I honestly do not care if David Cameron stuck it in a pig, though it is a stark reminder the ruling class are very different to us. But what is disgusting is the attack on the vulnerable, poor and disadvantaged which he is leading now.
I lifted this picture from twitter – don’t know who originated, but brilliant!
STOP THE WAR!
Bring back the days of blow-jobs in the Oval Office. And yes why not at #10 too. Better to keep these power-hungrys’ hormones in check.
I doubt he would have ever read those, and if by a remote possibility it read them, probably was too busy tapping away on the ouija board asking Orwell’s ghost all manner of question, for links, proofs, and if he is an antisemi… , etc.
Understanding comes from studying a subject, this one likes pontificating and lecturing on all subjects, after all it is hard to be an ever lasting know it all, you know!
i am rather sceptical of the analysis of the raison d’etre of the dickpig revelations as produced by the Mail and Lord Ashcroft and explained in the post by Sixer.(10.25)
The outbreak of ‘democracy’ in Scotland is largely attributable to the Scottish parliament, and the concessions made to providing an electoral opening for minority voices through the AV voting system. This provided the opportunity for the SNP to raise their volume with their audience and eventually give them realistic experience of government and thus creating both a distinct and authoritative voice. The SNP have positioned themselves reasonably astutely, there is no doubt, but to suggest that this process is much different to the politics of the ‘mainstream’ or any more democratic is fatuous. Credit is certainly due to the SNP for taking their opportunities and levering them to give maximum advantage, however their economic policies are certainly not radical, and are pretty much in line with orange book liberals.
tThere are also quite serious question marks over other aspects of policy. The education sector is in some difficulty and the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence has revealed a distinct absence of joined up thinking. In many ways the SNP have been lucky that that some issue have not been more closely scrutinised.
There are of course many positives such as free prescriptions, tuition fees and the attitude and rhetoric to matters of social security are certainly less offensive and more conciliatory or ess abrasive in tone. On the other hand, one must suspect that the SNP manage to identify their Overton window as rather different to (say) the home counties of England. I mean that they know their audience and adjust accordingly. In the event of their audience being more akin to that of the home counties, I rather suspect that their rhetoric would be different-even if the same people were doing the rhetoric. It is about shaping public opinion as well as aligning themselves with current dominant themes.
The independence movement is also not quite what it seems. I suspect it is more akin to a religious movement and a outlet for the expression of malcontent, which is conflated with political dissent. Of course political mo vemetns are frequentl;y like that but there is something just a little bit sinister in this vaguely manichean perspective revivalist process. ‘Campaigning/movements’ are certainly more fun and provide personal validation and attract those who need it.
In other words it isn’t always grown up politics, which is a much harder and more demanding process. In this case The ‘promised land’ is the (purified) Land of Scotland, freed of the mischief of ‘the other’ and there is quite a lot in common with the kind of dissent that has led to the rise of UKIP. To cut a long story short-I suspect the independence movement is not sustainable without a very much more rigorous process.
I am certainly sympathetic to independence but certainly i have severe doubts about the terms or tone of what opasses for the independence movement. The SNP are also, ironically, rather ambivalent to the ‘independence’ movement, as they risk their credibility as a governing group by too close an association. Of course they have to take advantage of such fervent sentiment, but at the same time their liberal tendencies create a certain distance that the party prefer to maintain. i was quite interested in their attitude to Craig as a candidate. Essentially Craig is a risk. He is also an asset for articulating views that would be somewhat unpalatable within the SNP an the governing mentality, but since they already have the benefit of that dissent, there is little point in taking the risk of a close association.
So in short i am doubtful that the electoral shift in Scotland and the rise of Jeremy Corbyn is an explanation of these events. i suspect there is a movement developing for the replacement of Cameron with Osbourne but it would be folly to precipitate a leadership crisis. Besides Cameron will easily ride out the embarrassment of the pig affair. Indeed I doubt if that people, although quite amused, are actually bothered offended, except in that rather manufactured way of finding fault because it is good to have a pop at the mighty. Most people are well aware of, or have often participated in drunken or youthful lunacies.Indeed in the current social environment I can even see him gaining as much or more ‘sympathy’ as he loses.
i also think the Tory party believe themselves to be ( and this is probably true) politically impregnable for the foreseeable future. they do not see a shift or detect danger. Corbyn has a very difficult task to bring together the discontent of many different people into a coherent set of policies. It is of course shameful that
Ashcroft can in effect buy a place in the Lords but there is a huge difference between the intuitive revulsion for a rigged and preposterous and archaic system but its persistence indicates a certain utility. That utility may not be obvious to outside observers but it certainly may exist. The formulation of a series of actions which will lead to the kind of consensus that will lead to a change. That is the problem that Corbyn has, and the Tories certainly do not think he can manage it. The Ashcroft/M ail piggery is just what it seems-petty point scoring and grudge settling within an ascendant and confident organisation.
