It says a huge amount about the confidence of the royal family, that they feel able to respond to their Nazi home movie with nothing other than outrage that anybody should see it. They make no denial they were giving Nazi salutes, no statement that the royal family did not support the Nazis. Of course the young children had no idea of the implications. But the adults most certainly did. The missing figure is the cameraman, future King George, who was filming his wife and brother displaying the family sympathies.
The royal family were of course German themselves – completely so. Since George I every royal marriage in line of succession had been conducted in strict accordance with the Furstenprivatrecht, to a member of a German royal family. The Queen Mother, who was of course not expected to feature in promulgating the line of succession, was the first significant exception in 220 years. She was evidently trying hard to fit in. But I am not sure German-ness has much to do with it. Nazi sympathies were much more common in the aristocracy than generally admitted. Their vast wealth and massive land ownership contrasted with the horrific poverty and malnutrition of the 1930’s, led the aristocracy to fear a very real prospect of being stood against a wall and shot. Fascism appeared to offer social amelioration for the workers with continued privilege for the aristocrats. It is completely untrue that its racism, totalitarianism and violence was unknown in 1933-4. They knew what they were doing.
Happily fascism was defeated. The royal family is of course only the tip of the iceberg of whitewashed fascist support – without even starting on industrialists, newspaper proprietors, the Kennedys, etc. etc. But the Buckingham Palace option of outrage that anybody should ever remember is very sad – still more sad that such a position gets such popular support.
We never did get round to shooting the aristocrats.
I am an optimist in politics. My experience of life has taught me that altruism is a far stronger human urge than selfishness. Modern political fashion is based on the denigration of the urge to cooperation, and I do not believe will survive.
Which leads me to believe we are now living in an embarrassing past. Future generations will look back at the massive and exponentially expanding gap between rich and poor, at the super state security services and near total surveillance, at the violent wars waged in ill-disguised annexation of resources, and be amazed that people could support it. I also think that enormous shame will attach to all those who support the excruciatingly slow genocide of the Palestinians. That will be part of our embarrassing past.
Mary
Pheasants are not an indigenous species in the UK. If you see one, it has been bred by aristos for shooting. Same way, trolls, political socio-paths like Cameron and Blair are not the norm of human beings. If you see them, they are there for a purpose.
What is their breeders’ purpose? The destruction of truth for the purpose of worldly gain.
Why do you let the evil troll get under your skin. take out the shot, pluck ’em and eat ’em.
I beleive Troll meat, although a bit gamey, is relatively fat-free and quite tasty. Isn’t this what Craig is saying?
Fedup, help me out here. Avoiding carnage is the objective. We are only the people, we don’t have much power, but we have to win support – each other’s support.
The slow genocide of the Palestinians continues apace.
‘As West Bank Village Faces Extinction, NY Times Looks the Other Way
July 20, 2015
Bulldozers are poised outside the West Bank village of Susiya, deployed in advance of their stated mission—the razing of homes, animal shelters, cisterns, clinics and schools and the eviction of some 300 Palestinian residents, all to make way for Jewish settlers.
The arrival of the bulldozers this month did not come as a surprise. Susiya’s struggle to survive has been in the Israeli and international news for at least three years. Its case has reached to the Israeli Supreme Court, and its cause has drawn protests from local and international activists, members of the U.S. Congress and even the Department of State, which spoke against the demolition this past week.’
/..
http://timeswarp.org/2015/07/20/as-west-bank-village-faces-extinction-ny-times-looks-the-other-way/
Who is the head honcho of the NY Times? Mark Thompson, ex DG of the BBC and who, with his American wife, Jane Blumberg, visited Ariel Sharon in Israel. Some of us call the BBC ZBC incidentally for their ‘Israel says’ reporting. Israelis have ‘soldiers’ but the Occupied Palestinians have ‘militants’ according to the state broadcaster.
ISIS: If we’re going to intervene, let us for God’s sake have a plan which has a chance of success in the long run as well as the short term, and the alliances and resources to more than carry it out. There’s no sign of one at the moment – “we” are on the back foot and merely responding, probably inappropriately. ISIS still has the initiative.
Absent a plan, containment is the only practical option. This would involve supporting Assad, the Iraqi Kurds and Iran, as well as pressurising the Gulf States and Saudi re their clandestine support for the insurgents. And this is against US doctrine.
Rock. Hard place.
Fedup, DavidH doesn’t explicitly call for the bombing of Syria in that comment. David doesn’t seem to be commenting now so we can’t ask him directly, but it appears to me that his .
DAmn damn DAMN, it takes so long to think of the right words, words that can’t start another fight. I hate this.
“My own experience of living in remote Highland communities, in the agricultural/estate sector, is that you think and do whatever the laird tells you. Otherwise, no job and/or no tenancy. That may be the answer to your question.”
