The Final Curtain
Posted on
January 10, 2021 by
Chris Cairns
Wings Over Scotland is a (mainly) Scottish political media digest and monitor, which also offers its own commentary. (More)
Looking at the Twitter feed from the tents on the White House Lawn after Trump had addressed the rally, this cartoon is afair representation of what was happening in there.
Great cartoon as ever Mr cairns – thanks a million for the year past and a million best wishes for the year ahead.
I hope your cartoon is right. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Trumpeteers, en mass, are not fineshed yet. I think they’ll give themselves a few more encores where they’ll mishear boos for cheers. The Americans gave an idiot access to far too much power
Vanilla ISIS is an apt description for yrump supporters
.
“Off he went with a trumpety-trump, Trump the Chump!”
Despicable. Trump = Hitler, the lowest of the low accusation, doesnt stand up to any scrutiny, and shits on 70+ million people who voted for him.
At a time when this site is correctly showing up the immorality of Sturgeon apologists trying to taint Alex Salmond with innuendo to deflect from their hero(ine)’s criminality, I would have expected you to aim higher.
But as long as you lot feel superior to Trump voters or Brexit voters, then more power to you! Tiny things please tiny minds.
Btw, none of these cartoons have ever made me laugh.
Trump has totally demeaned the office of the President. That is some achievement given some of the competition he has had.
Has noone done a meme of the Bunker film yet?
Brilliant, Chris. And is that the McDonalds logo suggesting the “Minute Men”, the “nationwide league of marching men” from Sinclair Lewis’s horribly prescient 1935 novel, “It Can’t Happen Here”?
‘It was probable that they had been in formation for months, since already they had three or four hundred thousand members. Doremus was afraid the MMs might become a permanent organization, more menacing than the KKK.”
‘. .an observer, watching Senator Windrip . . .could not explain his power of bewitching large audiences. The Senator was vulgar, almost illiterate, a public liar, easily detected, and in his “ideas”, almost idiotic . .’
Class Chris .
The armbands are fantastic.
Nice one Chris, Trump supporters have done (storming the Capitol) what consecutive US administrations do all the time in other countries, by sponsoring regime changes.
I wonder if Sturgeon will attempt to cling onto power as ungracefully as Trump has, once its widely known that’s she’s broken the Ministerial Code, among other serious improprieties.
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Great cartoon. you have the orange hitler to a tee.
I see the brexiteers are demanding new negotiations with the EU.
And the BBC are saying nothing more on the FM’s plotting. Proving beyond all doubt that the vile yoons see the FM as a yoon asset.
A failing democracy, a corrupt establishment, a biased justice system, a contemptible media, a malicious, arrogant leader, a supine government, docile obsequious politicians, thugs on the street after a vote …
Who gives a fuck about Trump.
Stu has built up a head of steam against the lying Unionist bitch who is Sturgeon.
We must keep that momentum going.
Please try to keep on message Chris.
Trump us America’s problem, Sturgeon is our problem.
I don’t join in the Trump hate and I find it extremely disturbing that the “big tech” US corporations have so much power to censor and silence speech, opinions and views that are selected by them and the “woke” (actually, they ARE the “woke”).
I do however appreciate the nuance in Chris’ cartoon, as ever.
Funny.
If you’ve kids of fighting age they will soon be heading off to fight the next US war and then you’ll be all like ‘That Trump fella was the devil though’ while your child bleeds to death on the battlefield in a shithole country you cant even point to on a map.
and when people ask you why you hated Trump, you’ll have nothing, nada, not a War, not a policy, not a jot, all you will be able to do is repeat what CNN tells you to say.
Hitler was responsible for some 30 to 50 million deaths, including the holocaust, Trump put in place a middle east peace treaty, halted an aggressive Iranian nuclear policy and walked in to N Korea to shake hands with a loose canon in a clear move towards peace in the region. Back home, he reduced unemployment (particularly among minorities) and made the US a net exporter of oil, reducing reliance on imports.
