Monday 17 April 2017

YET ANOTHER TURKEY VOTES FOR CHRISTMAS (SERIOUSLY, WHO'S BUYING THIS?)



So, a Turkey really can vote for Christmas.

Honestly. A dictator who's locked up anyone and everyone who opposes him holds a "referendum" - to determine whether or not he should be allowed to be an even bigger dictator. Then he changes the rules DURING the final hours of the election, allowing votes to be accepted on non-official (eg: easily faked) ballots. And EVEN THEN, the vote still only came back at just over 50%. Probably because if Erdogan had rigged it any more obviously, there'd have been no point even pretending.

Who the hell is actually buying this?!?

So... Turkey will be subjected to something awful and probably become an authoritarian state under a dictator who wants to bring back the death penalty, because just over half of the votes were placed by 'straw men' or apparent idiots.

Sounds familiar.

Dear God, I'm so tired of calling out "conspiracies". To many people I must just seem like a complete nutcase. I worry about the parable of "crying wolf" too. I seem to be calling it so often these days, even I recognise the frequency seems unlikely. However, then I remind myself, that is the whole point. The whole idea behind subterfuge is to make those who call it out look like they're bonkers, like they're jumping at shadows. To make them question their own sanity. Quite literally the exact point. Think about that.

Let's assume you do think I'm nuts. But now imagine for one second that the "crazy" conspiracies ARE taking place. (Humour me.) Subjectively, do you think these ruses would be made obvious to the public? Or do you think efforts would be made to make the accusations look baseless, like they were flights of fancy? If you can acknowledge that much, you should then also be able to acknowledge the possibility such grand deceptions have already taken place, AND that you were probably fooled by them.

If you want to steal something in a room full of people, you don't wear a balaclava and dress like a burglar, with a jump rope and shotgun strapped to your back. You act like everyone else, you dress like everyone else. You laugh, you smile, you commit the crime nonchalantly. You don't make a run for it. You act like what you're doing is entirely legal and above board.

This is really not good. Not good at all.

#Erdogan #Turkey

Friday 14 April 2017

BEHOLD THE POLITICAL WILDERNESS OF BRITAIN TODAY...THERE'S SIMPLY NO-ONE WORTH VOTING FOR AT ALL



I'll be honest with you, I am confounded.

For the first time really in my adult life, I have absolutely positively no clue who to vote for, or support politically. They've finally done it. I've become so grotesquely disappointed and disenfranchised from all of the main political parties in one respect or another, that I feel like just giving up, spiritually curling into a ball on the floor.

Let's take it as read that UKIP and the Conservatives are the parties of dangerous and nationalistic populism, leading this country to hell. Many might disagree, but you can often distract such people with a colouring book and/or lollipop. The Greens? Nice idea, they're the party of hope maybe, but a vote for them really IS a vote for the Tories in most instances. Realpolitik, sadly.

At one time I believed Jeremy Corbyn and The Labour Party were our only hope. In fact I still do believe Corbyn is one of the very few honest/decent politicians working in Westminster, and the outright media and Blairite war on the man from day one should really tell anyone with an iota of subjectivity what's really going on. But that aside, the simple unavoidable truth is Corbyn then bandied with the populists over Brexit. His fear of losing the working class vote overrode any genuine principles of ethical liberal/socialist values, and I cannot forgive that. Plus in actuality, sorry, whether it deepens the wound and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy by saying it or not, the Labour Party simply seems to be finished. Eating itself alive. The cancerous elements of Blair's legacy have been so determined to hold on to the reins of power, that they've watched the whole party burn rather than abandon their own self-interest. It's a tragedy this country may never recover from.

So I turned back to the Liberal Democrats, who I've actually supported for most of my adult life any way. Mainly because I think Nick Clegg has been talking more sense than anyone of late. (Sadly, not so much Tim Farron - who I fear falls short in many of the same ways Corbyn does, eg: he just doesn't make enough of an impact.) But ethically, the Lib Dems seemed to embody the "middle ground" - which is what I fear has been irreparably lost in Britain today. They acknowledge a house must be renovated, not burned to ashes with all inside. I wasn't phased by the slurs of "betrayal" and the bitter resentment so many have shown for their alliance with the Tories in 2010: "never to be trusted again" etc. On the contrary, whereas many only see the pledges that were broken, I in contrast see how much they reined in the Tories from 2010-2015, before the real demon was unleashed. If Brexit has proved anything, it's that being the minority group (however slightly) can basically equate as your political beliefs being entirely sidelined and ignored. I imagine the coalition was somewhat similar.

But then there came Syria #2. And the Lib Dems now seem to follow suit, falling into the very same trap so many have accused them of previously. The Tories, predictably, stood up to ignobly pursue their unequivocally financially-motivated warmongering (any excuse to drop bombs that will need replenishing, after all), which was entirely expected. The military-industrial complex is alive and well in Britain... we're probably leading the way in fact.

And the supposed "liberals" then backed them up.

Once again, the liberals swallow an obvious narrative, hook line and sinker. They have seemingly learned no lessons from Iraq/Afghanistan/Libya, or indeed even Syria #1. It's rocked me to my core. I'm not someone who changes allegiance all the time, but these are fundamental beliefs I cannot ignore. I personally have vehemently defended the Liberal Democrats, even suggested they wouldn't do a deal with the devil again; arguing they'd surely learned their lesson. Now I'm not so sure.

So that's it now. I have absolutely no political voice that speaks for me. Nowhere to turn. I am lost. I cannot be alone, can I?? Which could in turn explain how it's even physically f**king possible Theresa May and the Conservatives have any approval rating and support whatsoever: something I simply cannot fathom! Every time I think there's hope, another flipping Tory councillor gets voted in.

Even I am now losing faith this iron shackle the Tories have on our proud nation, can ever be broken. And I think I'm pretty tenacious, all things considered.

I really do wish I could start up a new political party. Or that someone would. Simply put, a party of decency. Of egalitarianism, and fairness. A party that tells the truth and doesn't play games or score points, that doesn't engage in playground banter that should really be beneath them. A party that can admit it's made mistakes, that sticks by its principles, that doesn't change like the direction of the wind. A party that recognises there are two sides to an argument, and that sometimes a majority can be wrong. A party that acknowledges this country is rotten, and needs a major re-balancing of financial equality. Because THAT is the root behind all of this.

It's a nice dream. But they'd be as sidelined as the Greens any way, a non-starter. No-one cares about decency when there's profit to be made.