Glenn
22 Sep, 2015 – 2:49 am
Did something happen to your powers of comprehension? Did you not read my whole comment? You are normally quite an intelligent man. But I can assure you if I kept the hours you do, I would not be intelligible at all.
The lonely figure of an old man sat at the corner of a bar caught the eye of the friendly bartender who showed concern for the customer he had not seen before
“Hi my names Bert, are you OK? You look like you have the weight of the word on your shoulders, what’s your name?”
“Hi” said the old man “yes things have been a little difficult, it hasn’t always been so. My name? Oh yes my name.
I was once a politician who brokered peace deals throughout the word through a selective bombing strategy that no one had heard of until I arrived but do they call me the statesman, the peace maker, the strategist? No!
I wrote books on how starving the poor could make them happier and how educating only the rich would improve poor peoples’ lives but do they call me the the author, the humanitarian, the wealth maker, the educationalist, the philanthropist, the economist ? No!
I spent many years travelling the world eating the most exquisite food and drinking finest wines and learning foreign tongues but do they call me the connoisseur, the polyglot? No?
I used my influence to protect my friends from investigation of ridiculous allegations of serious criminal behaviours and promoted others to levels of high state but do they call me the protector, the enabler? No!”
“So what do they call you old man?” said Bert curiously?
“I fucked one pig, just one pig” the old man spluttered through tearful sobbing.
Over to you Alkyone, the ending is entirely editable.
I was just musing on how Blair will be remembered but we all know that, Cameron however needs to shake this pigling bland thing or I’m afraid its going to be an unsatisfactory end for him also.
On the other angle of Craig’s post.
Quite surprising, but then it is over at The Telegraph:
” THANK YOU FOR VOTING
36% AGREE WITH YOU
6730 voters. Share your opinion!”
And the other 64% believe that it was Wrong of Corbyn to not be singing the ‘national anthem’.
HOME»NEWS»POLITICS»JEREMY CORBYN
Shadow minister backs Jeremy Corbyn over ‘non-existent deity’ anthem row
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/Jeremy_Corbyn/11882159/Shadow-minister-backs-Jeremy-Corbyn-over-non-existent-deity-anthem-row.html
Peter, wish I could help you, but I can’t contrive.
Btw did you see that last comment of mine to you just disappear?
“i also think the Tory party believe themselves to be ( and this is probably true) politically impregnable for the foreseeable future. they do not see a shift or detect danger”
Thank you for your thoughtful post deepgreenpuddock but I’m not sure about this bit. There has been a shift and they must have noticed it: left wing views have re-entered public discourse. And in all those queues to hear Corbyn speak and in all those students regaining a voice they must detect some danger.
People couldn’t care less
Majority of people don’t care about David Cameron allegations in Lord Ashcroft book
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/11882408/Majority-of-people-dont-care-about-David-Cameron-allegations-in-Lord-Ashcroft-book.html
I was just wondering if Cameron will be tested for “Swine Fever” or, “Swine vesicular Disease” or, maybe “Foot and Mouth Disease?
I wonder if the “Slaughter Policy” still applies for those infected?
I suspect the Tories won’t criticise Corbyn’s economic policies too much because it will encourage people to make a closer inspection of George Osborne’s economic policy ie. Spend,spend spend and force house prices up so the proles spend,spend spend too!
Geoffrey 2:37 pm
Well, quite.
“Britain had the highest August budget deficit for three years as the tax take from individuals and companies dropped. Spending exceeded revenue by 12.1 billion pounds ($18.7 billion) compared with a deficit of 10.7 billion pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London on Tuesday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast a 9.2 billion-pound shortfall. Government income fell 0.6 percent and spending climbed 1.6 percent.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-22/u-k-has-highest-august-budget-deficit-since-2012-as-tax-falls
Debt is now £1.5 trillion, BTW.
Sixer good chatting with you earlier.
Did you see my comment at 11.43?
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2015/09/the-art-of-pigsticking/comment-page-2/#comment-552686
I’d be quite happy to get your response to that.
Sixer, The Tories have doubled the National Debt since they came to office from 700bn to 1.5 Trln as you say !
Browner than Brown!