But y’know……Trumps a racist…..and when mud slinging is all you’ve got, then you’ve nothing.
O/T.
Euan McColm, desperately trying to get his fatally flawed points across that Scotland shouldn’t be holding elections just now never mind a referendum, weasel words from McColm, as plenty of other countries have held both during this pandemic.
link to msn.com
The arm bands are also funny.
Everyone who eats fast food is a Nazi fascist sympathiser – nice one Chris….or is it just McDonalds?
People who live in the West and hate it, should just fuck off and let the rest of us live in peace, with our free market fascism and our far right views.
Woke as fuck garbage.
OT has anyone else seen this?
//summit.news/2021/01/08/police-enter-home-arrest-family-after-neighbor-snitched-on-them-for-violating-covid-rules/
I’ve probably got that wrong again but the link was on a comment on Craig Murrays blog.
I hope that this is not the way forward for our country or Police Scotland.
Great cartoon.
@ Dorothy Devine
‘OT has anyone else seen this?’
OT. Yes I saw the video when it came out and now seen reports via news. The video didn’t look good but gave no background though I still found police response excessive.
Dorothy
for fucks sake, I cant keep saying this, communism is coming, it’s heading straight for us, politicians are literally TELLING us what they are going to do before they do it.
spy on your neighbour, clipe your relatives, shutting down communication platforms, making free speech illegal, forcing compelled speech and equality of outcome on us, curfews, ‘smart’ meters, mandatory vaccinations……I could go on and on.
People still cant see it.
and if you don’t think it can be defined as communism, fine, but its totalitarianism, that’s for sure.
Bored cops with new laws always leads to a bad place.
Remember this when Trump is gone – he wanted the Wu flu over with, back to normal, no facemasks, no lockdowns.
remember that folks, when your life is completely fucking miserable and you haven’t been on a plane for 3 years. The West bankrupt, your possessions removed.
think I’m nuts? – what would you say if one year ago today I was to tell you where you are now. You’d say ‘nuts’.
Brilliant cartoon and arm band – add on ‘Donald wheres yer twitter’ to tune of Donald wheres yer troosers.
Sad state of affairs for America – I hope he is impeached to save us from any further notions of his or his family for political power.
I still blame the Republicans for their idiocy all the way through as his enablers as I do all the old guard, the tax evaders and hedge fund gurus and the tory conference crowd for Boris.
Great cartoon, Chris – even if events in Scotland delayed its publication on Stu’s blog.
Gaelstorm says:
10 January, 2021 at 11:41 am
Has noone done a meme of the Bunker film yet?
Yeah, I’m waiting for that one as well. 😀
Joking aside, Trump and his adherents, be they Republican congress representatives or the bampot variety of conspiracy theorists or people somewhere in between, fuelled by disinformation in their own social media bubbles, are still a threat to U.S. democracy, and by extension, democracies anywhere.
The U.S. democracy is far from perfect but it’s the oldest, stablest democracy on Earth. For it to descend into “banana republic” (George W Bush’s words!!!) levels, or similar to ex-USSR republic / former Warsaw Pact countries (Poland, Hungary) levels… It shows the fragility of democracy and we all must fight to uphold democracy, accountability and transparent governance and government.
The U.K. isn’t doing too well on that account ATM, but neither is Nicola Sturgeon and her coterie in Scotland.
Remember back in 2016 how we all joked about what a bad year it was… Ah, happy times…
Surely nothing could be worse than 2020…
2021: “Hold my beer!”
The storming of the Capitol building is going to serve the same sort of purpose that the attacks of 911 served. Where 911 was used as a pretext for attacking and neutralising external enemies, the Capitol building attack is going to be used as an excuse for attacking internal enemies, primarily Trump’s militant support-base.
