Something I was reading this morning made me think of the morphogenetic field. (Maybe not the longest word ever used on here but probably the most pretentious.) Some of you will likely have heard of this. It’s when an ability is learned by a certain number of a species and then becomes available to the rest, sort of like they’re plugged into some kind of common consciousness. I heard of an experiment they were trying in the USA where they’d lightly poisoned lamb carcasses and left them lying around for the local wolf population, the idea being that when a certain number had been devoured causing Mr Wolf to all but honk his ring up, next time he fancied a snack he’d go chase a deer or something rather than take the easy option and what the hell has this got to do with the Yes campaign? Bear with me…
All the negativity recently has really been wearing me down and at times making me wonder what’s the point. You vent your spleen on your blog but you can’t get anywhere near the circulation figures of the MSM or the BBC who are constantly trotting out one side of the argument. Let’s face it – if that’s all somebody’s hearing then that’s what they’re likely to believe. You look at Newsnet Scotland and it all seems to be people preaching to the already converted. I was in two minds whether to even bother with the blog this week. It’s not like there’s nothing to write about – far from it – it’s just that I’ve felt so down about things that I couldn’t really get motivated. Then I read a post by a fellow blogger this very morning and it could’ve been taken from inside my mind. Check it out along with the first comment. Very strange. Maybe the “we cannae” side are actually cleverer than we thought and they’ve started to use more esoteric techniques to derail the Yes bandwagon! Then again with the likes of Johann Lament and Mags Curran on board it’s probably not that at all. Nonetheless it’s just utterly, mind-numbingly relentless.
So who’s to blame? Simple – the SNP. It might not be a popular thing to say, but given the desperation of the salivating media up here to jump on the slightest slip-up, why on earth have they been peeling off the banana skins and merrily strewing them across their own paths? They should know by now that every single figure they present to the Scottish Parliament should be double, triple and quadruple checked before being stated as fact. Never mind that the First Minister to his very great credit went straight back to the chamber to apologise after this week’s debacle which can’t have been a very pleasant experience. Nobody likes being placed in that humiliating situation. He did it though rather than try and smother the story by invading Iraq or something similar. Do you honestly think the MSM would appreciate that? Of course not: “Salmond accused of misleading Parliament again” read the headlines. “How can we trust what this man says about independence when he can’t get a simple number right?” And on and on and on until it’s firmly hammered into the public consciousness, because like it or not, the Yes campaign IS Alex Salmond as far as the masses are concerned. This is something else that’s still to be sorted out.
Nobody can argue with the SNP’s historic result in May 2011, achieved on the back of a positive campaign, but is it not about time that the gloves were coming off here? Not to the extent of looking a complete tool like Ian Davidson on Newsnight but certainly the odd sly dig could be made, e.g. “I wish you’d been as thorough when Jackie Baillie falsified the hospital infection figures, Mr Brewer,” or “How can we trust people who deliberately colluded to suppress the McCrone report for the last 30 years” – that sort of thing. It’s really about time that lot were put on the back foot. When you’ve got the airtime then you might as well use it to get your own points across rather than being continually on the defensive. Upping your game and cutting out all the idiotic errors would be a useful exercise as well.
Never mind all that… I was out tying up some bunches of onions this afternoon when I saw this lovely sight above Cybernat Towers:
It does your wee heart good doesn’t it? 
There’s always the Daily Mail comments to cheer you up as well any time you’re afflicted by depression. Just do a search on “Scotland” on their site and it’s guaranteed to throw up a few brammers:
“If scotland goes independent (and I hope it does) the RBS debt should be transfered to this scottish bank and scotland made to pay england back for bailing it out, then It would be owned by the scots and thus forced to stay there. I am also looking forward to all the scots south of the border being forced to go home. Finally the Scots should not be allowed to keep the pound, we don’t want their dodgy economy draging the rest of the UK down. Go independent and get your own money or join the euro. Cant wait to 2014 just a shame I cant vote to kick the whinging scots out!”
“Scotland will be finished if they leave the UK. The poorer nations of Europe will not want them to join as they to will become a drain on the avalable money, meaning less for them. If anyone will lend them money on the International markets they would have no credit score so they would have to pay back loans at very high interest rates. Public spending would collapse, unemployment would soar and infastructure would begin to decay irrecoverably. Scotland will be a basket case economy within ten years. So much fo Salmonds ‘arc of prosperity’ (which he nevermentions anymore!)”
“I am horrified that Alex salmond is what is representing scotland. He is fat, lardy and horrifically unhealthy. Scotland has a huge obesity problem and that’s what’s representing us. Just awful. Lose some weight you fat bloater. He is like something from an eighteenth century painting. Gout ridden and lording it up.”
Any time you’re feeling down just think… if on waking up in the morning you rolled out of bed, severely battered your skull on the edge of the bedside cabinet and wiped out your entire education back to Primary 3, you still wouldn’t be as big an @rse as these guys.
A Cybernat
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I completely agree with you about getting the Yes campaign away from the SNP, I am an SNP voter but it is not working where people think YES is Alex Salmond.
I don’t think tit for tat remarks is a good thing, it drags us down to their level and Alex is very good when it comes to defusing them. The newspapers are acting like a bunch of sheep reporting all the allegations over and over, I switch off some days just to feel like I might be getting away from all the negativity.
Why do they continually poo-poo the SNPs determination to keep freebies when they would stop them all if they were in power, the SNP are making the money work they should be applauded or perhaps that is the problem, jealousy!
