For his first nine years as Prime Minister, Tony Blair appointed NO women to any of the “Great offices of state” over which Corbyn is under such concerted media fire. And he had many less women in his shadow cabinet and cabinet. Yet there was virtually no media comment at all, and none of this line of right wing “feminists” lambasting him.
Explain.
That is very moving and most apt Doug as Remembrance Day approaches.
Have you the author’s name by any chance?
Such a complex issue, feminism. I don’t profess to understand it. I have difficulty making any conceptual distinction between pushy, noisy women and their male equivalents: most especially in the context of rightwing feminism, touched on by Craig above. And this doesn’t really solve my problem:
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/jan/08/tory-women-mps-new-feminism
Tangentially…
The woman in the photograph is smiling a fixed, red-lipsticked smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes. Snapped against a wall, she wears a black T-shirt with the words “This is what a feminist looks like” in defiant white letters across her chest. She was part of a campaign four years ago to challenge assumptions about feminism, and she encapsulates both why it was needed and how fast things can change. For the model is Theresa May, and, as her expression suggests, at the time this was a decidedly risky stunt for her.
That’s a Fawcett Society t-shirt. Believing the Fawcett Society to be a bunch of commie slags, the Daily Mail attacked:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2872874/This-wall-silence-sounds-like-Feminist-group-won-t-answers-62p-hour-T-shirt-Mauritius-bans-MoS-team-expos.html
The MoS faced a wall of silence last week from the Left-wing Fawcett Society and its partners, High Street chain Whistles and Elle magazine. Their £45 T-shirts were proudly worn by Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman in the Commons and also by Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg.
But no mention of Teresa?
Left v right feminism: an exploitable rift.
Can we please rename the website “www.ishmaelblog.co.uk” in honour of the contributions to liberty and freedom I have witnessed these past days.
All heart and no Jack Boots.
Mary
15 Sep, 2015 – 8:45 am
“Have you the author’s name by any chance?”
…………………………
Siegfried Sassoon
Glenn (01h51)
Thanks for responding, Glenn, and thanks for the tips – I may do as you suggest. Just to clarify, I’d just thought that you had some sort of easy method whereby with a couple of clicks you could rustle up the info I was after and didn’t realise that you would have to elaborate a special programme (which would take up time which you could probably devote to more useful things).
I perhaps owe you a mini-explanation: it is that if Mary was one of the earliest commenters this would go dome way to explaining why she seems to exude a sense of “ownership” on here which makes her somewhat intolerant of (relatively) new entrants – or, at least, new entrants who have the chutzpah to pull her up whenever required in the interests of either clarity, motivation or even factual accuracy.
Jemand
““I see that the Mods have listened to Mary’s request to delete a couple of comments of mine.
And then they have very thoughtfully removed the evidence by deleting Mary’s plea.”
Indeed, Habbabkuk. It’s all about control. Speech communicates ideas that manifest as thinking and then, sometimes, action. Censorship breaks this link in order to arrest the spread of thoughts and actions. So it is rather telling that comments here are so neatly excised from the commentary record while the blog bemoans establishment propaganda and censorship of dissent.”
_______________
Actually, Jemand, my post wasn’t a general complaint about censorship but rather a wry little observation about a particular “incident”.
Craig is pretty – even very – tolerant and I’ve no particular beef with the Mods either.
It just struck me as puzzling that the Mods should have leapt to meet Mary’s request (only partially, it’s true) because that might imply that the criterion for the acceptability of comments is that anything goes except when someone complains – which in turn means that comments which casually but consistently label other commenters as “racists”, “fascists”, “Hasbara” or worse are allowed to stand without let or hindrance.
I should also like to think that certain commenters are not granted special treatment or consideration because of their long standing on here or because of their personal circumstances or because of what could be interpreted as a feeling of entitlement.
I heard Roger Waters on the World Service in the early hours and was looking for a link. He was talking about wars, the deaths of his grandfather in WW1 and his father in WW11. No wonder he is so vehemently anti-war and seeks justice for Palestine.
‘Why are they/we killing the children’ is his song.
Helpfully, there is a audio of the interview on the website.
Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters Talks New Film, New Songs And Love For The Blues
“It will be the perfect way to remember not just our loved ones but the other guys loved ones – fallen, living, and as yet unborn.” That’s how Roger Waters of Pink Floyd describes his new film, The Wall. He speaks to Newsday’s Tom Hagler about his love for the Blues and why he can’t stop singing.
(Photo: Former Pink Floyd member, Roger Waters, attends a protest, Credit: Carl Court/Getty Images)
Release date:
15 September 2015
Duration:5 minutes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032k8lv
‘I see that the Mods have listened to Mary’s request to delete a couple of comments of mine.’