Trump was finished politically but the problem of his aggressive supporters remained and they weren’t likely to stand down when Biden took over. Now, of course, they’re going to hammered in a new dirty war that will be waged quietly in the background for the next few years.
You can see this coming. They’re going to de-platform everyone that stands in the way as they imprison tens of thousands of people and come down like a tonne of bricks on anything resembling militias. The Trump support base marched right into this with their guns, confederate flags, thinly veiled racism, and threatening behaviour.
Oh well.
ahundredthidiot says:
10 January, 2021 at 1:11 pm
That’s not communism, that’s fascism.
Communism at least attempted some redistribution of wealth before descending into authoritarianism, which it shares with fascism.
Do you see any serious attempts at redistribution of wealth? No? Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer, no?
And BTW, managing public health during a pandemic is neither communism or fascism. If restrictions are not lifted after the pandemic is under control (which it clearly isn’t ATM), we should worry about authoritarianism.
Ahundredthidiot: “ Trump put in place a middle east peace treaty”
He couldn’t have done more to support Israel, the most destabilising force in the region.
I would never dispute Chris’s artistry, but I agree with Charles Dixon upthread. America is America’s concern; Scotland is our concern. Trump should be Sturgeon and Swinney her adjutant, both with rainbow armbands of course!
As regards events in Scotland, I don’t think it is an internecine war at all as the media will try to portray it.
Alex has truth and justice on his side and the support of all those who wish him and Scotland well.
Nicola Sturgeon has lies and deceit and anti-science on her side, supported by those who have sacrificed their humanity (and nation) at the altar of their ego.
Has Nicola Sturgeon not always gone behind our backs, using Machiavellian tricks of power to hide her crimes?
“Distance yourself from a falsehood; do not slay the righteous nor injure those who have been declared innocent, for I will not exonerate the wicked.” The Book of Shemot 23:7
Chris, the defenders of America’s (shaky) democracy appear to be rallying to impeach Trump. You and I know how long that takes and what can be used to wreck it.
Another matter: adding dialogue, does it enhance fine images?
Here’s your essential weekend reading, a critique of Peter Murrell:
‘Unfurling Murrell’: link to wp.me
lumilumi
Ok, first thing first, this ‘pandemic’ is no more than your average health crisis. Later this month, NRS will have December death figures in, and as it currently stands, we are looking at 10 to 15% above normal deaths over a 25 year span.
Second. COVID has been hijacked. Your point about ‘if restrictions aren’t lifted’ I will offer this – when was the last time you went through an airport with a bottle of water?
Third. think like them and you might get ahead of the game. don’t speak politics in front of your children for a start off, schools will start to harvest your opinions and the stasi will be watching you.
Last. I have a mate who lives in a high rise – lets say 10th floor – and the other night he had a drone looking in his window.
you know…….for your safety and all that.
Hatuey
I am not disputing your point re Israel, but he put in place a ‘start’ – which no one else has been able to do.
The Middle East can only be sorted incrementally, over at least a generation. The ball is now rolling and many decades from now, unless history is written by the wicked, his achievement will stand.
…certainly more than Blairs – as a comparison – and how many on here voted for that cunt in 97?……fucking plenty.
Where do these site nut jobs come from? Batteries not included?.
Stick to real life rather than fantasy.
Great cartoon Chris. In a year where our own Alex Salmond gets hounded and tried for trumped up charges and cleared the moron ‘the idiot’ trys to defend an absolute tyrant. That’s funny.
When someone shows you who they are the first time- believe them.I give you – ‘the idiot’
The yoons love him(trump),
I hate the fecking grifter twat that is Trump!
‘the idiot’
Sentences always start with a CAPITAL LETTER ya illiterate.
Oh and ‘CNN’ is great.
I take it the one on the right must be Anthony Eden then. Sorry Chris, doesn’t look like him.
@Muscleguy,
Its actually Ahundredtheidiot !!
It’s still the case that Covid deaths in the under 60’s is below 500.
