from the non-arrest of Jimmy Savile for his crimes, despite their being well-known and reported at the time. That seems to link in to the wider paedophilia scandal, and the question of why no action was taken even in the most blatant of cases when there was compelling evidence, such as that of the extremely nasty Greville Janner MP.

But then I think still more widely as to why, for example, Jack Straw has not been charged with the crime of misfeasance in public office after boasting of using his position to obtain “under the radar” changes in regulations to benefit commercial clients, in exchange for cash. I wonder why a large number of people did not go to jail for the HSBC tax avoidance schemes or the LIBOR rigging scandal, which involved long term dishonest manipulation by hundreds of very highly paid bankers.

At the top of the tree is of course the question of why Blair has not been charged for the crime of waging illegal war. The Chilcot Inquiry heard evidence that every single one of the FCO’s elite team of Legal Advisers believed that the invasion of Iraq was an illegal war of aggression. Yet now the media disparage as nutters those who say Blair should be charged.

Then I think of all the poor and desperate people who get jailed for stealing comparatively miniscule amounts in benefit fraud, or the boy who was jailed for stealing a bottle of water in the London riots.

The conclusion is that we do not have a system of justice in this country at all. We have a system where the wealthy and governing classes and those associated with them enjoy almost absolute impunity, broken in only the rarest of cases. At the same time those at the bottom of the pile are kicked hard to keep them there. There is no more chance of justice against those in power in the UK than there is of the killers of Nemtsov being brought to book in Russia.

But what has really scared me is this thought. This situation has been like this my entire life: and I have reached the age of 56 before I realised it. A very great many people have still not realised it at all.

What does not scare me is this. I realise that if the system of justice is completely corrupted, then there is no obligation on me to follow the laws of the state. In fact it would be wrong of me to do so. I must seek my ethical compass elsewhere than in the corrupt power structure which weighs so hard upon the people.


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1,959 thoughts on “Impunity

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  • Clark

    Dreoilin; “for what purpose”? – I don’t know. What else can I do? In conscience, I have to do something. I have to try to find an alternative to conflict and escalation.

  • John Spencer-Davis

    Clark
    22/03/2015 11:26 am

    On 29th August 2013 the Government’s motion to authorise military intervention in Syria was defeated in the House of Commons.

    I have no doubt that a major reason for that defeat was the cumulative effect of continuing dissent over the bombardment, invasion and occupation of Iraq, including the awareness of the falsity of the accounts of the presence of weapons of mass destruction. The demonstrations against the aggression against Iraq were a major early part of that dissent.

    So I think there are some grounds for optimism (not many, to be sure). Effects may be felt long after an action actually takes place.

    Incidentally, the grounds for military action against Syria turned out to be a bunch of baloney, didn’t they? Cameron, Obama et al should never be allowed to forget that.

    Kind regards,

    John

  • Clark

    Dreoilin, I can’t speak for RD, but I feel what may be a similar motive, and it’s about truth. People such as John Goss and Macky are, intentionally or otherwise, propagandising for the Russian power structure. Just because they propagandise in the UK rather than Russia doesn’t make it right.

    It seems to me that RD avoids admitting to Neocon incitement of violence in Kiev and US manipulation of Ukrainian political appointments, but John Goss and Macky avoid admitting to Russian government imperialist ambitions and activities.

    (The exact behaviour of forces on either side seem impossible to assess accurately due to propagandistic distortion, but this doesn’t deter the sides on these threads from having pointless arguments over them).

    ALL sides need to accept the WHOLE picture. That’s just the first step, and we’re making very little progress with it.

  • fred

    “I’m pointing out that governments disregard the will of their people…”

    Tell me about it.

  • YouKnowMyName

    On propaganda, we have a major european TV news channel, based in France, being blocked in Ukraine, because (quoting from an Estonian news source) “Euronews in Ukraine denied a license because of the inability to influence the content”
    http://rus.postimees.ee/3131005/euronews-na-ukraine-lishili-licenzii-iz-za-nevozmozhnosti-vlijat-na-kontent

    [the] License revocation regulator explained “it is impossible to influence the content of the Ukrainian version of the channel,” writes the «Украинская правда»

    perhaps more worrying for the strategy of tension/peace balance in Europe is the news, also from Estonia, that USA have deployed Patriot missile batteries near Warsaw (Poland). Where is the extant threat? Is Islamic State about to ‘do a Hamas’ against the Chopin Museum?, is Iran tooling up and really really dislikes Polish TV??

    http://rus.postimees.ee/3131031/ssha-razvernuli-raketnye-kompleksy-patriot-pod-varshavoj

    on reading the article, it becomes clear its just a Raytheon/Thales/MBDA marketing exercise

  • Clark

    Fred, 12:19 pm; that’s why I so much wanted Scotland to become independent. Many people (you included) thought that independence would have given the SNP absolute power, but independence would have begun the decline of the SNP. With its objective achieved its voters would have migrated to their preferred parties, which stand no chance under the voting system for Westminster.