There were actually two on one thread and five on another that I objected to as ad hominems. I haven’t even bothered to see if they are still there. That is for the mods.
Think what it is like to be selected for this inquisition. I was once asked by the same person if I commented on any other blogs. Is there a file being kept on me?
Can we please call a halt to this cluttering up of Craig’s blog?
Thanks Doug. I should have guessed. It’s wonderful and says it all.
http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/siegfried-sassoon/at-the-cenotaph/
‘Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, CBE, MC (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front,[1] he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon’s view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war.[2] Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war in his “Soldier’s Declaration” of 1917, culminating in his admission to a military psychiatric hospital; this resulted in his forming a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him. Sassoon later won acclaim for his prose work, notably his three-volume fictionalised autobiography, collectively known as the “Sherston trilogy”.’
‘War opposition: Craiglockhart[edit]
Despite his decorations and reputation, in 1917 Sassoon decided to make a stand against the conduct of the war. One of the reasons for his violent anti-war feeling was the death of his friend David Cuthbert Thomas, who appears as “Dick Tiltwood” in the Sherston trilogy. Sassoon would spend years trying to overcome his grief.
At the end of a spell of convalescent leave, Sassoon declined to return to duty; instead, encouraged by pacifist friends such as Bertrand Russell and Lady Ottoline Morrell, he sent a letter to his commanding officer entitled Finished with the War: A Soldier’s Declaration. Forwarded to the press and read out in the House of Commons by a sympathetic member of parliament, the letter was seen by some as treasonous (“I am making this statement as an act of wilful defiance of military authority”) or at best as condemning the war government’s motives (“I believe that the war upon which I entered as a war of defence and liberation has now become a war of aggression and conquest”[12]). Rather than court-martial Sassoon, the Under-Secretary of State for War, Ian Macpherson, decided that he was unfit for service and had him sent to Craiglockhart War Hospital near Edinburgh, where he was officially treated for neurasthenia (“shell shock”).[11]
Before declining to return to active service Sassoon had thrown the ribbon of his Military Cross into the river Mersey.’
He must have been ostracized by society at the time. White feathers and all of that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siegfried_Sassoon
If we’re getting all irrelevant here (and we are), time to invoke John Goss:
http://finbuzz.com/bill-clinton-donald-trump-tony-blair-elton-john-discuss-future-of-ukraine/
Clinton, Blair and Trump generally arrive without invocation, OTOH. This very high-profile gig, fairly obviously intended as two fingers to Russia, is organised by Victor Pinchuk, one of Blair’s many paying admirers. The ‘Yalta’ meeting was held in Kiev for obvious reasons…you’re on, John.
The establishment media will find any stick to beat Corbyn with. It’s as simple as that. If half the top posts had gone to women they would be attacking the women appointed. If he compromises they’ll accuse him of being a hypocrite and if he doesn’t they will label him an extremist.
If I were Corbyn, I’d not deal with the press (in particular) at all. He has nothing to gain by doing so, as Miliband’s experiences show. Let them show themselves up as the ridiculous propaganda rags for the super-rich they have become.
From Mary
“‘I see that the Mods have listened to Mary’s request to delete a couple of comments of mine.’
There were actually two on one thread and five on another that I objected to as ad hominems. I haven’t even bothered to see if they are still there. That is for the mods.
Think what it is like to be selected for this inquisition. I was once asked by the same person if I commented on any other blogs. Is there a file being kept on me?
Can we please call a halt to this cluttering up of Craig’s blog?”
___________________
We seem to have moved on from a plea to remove a couple of specific comments to a request for an overall ban.
My observation about a “sense of entitlement” must have gone home.
Ba’al Zevul 8:58 am
It’s the Venn diagram of sexism and classism. Or intersecting inequality as they like to call it these days.
The so-called hard left in the UK has always had as much of a misogyny problem as anyone in the family values right wing has had.
The media-left feminist commentariat has always had a problem with great unwashed, including the ones with vaginas.
In terms of the Corbyn cabinet, if you are a working class woman, you’d rather a man who opposed the neoliberal agenda in post than any woman who didn’t, and that includes the media feminists as well as the New Labour women.
Of course, the “feminist” idiots screeching in the Guardian would rather a neoliberal woman in post. Because they are paid enough to operate as independent economic actors in our society. They just don’t give a toss about the women for whom that does not apply.
Identity politics is the Trojan horse that has successfully neutered any real leftist discussion. But that doesn’t mean the left has no questions to answer about sexism within its machinery and institutions.
Professional politics is getting more and more like professional wrestling all the time. It always was to some extent but the choreography of the moves is getting more skilful and more of the audience is getting carried away and believing it is real for a while.