The big problem is that politicians seem to think that we, the public, are unable to accept death as a natural end point to life.
It comes to us all and this pandemic has brought it forward by a few months for, in the main, care home residing over 80’s.
On the other hand, children’s lives are being ruined, the economy is being trashed, non Covid but treatable diseases are being neglected and quality living has already been reduced by 10months and increasing.
A choice has to be made and I, for one, think the wrong choice has been made.
Hatuey , looking at the rally on the videos, you can actually see trump supporters trying to stop and pull the antagonist that tried breaking into the White House back, to stop them, and the antics like vandals seem to have infiltrated the trump supporters,
It pretty much looked like a further opportunity to discredit trumps and his support base,
Wether you believe in trump or don’t, the issue is the here is the set up and only one line of propaganda news allowed to circulate.
When big tech and media get together in agreement to silence and censor any or all alternative news to political opposition, or to replace it en masses with one view, you are looking at the beginning of nazi Germany before wwii. Or any other dictatorship regimes across the world, this is how all dictatorship begin.
Then you arrest citizens for having a different opinion. If fact it was on television that some democrats were calling for trump known trump supporters to be locked up.
That is not democracy. I would have the same view if either side were going along this routes. It’s dang for the ordinary citizens,
When you see lock downs being bought into law and no longer solely advisory, you begin to worry, in our own country, your not even allowed to sit down on a park bench or have a warm flask of coffee down south, even when you are on your own, the police have been filmed arresting people for exactly that,
When a cure for a problem becomes more dangerous to a citizen by a government than the original symptom, it says that those in power are power crazy and want total control over its citizens or nation,
Trump diffused tensions with Russia, Stopped escalation in Syria, resisted pressure to take Iran out, and made an effort to stop sabre rattling with North Korea. As a non American, he’s been a fantastic president.
Also, the affinity shown towards him by our adversaries has further diminished the standing of Britain’s ruling elite.
Is Trump a racist? Don’t know, don’t care.
America is a fucked up basket case when it comes to race and our fucked up basket case politicians, and woke universities, have latched onto the black American experience, as if its actually representative of black people as a whole, and the African experience in general. To out it in context there are 44 million black people in America and 200 million (maybe 250) people in Nigeria.
Real racism is when organization such as MI6, arm and fund Islamacist lunatics in
North Africa and they head south with their 12th century belief system, raping, enslaving and pillaging along the way, while “progressives” in the west, turn a blind eye and shout “Islamophobia”. Real racism is when NGO’s like Amnesty criticise the government of Nigeria for defending their citizens from these animals. You pay for that. You buy those guns. Gradualist SNP facilitates the last outward strikes of the dying empire, whether that’s in Ukraine or North Africa.
Donald J Trump was weird fellow, and his 4 year presidency was entertaining to say the least. I wouldn’t have voted for him but I can understand how people would. Bit of a mad man, but at least he had some morals.
He didn’t use his office to fit up Bush on sex charges for example.
Better the madman with some morality than the scumbags in Bute House.
James Che
Don’t give us that Fox news guff there were infiltraters amongst them -Antifa and all that.What absolute hogwash. They were all trumpians goeded on by a twat and his family.
Oh forgot and that wee deviant Rudy G.
Make Scotland Great Again!
Ayrshire Roberta
Your definition of tyrant must be pretty low. I might be happy to put that down to todays wokeness and how easily offended everyone seems to get.
Granted, I sound like I am defending Trump. but I am actually defending what he tried to stand for. He was no fan of China or the CCP and had a grudging respect for Putin. Same as myself. And as an ex-soldier I appreciate his approach to getting out of war zones – as he said in his 2016 election campaign.
But please, other than schooling me in my Grammar, please outline your actual, factual reasons for why the man is a Tyrant?
Bob Mack
that was quite funny for you.
usually you’re a boring knob.