Alcyone – I think I was going in that direction earlier in the thread. I said, “Gotcha. Presumably the lead time for writing and publishing a book would mean St Corbyn has little to do with it?”
Geoffrey – Again, indeed. Not only have they transferred the previous public debt to private hands (student fees, personal credit cards, etc), but they’ve added a whole new debt mountain of their very own.
^Where has it gone? Anyone have a summary?
A genuine question:
There has been a lot of complaining on this thread that the govt is cutting spending on this, that and the other – including on welfare payments (housing benefits, the cap on total benefits, etc…), the NHS and so on.
How to reconcile that with the latter part of this sentence from Sixe (quoting Bloomberg), which reads as follows:
“Government income fell 0.6 percent and spending climbed 1.6 percent.” ?
BTW, Sixer, I believe you’re new on here. Welcome! It is good to see that the frequency of your posts has increased considerably over the last few days.
”
Sixer
22 Sep, 2015 – 3:37 pm
Alcyone – I think I was going in that direction earlier in the thread. I said, “Gotcha. Presumably the lead time for writing and publishing a book would mean St Corbyn has little to do with it?””
Thanks Sixer. I get it. Its not a rag after all and from what I hear is based on thousands of interviews.
Satisfactory conclusion to our engagement. Stay well.
_________
I shall be looking out for the lizards fire, as I give up my own. Trying to switch to vaping as of today. Smoked just the one cigarette there was at home with my morning tea. So far, so good. Any ex-smokers here who care to comment. Any current ones?
Habbbakuk – 3:39 pm
The simple answer, presumably, is that the Tories are right to say that debt can only be reduced on the back of a strong economy. The problem is that, in 5+ years, they have signally failed to create one.
For example, you can cut the welfare benefits available to individual people, but if demand rises exponentially – due to your running of an economy that is detrimental to a large proportion of your tax base in terms of earnings, housing costs, etc – then you will spend more money.
Alcyone – merci bien aussi. See? I’m like a paragon of politeness, ain’t I?!
Habbalotsofbs – thank you. I fear we will agree on little but it should be fun regardless!
Habby, what about you, have you ever smoked? Doesn’t sound compatible with swimming 7 kms in the sea, even in calm waters. 😉
I was just wondering how any people on here subscribe silently to the view seemingly held by a handful of the regular commenters that most of the major political, economic and security events which have occurred in the United States (and even further afield) over the last decades have been engineered by the Us and UK military and security services?
LOL Sixer.
Re Habby, I recommend you keep an open mind–as open as you are polite.
Habbbakuk 3:48 pm
“most of the major political, economic and security events which have occurred in the United States (and even further afield) over the last decades have been engineered by the Us and UK military and security services”
I wouldn’t describe myself as a conspiracy theorist so I would not count myself as a subscriber to that belief.
However, if you replace “have been engineered by” with “are in many respects the fault of” – why then, I’d stick my hand in the air and wave like crazy. No need for silence or a secret ballot, or anything of that sort!
“Mr Cameron gave an insight into his views at a Conservative fundraising dinner at the Carlton Club on Monday night.
Speaking to 300 guests, he said that he had to go to hospital earlier in the day for a bad back, which he put down to “over-energetic” wood chopping in his Oxfordshire constituency over the weekend.
The surgeon told Mr Cameron that he would need an injection and asked him to lie on his front.
The doctor then said: “This will just be a little prick, just a stab in the back.”
The prime minister said that “rather summed up my day”.
It comes as it emerged that a majority of people do not care about the allegations made about Mr Cameron.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/11882717/David-Cameron-jokes-about-Lord-Ashcroft-allegations-Its-like-a-stab-in-the-back.html
In psychosomatic terms, backaches are often related to experiences in the past which we may not have yet fully processed.
Alcyone.
When you go to bed to-night, say, ” I am a non smoker”, this will put the idea into your head, literally.
It works much better than willpower. It works with all sorts of things you want to be, or be rid of.
Try it and see.
All the brest.
Habbakuk,3.39 and Sixer 3.44. The increase in government spending with decreasing income is reconciled by the doubling of national debt under the Brownite Osborn.
Surely,they have created a strong economy in their debt fuelled binge,in the South anyway ?
Yes, Robert, thank you. That’s an excellent suggestion!
I’ve been there before….having given up smoking previously for many yesrs. Yup, I’m a non smoker is far more intelligent than grappling with will-pier, whatever that is. I hear that if you sustain it for 28 days, the brain rewires itself.
I was also thinking sympathetically towards drug addicts; how much more difficult it must be for them!
Thanks again, it is a pleasure to engage with you, and I wish you the very best too.
See you around.