I was once quite friendly with a Nationalist, an ex SNP councillor. One time I asked her why she hated the English and she told me. She had grown up near an air force base, gone to school with the children of the airmen. The locals were treated as second class citizens in their own town by people who saw themselves as superior, treated as country bumpkins by those who considered themselves the elite.
I could see where she was coming from but I don’t think it was a national problem, I’m sure there were people in other parts of Britain who lived near military bases had exactly the same problems. What should have been a hatred of the military types had been transferred to a hatred of a country.
Thing is, when she described the people responsible for her hatred of the English she was describing you to a tee.
Arms Trade: Israel:Written question – HL1418
Q Asked by Baroness Tonge Asked on: 14 July 2015 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to change their policy on selling arms to Israel in line with the policy not to sell arms where they might be used for external aggression or internal repression.
A Answered by: Lord Maude of Horsham Answered on: 20 July 2015
The Government announced the outcome of a review of export licensing for Israel on 14 July 2014.
As a result of the review the Government will now assess all export licence applications for Israel, as for all destinations, against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. Criterion 2 states that the Government “will not grant a licence if there is a clear risk that the items might be used for internal repression”; Criterion 4 states that the Government “will not grant a licence if there is a clear risk that the intended recipient would use the items aggressively against another country, or to assert by force a territorial claim”.
~~~
Criterion 4 mentioned in Maude’s reply is continually ignored by the Tory Government. Also Criterion 2 as Israel, the (illegal) occupying power, neverless has a duty of care under international law towards the occupied Palestinian population, including those in Gaza. This evil trade with rogue regimes has got to be stopped, no exceptions.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2015-07-14/HL1418
Operation Protective Edge with the 2,000+ Palestinian deaths is of no concern to the Tory boys and girls.
We know that elements of the British Government want to bomb Syria; they had a vote on it. That DOESN’T mean that everyone who wants to stop ISIS or ISIL or Daesh or whatever we’re calling them today want whatever it is the British government want. There’s a huge gap between the two propositions, but if all we’re looking for is enemies, enemies will be all we’re capable of seeing. I’ve already been here myself, with someone I hoped would be a friend dismissing me as a warmonger.
Wasn’t the rise in fascism in the 1930s a widespread reaction to extreme economic hardship, the flames fanned by the popular media?
Fred :
If you want to resume this discussion, answer my question. Otherwise you’re not discussing, you’re ranting.
Thing is, when she described the people responsible for her hatred of the English she was describing you to a tee.
In what way, Fred? Neglecting the possible ad-hominem, which is something you are very much against in the other direction…
@Republicofscotland
Years ago I knew a Nazi who worked as a patrol man man for the RAC,I asked him why he became a patrol man. He announced proudly it was the uniform.
(I completely accept that military bases strongly distort community relations, as they are full of young people who drink. I’ve experienced both sides of that hostility, btw. It isn’t confined to Scotland, or for that matter military bases. True, I was once mistaken for a fellow-toff by a member of a shooting party I was ghillying for – such is the levelling-up power of estate tweeds and the faintly posh English accent I have since long lost – but I’ve never had any problems with my fellow-unprivileged, even as a member of the SNP, where you might expect the dislike to be strongest, and where I never made any secret of being English)
Ba’al Zevul, you apologise for your ad-hominen, too. Fred is independent, not saying what some more powerful entity forces him to say.
Fred, why do you always go on about hatred? I have no hatred of the English, and i’m pretty sure the English SNP MP’s, MSP’s and ordinary members don’t hate themselves.
You obviously can’t differentiate between the normal desire of a population to govern itself, and some fantasy image in your mind of SNP monsters roaming the countryside, eating babies and deep fried Mars Bars.
Ba’al Zevul, you apologise for your ad-hominen, too. Fred is independent, not saying what some more powerful entity forces him to say.
I think Fred and I can deal with each other, thanks. Perhaps I should have put it more sensitively; that I know from personal experience that you conform to the prevailing attitudes in small communities, or you are made to feel very uncomfortable. And the prevailing attitudes in rural Caithness are on the conservative side. What’s with this “too?”
I’ve yet to see Fred admit any error at all. Ever.
“If you want to resume this discussion, answer my question.”
Fair enough.
Fred, there are two things I think you should acknowledge –
* the Scottish Independence movement is mostly about wanting independence from Westminster, not hatred of the English – there is a small element of that, but it attached itself to the independence movement and not vice-versa.
* You are right that there was propaganda on both sides, but the British Unionist propaganda had a decisive advantage by being disseminated by the corporate media – to which you keep linking, which understandably makes the pro-Indies angry.
It was never a fair fight, and the 45% vs 55% that you’re so fond of quoting was so near to a win for independence that, considering the media imbalance, the 45% feel cheated.
People, you’ve got to make more effort to build the bridges. The strain on me is too much.