We must remain calm and fight this battle with the pen, ok Microsoft Word, every word people utter about independence we must listen too, evaluate it for the truth in it and respond calmly, that is our way forward not shouting people down like the opposition sweetie wives we see in parliament every week.
You’re right, Bob. Sometimes it’s hard to listen to that bilge though which is why I’m not in politics! How the Yes campaign can be separated from AS is a major issue. IMHO he’s one of our greatest assets but I recognise that he’s not everyone’s cup of tea and the MSM are doing a successful job of promoting him as the whole show.
Dave
Perhaps putting the security question before the “Post Comment” would be prudent.
The plugin doesn’t work that way, Bob. The placement is outwith my control, but all observations and suggestions are welcome. One thing for sure is that the blog would be overrun with spam without it so it’s a necessary evil. Having the simple maths question keeps us Scottish Labour-free!
Dave
Great blog! I tried to use the follow button but it does not seem to work.
Regarding the further education numbers it seems bizarre that anyone in charge of collating, disseminating the numbers would not immediately know that the change was and increase or a decrease, that would stay in the mind and as you say would be checked and triple checked. I suppose it’s possible someone got careless but then ..
Cheers, Jim!
I’ve deactivated the Follow plugin. I wondered why the number of followers never went above zero…
It does sound like carelessness – hopefully not anything more sinister than that. The last thing we want/need to see up here is any Blairesque complacency creeping in. Everyone needs to be in full command of their area of responsibility.
Dave
Totally agree. Not one of those MSP’s in favour of independence should show up in chambers with a tiny doubt about their figures. They need to be beyond 100% certain that the facts are the facts.
With the advent of Labour For Independence, I hope that the drift away from party/personality arguments for 2014 will become more common. As my husband pointed out in our little moment of “domestic dis-harmony” – this is a marathon, pacing is what counts. It’s not a sprint to the finish line. I’m just hoping with every bodily appendage crossed that can be crossed that the YES crowd can leg it comfortably in final few weeks.
The thought of what would be in the Daily Mail the day after we bottled it and returned a No vote is what motivates me! It just doesn’t bear thinking about.
Maybe I just need to pace myself better.
Dave
It drives me daft too and I was really fed up about it a few weeks ago but I spotted an article in BBC History Magazine about anti suffragette propoganda and blogged about it here.
It is important for us to remember that there is nothing new under the sun and that we are in good company. Its important that we lick our wounds, complain a bit and then brush ourselves off, paint on the lippy ( metaphorically speaking if you arent a lipstick person) and get back into the fray. Black Dog you do a great job, so does weegiewarbler, we are in this for the long haul and we will win – I am sure.
On a level playing field it’d be a done deal. Failure is NOT an option though! Great blog as well.
Dave
From our perspective, the MSM are not biased enough. That’s why we set them such a good example.
Keep up the good work!
Dave
I find the constant drip feeding of negative comment and recycling of longsince discredited negative comment dispiriting. I know it for what it is, a co-ordinated, programmed campaign of outright lying designed to put the “don’t knows” into a fearful position.
The negative onslaught will dissolve away a couple of months before vote and the agenda will be “jam tomorrow,” if you vote No.
I am sure that is the strategy for the Unionist camp.
When you think of it, they have no positive position to offer; all they can do is repackage what they have been doing to Scotland for 3 centuries. Why change a winning hand?
To bring this about the MSM has been suborned. The BBC, we know about but the suicidal position of the inky fingered press tells me that somebody or something is paying them to do so. No capitalist business on earth goes out of its way to dis-serve its customers and expects not to pay a severe financial cost. It is high stakes time and the cornered ones will throw everything and pull every dirty trick unimaginable to maintain their fiefdom of Scotland
I tell you this, if Scotland votes No, the repercussions will be dire. Holyrood will be neutered, Faslane will continue to host WMD, Hitachi will build 6 new nuclear generating plants, and all hope will be drained from the Scottish people. That is just for starters.
These are scary thoughts, James. The sad thing is that it’d serve us right as well. We’ll only get one chance.
What I can’t understand is why in any of the numerous debates/discussions on any of the political programmes nobody from the Yes side has ever said, “Well if we’re subsidised then why is there such an anxiety to keep this drain on the UK economy?” Why the hell won’t they come out swinging??? One that would surely resonate with the “och these politicians are all the same brigade” would be to point out why Scottish Labour MP’s are so dead set against independence – “Well while we’re concerned with having the means to benefit the Scottish people through full control of our revenues you’re more concerned with your Westminster salary and potential place in the House of Lords.” Nothing yah-boo, tit-for-tat about that and it’d surely strike a few chords.
Dave
I really an puzzled by the reticence of the YES team and the SNP in particular.
I, like you am from Glasgow and I find it quite to get my retaliation in first.
The only possible reasons is that the YES team is doing a “gentleman’s” campaign
or
It is a rope a dope tactic to take all the bilge early on, detail a rebuttal for each and every one, and once they recycle them, nearer the vote blast the No rabble out of the water.
That would make sense if the YES team could guarantee MSM access and equivalency thereof.
Unless His Eckness knows something I don’t about the EC monitoring the BBC and the inky finger press?
We can only hope they’ve got something up their sleeves as I’m getting a bit fed up watching them on the defensive all the time. It’s so unnecessary too – “I realise independence would scupper your plans for an ermine robe and your backside on a leather bench in the House of Lords but we have to put the Scottish people first.” Simple. Instead they sit and listen to the same predictable garbage coming up all the time and every time it does it seeps that wee bit deeper into the public’s consciousness.
The negativity didn’t work in 2011 though. Maybe it does indeed need cooler heids than yours and mine!
Dave