    The huge increase in SNP membership following the No result illustrates my point, albeit in the converse.

    As the SNP’s local power grows, so does will corruption and authoritarianism. No was the wrong result.

  • Resident Dissident

    “What are you or anyone else trying to achieve by taking up almost two threads on this blog about Ukraine/Putin/NATO?”

    Just like those who opposed appeasement I’m trying to attract attention to one of the most pressing injustices in the modern world and yes I also want to put a spoke in the wheel of the propagandists and war mongers. Admittedly I will do little to change actual events – but a small drip drip approach has worked in the past. I was one of those who actively supported Solidarity and the Labour East European Solidarity Campaign who at least maintain the integrity of the Left when the Right make their ritual claim that most of the left supported the Soviet Union.

  • Resident Dissident

    It seems to me that RD avoids admitting to Neocon incitement of violence in Kiev and US manipulation of Ukrainian political appointments,

    On the former I don’t believe that this actually happened – on the latter I don’t deny that it happened. But there is manipulation and manipulation – we all forget Putin’s involvement in the rigging of elections and the poisoning of political opponents prior to the Orange Revolution. I actually place rather a lot of faith in the Ukrainian population to see through the influencing and manipulation that takes place if they are given the chance – just like I have a similar faith in the British electorate. I don’t start with the assumption that ordinary people are stupid and easily manipulated and that it needs a more politically educated cadre to show the way forward to them.

  • Clark

    RD, without the former they couldn’t have been planning the latter.

    And don’t keep pointing to the other side when problem is revealed. It makes you look hypocritical.

  • Resident Dissident

    “Many people (you included) thought that independence would have given the SNP absolute power, but independence would have begun the decline of the SNP.”

    Can you think of cases where Nationalist parties having gained independence have withered away harmlessly? I am not saying that there aren’t some cases – but I can think of a view where the opposite has happened.

  • Resident Dissident

    “RD, without the former they couldn’t have been planning the latter”

    Sorry I disagree – there are many cases where foreign powers have sought to influence the results of elections and who is in government without resorting to the incitement of violence. Craig claimed that the US tried with the Scottish referendum – but there are plenty of others e.g. US support for the Christian Democrats against the Communists in Italy.

  • fred

    ” Many people (you included) thought that independence would have given the SNP absolute power, but independence would have begun the decline of the SNP. ”

    No it wouldn’t.

    Nationalism is Nationalism. No good pretending it’s anything else. Supporting Nationalism pretending you are opposing it is like fighting a war and pretending you are doing it for peace.

  • Clark

    I think football is a bad influence 🙂 Everyone I know who likes football believes it OK for their own side to cheat. It’s OK to trip an opposing player so long as the ref isn’t looking. Acting to manipulate the ref into disadvantaging your opponents is considered acceptable, and in private praiseworthy.

  • Trowbridge H. Ford

    Why all this idle talk about organizing some international peace effort when it will have no more power than the Roman subjects had during the age of the Flasvius family, ours being the Bushes, and they both took advantage of disasters of various sorts?

  • Dreoilin

    “It seems to me that RD avoids admitting to Neocon incitement of violence in Kiev and US manipulation of Ukrainian political appointments”

    Yes, and that’s irritating. Anyway, I don’t like this unipolar world we find ourselves in, and for that reason (while I’m no fan of Putin, and I have no doubt that he’s involved in all sorts of nefarious activities in Ukraine and elsewhere) I like the idea of a second power that will/would poke the US in the eye. Tell it/them where to get off, so to speak. Someone has to call a halt to (or put a spoke in) the domineering (and savage) behaviour of the United States around the world, and if Russia can do that, I’d be cheering for it. Do I want to live under Russian hegemony? No. Chinese? No. US? No. More balance? Yes.

    This is Mike Whitney talking about Putin:

    The question is why? Why is Washington so determined to remove Putin?

    Putin answered this question himself recently at a celebration of Russia’s diplomatic workers’ day. He said Russia would pursue an independent foreign policy despite pressure in what he called “today’s challenging international environment.”

    “No matter how much pressure is put on us, the Russian Federation will continue to pursue an independent foreign policy, to support the fundamental interests of our people and in line with global security and stability.” (Reuters)

    This is Putin’s unforgivable crime, the same crime as Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Syria and countless other nations that refuse to march in lockstep to Washington’s directives.