Fred, Ba’al’s right that you’re weak at accepting error. Have you removed that leaky gas regulator we argued about? You don’t need it since I replaced the shower head – a header tank at the bottom of the hill would make more sense.
“Fred, why do you always go on about hatred?”
Because the tactics of the Nationalists is to generate hatred. Hatred of Conservatives, hatred of Socialists and even hatred of Liberals. Hatred of Westminster, hatred of the establishment and hatred of the media who don’t print what they want people to hear.
An excess of chutzpah. At Tolpuddle where decent Englishmen paid a heavy price for standing up for their rights. The Trades Union movement grew out of their martyrdom.
Palestinians have had their rights taken away by the Zionists.
‘Festival faces backlash over Israel lobby stall
20 Jul 2015
TOLPUDDLE organisers faced anger at the weekend after allowing a local Israeli lobbying group to attend the festival.
Bournemouth Action for Israel used their stall to hand out leaflets including The Nazi Roots of Middle Eastern Anti-Semitism, which attendees said smeared Palestinians as nazi sympathisers.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) branded the leaflet “sinister” and organised a petition calling on the group to be barred from next year’s event.
“The TUC pledges solidarity to the oppressed of the world. We must not give support to oppressors,” the petition read.
PSC member Glyn Oliver told the Star: “This is a trade union festival against exploitation and oppression, so why have they allowed this group to come and pretend they are friends of peace?
“We’ve had so many people coming up to us today saying how outraged they are.”
Organisers told other stall holders who protested that it was right that both sides of the argument should be made.
The group did not return for the second day of the festival yesterday.’
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-d39d-Festival-faces-backlash-over-Israel-lobby-stall
Also featured on BBC South Today. Available to view until 6pm today.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b062hv7y/south-today-20072015
5mins in
“Fred, Ba’al’s right that you’re weak at accepting error. Have you removed that leaky gas regulator we argued about? You don’t need it since I replaced the shower head – a header tank at the bottom of the hill would make more sense.”
Clark the people up here are managing just fine without your superior intellect taking charge of their shower heads.
I notice you said ‘socialists’ rather than ‘Labour’, Fred. Why was that, as you named the other British parties?
As a socialist, i don’t hate myself.
This is about the American version of Bilderberg for the gangsters-in-charge.
Global One Percent Celebrate at the Bohemian Grove
by Peter Phillips / July 20th, 2015
July 18th 2015 was the first day of this year’s summer camp for the world’s business and political aristocracy and their invited guests. 2,000 to 3,000 men, mostly from the wealthiest global one percent, gather at Bohemian Grove, 70 miles north of San Francisco in California’s Sonoma County—to sit around the campfire and chew the fat—off-the-record—with ex-presidents, corporate leaders and global financiers.
/..
http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/07/global-one-percent-celebrate-at-the-bohemian-grove/
“As a socialist, i don’t hate myself.”
I thought you were a nationalist.
@ clark
Switch tolerance to empathy.:
Because the tactics of the Nationalists is to generate hatred. Hatred of Conservatives, hatred of Socialists and even hatred of Liberals. Hatred of Westminster, hatred of the establishment and hatred of the media who don’t print what they want people to hear.
Your rhetoric is running away with you, Fred. “Hatred” is a big word. Certainly my “hatred” – more realistically, strong detestation – of the establishment has nothing to do with the SNP, and a great deal more to do with the kind of socialism that Labour abandoned, and the SNP may have picked up….time will tell, on that ‘may’. Hatred of Westminster? The SNP made a monumental effort to get in there; how is that “hatred”? Sure it wants to change it. So do the Tories, specifically to reduce the inconvenient influence of the competition. The media? What’s yours, Fred? Which version of the corporatist narrative, backed and bankrolled by vested interests and skewed on their behalf, do you prefer?
I’d be more understanding of your attitude, if you brought a quarter of your bile to bear on what’s wrong with the Union and with social democracy. On what facilitated the nationalist wipeout of every other option offered to Scotland. And maybe on the underlying cause: the failure of globalised, (and hence antinationalist) banking. For that is what did it, make no mistake.
Trouble is the socialist dream has come to pass. We are all united in a worldwide brotherhood. Of subservience to gross, greedy and morallly dead global capital. Socialism for the rich. Well done, your creed.
I’m a republican socialist Fred. The only way i can see the type of society i want being realised, is to escape from this fascist British state. I want Scottish independence to try and work towards that kind of society.
If the Indians, Irish, Americans, Canadians, Maltese, etc etc etc were Nationalists, then i must be one as well.
“I’m a republican socialist Fred. The only way i can see the type of society i want being realised, is to escape from this fascist British state. I want Scottish independence to try and work towards that kind of society.
If the Indians, Irish, Americans, Canadians, Maltese, etc etc etc were Nationalists, then i must be one as well.”
That would make you a National Socialist then.