No prizes for guessing the big news over the past few days. That’s right, it was of course Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner breaking the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 833.9mph, during his daredevil feat of jumping from a height of over 128,000 ft. Expecting to go in the record books as having recorded the fastest speed ever attained by a human, he was gutted to see he’d been beaten by Ian Davidson getting to the expenses office with his latest claim form.
There were also a few goings-on in Edinburgh where Overlord Cameron came up to announce to us that he’d “made the referendum possible” for us. Gee – thanks, Dave. No need to jump from 128,000 ft to prove your heroic credentials either – the top of the Scott Monument would’ve done just fine. Pity he didn’t try as we’d have found out if he could’ve flown “by the seat of his pants”. I’m being a bit unfair as he “always wanted to show respect to the people of Scotland” and I must’ve just imagined that previous condescending remark.
He went on to gibber the usual nonsense: “We’re better off in the UK, and the UK is better off with Scotland as part of the family. We should keep the family together. We’re safer together.” All the usual stuff with absolutely no substance behind it. All that was missing was “we stand taller on the world’s stage”.
I did agree with this bit though: “It is now up to the people of Scotland to make that historic decision. The very future of Scotland depends on their verdict. It is that important.” Too true. Are we going to use our resources for the benefit of our own people or are we going to continue to let Westminster leech away at us and squander them in their delusional attempts to prove that they’re still a global power? If we do then we deserve everything that will assuredly come our way and it saddens me that many of my fellow Scots appear happy with that. As I’ve asked before – would you give all your wages to your neighbour, accept some pocket money back and then meekly agree when you’re called a parasite as a result?
The whole subsidy junkie nonsense all boils down to this and it should be rammed home by all on the Yes side until an answer is provided: If we are a drain on UK resources then why is there not the slightest encouragement from Westminster to wave us on our merry way? It can all be wrapped up in that simple question. All I’ve ever heard in response is, “Well we stand taller, etc, etczzzz.” This is particularly relevant at this time of global financial crisis. Surely it makes perfect sense to “downsize”, but Westminster don’t appear to agree. Whyever not?
Anyway, I watched the hour-long Distorting Scotland special on the day’s events and I have to say that they were 100% fair on this occasion. Prior to a recent election I remember them interviewing someone in the street wearing a Scotland fitba top who happily told them, “Independence is a bad idea. Scotland should stay part o’ England!” This time they gave equal airtime to yes/no/undecided which was actually quite refreshing. They even had time for a cameo appearance by the blessed Johann, clearly seething in her role as a bit-part player: “Alex Salmond has the right to ask the question and now people have the right to answer it.” Finger on the pulse as always, that’s oor Johann.
Unfortunately they then had to spoil things by letting Gordon Brewer loose on Newsnight later on. “Salmond was told not to look smug by his advisers,” he informed us with that sneering look on his chops before we got to see him give a rough time to a representative from the Yes campaign because the street wasn’t packed with pro-independence supporters. The fact that there weren’t any unionists there either obviously didn’t fit his narrow-minded agenda. Why shouldn’t the First Minister look smug anyway after getting absolutely everything he wanted?
He was ably assisted by Gunner Graham from It Ain’t Half Hot Mum – sorry, Professor John Curtice who was as neutral as ever. He had this gem for us this week: ”At the moment almost as many people think Scotland’s economy would be worse under independence as believe it would be better.” So in other words the majority do actually believe it would be better? Clearly a “the Scottish Government’s glass is always half-empty kind of guy”. I’m not sure how much more of this negative-spinning, do your own country down garbage I can take.
Roll on Question Time from Easterhouse tonight. I can hardly wait. 
A Cybernat
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Ian Davidson MP, chairchoob of the Scottish Affairs committee on Independence Hating Automatons, Too Eagerly Negating All Things Scottish.
Good acronym!
Dave
“”"”"”"”"”“We’re better off in the UK, and the UK is better off with Scotland as part of the family. We should keep the family together. We’re safer together.””"”"”"”"
In future, the correct reply to this twaddle is, ‘A load of guff’.
True. Lots of other words for it as well of course.
Dave
Hello Dave,
Well I knew it was going to be a job and half to get the positive message through to people about how Scotland is fully capable of governing its’self, but last night at work I got a real eye-opener. I was having a chat with one of my work friends on the phone during a break, and the independence question came up. Well this lassie informed me she had read a lot about it but she was going to vote no, I asked why and was it something Lamont and other unionist’s had said ? Her answer was who’s Lamont, So I asked her did she not know who Johann Lamont was, “NO” well how about Ruth Davidson “NO”, Willie Rennie “NO but understandable” but she did have an idea who Ed Miliband may be and did know David Cameron was prime minster. She then informed me that if we had independence we would have to join the EURO, now this lassie is very clever and efficicent at her job, she is ex-forces and has travelled the world and I am very proud to have her as my friend, but the F-ing bloxing I gave her last night for coming out with tripe like that must have turned the blue for fifty miles.
I would have sworn on my kids life that lassie would have been at least semi-clued up on what was happening in Scottish politics, but not a sausage. So we really need to educate people out there about what is really happening and the choices there is for them with independence. Because suddenly two years seems to be a very short time to the referendum.
PS. she will vote YES by the time I’am finished with her.
PPS. Yep QT will be very interesting tonight, I see the BBBC has fully loaded the panel again.
Well she didn’t know Lamont or Davidson – that’s got to go in the credit column surely?
I don’t know this guy Rennie either of whom you speak.
Dave
Well she can’t have read up fully because the full Unionist argument is that Scotland will simultaneously be flung out of the European Union while being forced to join the Euro because it’s a member of the European Union, applying the logic that distinguishes them from irrational misty eyed nationalists.
Q.T. was “interesting” last night on quite a few fronts.
I think the main point was that the Bitter team must have got all their supportersd in to the audience. I have never seen an audience cheer so “unanimously” as they did last night when Curran said she’d be voting NO. Kinda stinks of a set up to me.
There was also the point where there was the unanimous “booing” of Nicola Sturgeon, all because she belierves in her psrty’s policies. Again something stinks. Oh I also thought it was very interesting when the rabid audience member started going on, shouting actually, about why we should all vote NO. In amoungst the bile he spouted was the classic about our oil would run out. According to this “genius” it will run out by 2027!
I did think that Mark Serwotka the General Secretary of the PCS trade union did quite well, even more so when Curran found out that he was in favour of Independence. I guess that’s him off her Christmas card list then.
Nicola Sturgeon, in my view, did quite well and fought her corner very well despite being outnumbered. What really surprised me was Allan Cochrane, he almost came across as a sensible panellist as opposed to the usual rabid unionist in his Telegraph column.
Davidson and Curran were……., well the least said about the pair of them the better methinks! There was one pure classic Curran moment though. She made a comment during her time on the Scotland Tonight programme on Monday night and repeated it again last night. Pure dead brilliant so it is! I leave it to her to repeat it again here.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=165055603618526&set=a.147197615404325.3864.135402323250521&type=1&theater
I haven’t watched it yet as I didn’t want to go to bed in a foul mood. Can’t believe she said that – what an @rse!
Dave
Could this be the Bitter Together sound bite that saves the union?