    Putin has also resisted NATO encirclement and attempts by the US to loot Russia’s vast natural resources. And while Putin has made every effort to avoid a direct confrontation with the US, he has not backed down on issues that are vital to Russia’s national security, in fact, he has pointed out numerous times not only the threat that encroaching NATO poses to Moscow, but also the lies that preceded its eastward expansion. Here’s Putin at Munich again …

    continues here
    http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/03/06/how-putin-blocked-the-u-s-pivot-to-asia/

  • Clark

    But Fred, that is the point that you missed. The referendum was about independence, not nationalism. Yes, the nationalists supported independence, of course, but so did a huge swathe of people who just wanted away from both Westminster’s corruption and British militaristic nationalism.

    INDEPENDENCE referendum,

    Scottish NATIONAL party.

    Spot the subtle difference.

  • John Goss

    The truth has nothing to do with what apologists for the Kiev regime say. Salaries are 200 euros a month. You cannot stand for parliament if you are a Communist. You cannot vote if you live in Novorossiya. Although it backfired Resident Dissident’s lot wanted to impose a Ukrainian language only to be spoken in Ukraine decree. These are the fascists he supports.

    Hear what a French businessman, Thierry Laurent-Pellet, who was successful before the coup, has to say about the new regime, the regime the UK/US/NATO unholy alliance is supplying with arms and personnel.

    http://russia-insider.com/en/2015/03/21/4784

  • Resident Dissident

    “attempts by the US to loot Russia’s vast natural resources”

    So that he and his friends can do the looting themselves I presume.

    I’m afraid if anyone sees kleptocracy and Putin’s centralisation of power, restriction of freedom of speech and abuse of human rights as the means to poke the US in the eye then we really do need to abandon all hope.

  • Resident Dissident

    “Although it backfired Resident Dissident’s lot wanted to impose a Ukrainian language only to be spoken in Ukraine decree.”

    This is of course something that I never supported and of course has not been implemented.

  • fred

    “But Fred, that is the point that you missed.”

    I missed nothing. Your Orwellian logic is just your cogitative dissonance. You’re just trying to reconcile opposing Nationalism elsewhere while supporting it here.

  • Clark

    Fred, in a very real sense, a large proportion of the Scottish independence movement is anti-nationalist – it’s anti British nationalist.

  • Dreoilin

    “I’m afraid if anyone sees kleptocracy and Putin’s centralisation of power, restriction of freedom of speech and abuse of human rights as the means to poke the US in the eye then we really do need to abandon all hope.”

    I think the constant confusion of domestic policies with foreign policy in this argument serves to do nothing only seriously muddy the water.

    Are you trying to tell me there is no restriction of freedom of speech or abuse of human rights in the “West”? No
    kleptocracy, no centralisation of power?

  • Clark

    Oops, insufficient self-checking on my part there. Unimportant; easily corrected at receiving end.

    No Fred, it’s not cognitive dissonance. I spoke to people over many hundreds of miles of Scotland, over several months in the course of a year and a half. Yes, I met nationalists. But I met far more who just wanted freedom from Westminster and its policies, especially its foreign policy.

    Maybe you only met nationalists; I don’t know.

  • fred

    “Anyone at this point you should initiate self-check diagnostics.”

    In 1991 the people of Ukraine had a referendum, a referendum on independence. Yes won.

    So what happened next then? All the Nationalists retired from politics and became Jehovas Witnesses instead did they? They all lived happily ever after did they?

    It’s a reality check you need.

  • Resident Dissident

    “Are you trying to tell me there is no restriction of freedom of speech or abuse of human rights in the “West”? No
    kleptocracy, no centralisation of power?”

    Of course not – but no where near the scale of the Putin regime, but that is in part irrelevant it is not an either or choice.

  • Clark

    Fred, initiate self-check immediately. Hard drive inconsistency indicated. Back up critical files now. Software corrections cannot be relied upon until underlying problem is corrected.

    You’re saying Ukraine made an immoral choice in becoming independent from Russia, yes? Yet you’ve been supporting the “Western” mass-media view, including for instance that Russia enabled the shoot-down of MH17. So presumably you think that Ukraine should re-incorporate into Russia? But that this isn’t a Russian nationalist position?

    I think you need to think about nationalism a bit. In one sense, nationalism is presently inescapable.

  • Republicofscotland

    You know I often wonder why some folk move to Scotland,when all they do is continually bitch about it.

    If they’re not whining on about a government whose popularity as a party has rocketed,to over 100.000,they’re bitching about,peurile things like who pulished,who’s book.

    Voting intentions point towards the SNP,being a reasonably satisfactory,government for the people of Scotland,and that’s all that matters.

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