I’m dazzed, I woke in another world today after this was the promoted youtube vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hgJokgNJHo
I can’t believe anyone in this country would come up with such a thing. I really am shocked, and delighted I think…
It looks like it was made in Osama Bin Laden’s bedroom, or by and of the numerous completely discredited propaganda regime’s of old. I really though it was a joke. They have gone off the edge, completely ?..I’m just astounded. Had to share my reaction. It hasn’t really sunk in yet…
“If I were Corbyn, I’d not deal with the press (in particular) at all”
If his snub of the Marr Show is anything to go by that may be exactly what he’s doing. It probably has not escaped his notice that viewing figures for shows like that do not compare favourably with those for the test card in yesteryear. The same point can be made about the newspapers.
Corbyn is very adept at using social media to speak directly to people. No wonder tired old hacks are turning apoplectic: their own irrelevance is only now dawning upon them.
WTF, just taken down “Labour: a threat to our national security” By the conservative party official channel…
Someone get that vid and they are over,,,OVER.
Every racist tries the cheap trick of Islam is not a race! The many incarnations of the same keyboardi unit assigned to spam the net has this “contribution”
Now I am not afforded the luxury of rewriting the above brainfart changing and replacing Islam with Judaism, and then adding even more reactionary and premedieval Egypt!
However, when Roberta Moore (The Director of the Jewish Defence League, the affiliate to EDL racists) forwards the same defence, and the same excuses, as the above to carry on her vile racist conduct, it should come as no surprise that her minions getting ten dollars a day and spamming this board are using the same lines.
The fact remains that yet again we see the racism towards Muslims is tolerated, while if one dares to sue the same format of “defence” replacing the religions in question with another, then would be considered racist.
PS these characters included the resident “Mulsim” (giayneguanoetc) [sahdes of Joshua Ryne Goldberg]** are one and the same, note the order of their appearance given the degrees of pressure these come under. However the tolerance of their manifest hatred towards the Muslims in such a matter of fact fashion is puzzling.
** Check this out to allay an doubts.
http://dontpaniconline.com/magazine/radar/labour-a-threat-to-our-national-security
Has a screen grab…
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/labour-a-threat-to-our-national-security-conservatives-1.2351013
Mentioned in the Irish times.
Of course, the “feminist” idiots screeching in the Guardian would rather a neoliberal woman in post. Because they are paid enough to operate as independent economic actors in our society. They just don’t give a toss about the women for whom that does not apply. (Sixer, and welcome to the madhouse)
You may have hit on a wider truth there. Empowered women (like empowered men) do an awful lot of screeching about the unempowered, but it is the screeching that achieves the empowerment, not the gender. And the empowerment isn’t for anyone else, but themselves.
Corbyn is very adept at using social media to speak directly to people. (MJ)
He needs to make a repeated statement of this intention, if so. If the electorate understands why he’s doing it, it is a necessary counter to the inevitable accusations of hiding in the shadows. I hope his communications team is up to the endless tweeting…
I think we may be witnessing the implosion of the Tory party. I can believe anyone in there right minds would tolerate such a regime in our government.
Anyone who sees that vid, or if can be found, that a death nail right there.
Ba’al Zevul 11:28 am
Selective empowerment is exactly it. And the empowered rapidly form their own exclusive – and excludinng – clique. I would argue that the New Labour women and the media feminists act as ruthless and efficient gatekeepers against the empowerment of the majority of British women.
And back to the Corbyn cabinet. I think some of the women are in very interesting roles. There’s a woman for defence. A woman for business. A woman for transport. A woman for energy and climate change. If you think about what his policy priorities are likely to be – renationalising energy and rail, curtailing corporatism, reduces international sabre-rattling, etc, then suddenly the women look to be in much more influential roles than we assume if we use the conventional wisdom as to what are and aren’t top and bottom of the cabinet hierarchy.
PS: thank you for the welcome!
Sixer @11.01
Good to see you’ve shed your ‘lurker’ status- excellent points here
lol, lol ,lol
DAVID CAMERON “LABOUR IS A THREAT TO OUR NATIONAL SECURITY!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YxJ_KmrKkE
That video (Not the one I just posted but the conservative made one), Was an act of pure propaganda lies. It was and is terrorism on the people of this country. Instilling fear with absolutely no reasoned justifications. Twisting reality before our eyes.. They should be in prison, or somehow humanly restrained from this twisted propaganda peddling…
Unbelievable, never thought I’d see something like that in an official uk party.
I want an election called now, I no longer recognize any (zero) legitimacy in that party.
I await some kind of petition demanding this from the public. Surly they can’t last out the year.
“Not the one I just posted but the conservative made one”
Can you post a link to the Conservatives video again?
Not very well made retort. But contains the basics….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz2Gdh4b4As
I find it had to believe these brazen lies haven’t, by themselves alone, blown up the Tory party.