From SNP constitution and “The Constitution,Rules and Standing Ordersof the Scottish National Party”
25The Leader— (a)sets the political direction of the Party;(b)leads election and other campaigns;(c)approves manifestos for parliamentary elections;(d)articulates the argument for an independent Scotland; and(e)is Leader of the Scottish Parliamentary Group if a Member of the Scottish Parliament.
26The Depute Leader— (a)is next in seniority to the Leader;(b)is responsible for directing the Party’s policy-making processes and for the preparation of manifestos for parliamentary elections;(c)acts as Leader if the office of Leader is vacant until such time as a new Leader is elected by the Party;(d)is Leader of the Scottish Parliamentary Group if the Depute Leader is a Member of the Scottish Parliament but the Leader is not; and(e)is Deputy Leader of the Scottish Parliamentary Group if the Depute Leader and the Leader are both Members of the Scottish Parliament.
(e)prepares the agenda for meetings of the National Executive Committee.28The National Treasurer— (a)ensures the sound management of the Party’s finances;(b)convenes the Finance and Audit Committee;(c)reports to the National Executive Committee and National Conference on the finances of the Party;(d)provides any necessary guidance and directions to other Treasurers in the Party; and (e)maintains the Party’s Financial Scheme and ensures proper reporting of donations and regulated transactions to the Electoral Commission.29The Business Convener— (a)is appointed by the Leader, with the appointment being approved by the National Executive Committee;(b)chairs the National Executive Committee and National Conference, or nominates a person from the National Executive Committee to do so; and(c)oversees operational matters of the Party, including membership, campaign co-ordination and internal affairs.
30Election of National Office Bearers
30.1The National Office Bearers, with the exception of the Leader, the Depute Leader, and the Business Convener, are elected at Annual National Conference.30.2If a National Office Bearer’s post falls vacant before Annual National Conference, the vacancy may be filled by the National Executive Committee.
30.3 The positions of Leader and Depute Leader— (a)are available for election in advance of Annual National Conference;(b)are filled following a ballot of all members of the Party (c)require nomination, except for incumbents, by at least 100 members, who must be drawn from a minimum of 20 Branches;(d)when vacant, are filled under a timetable and process fixed by the National Executive Committee
7.4 The announcement of the result of an election for Leader and/orDepute Leader shall be at National Conference, along with theannouncement of the results of elections for the other National OfficeBearers, unless that election is caused by a vacancy.
Election of Leader and Depute Leader [Paragraph 30.3]
48.Paragraph 15.7 of our current constitution states that the Leader and Depute Leader are to be elected on an annual basis. This is more reflective of the position before the 2004 Constitution when the Leader was elected by delegates to Annual National Conference. The better way of stating the reality is that the office of Leader and the office of Depute Leader are both open for election each year in the run up to Annual Conference if a challenger has collected the required signatures by the close of nominations. This is the drafting approach now adopted.
49.Neither the current version of the constitution nor the Leadership Election Rules deals with the situation of a Leader or Depute Leader being elected otherwise than by a vote in the run up to Annual National Conference. The proposal is to amend this to require the National Executive Committee to set out a timetable and process when a vacancy arises, in accordance with current practice.
10 For a recent example of the courts in Scotland interpreting the rules of a party see Asim Khan v Scottish Executive Committee of the Scottish Labour Party[2018] CSOH 68 (challenge to Labour Party selection processes in Glasgow South West). For a more general case on the rules of an unincorporated association see Crocket v Tantallon Golf Club[2005] CSOH 37, 2005 SLT 663. For a discussion of the some of the principles which applies to interpreting party rules see Evangelou & Others v McNicol [2016] EWCA Civ 817(case on the 2016 Labour Party Leadership election) at paragraphs 18-24.
@ahundrddtheidiot,
Danke Gauleiter.
Trump and morality do not fit in the same sentence, unless the term “lack of” is included.
If Sturgeon stopped being Leader of the SNP, Keith Brown would act as Leader until a new Leader was elected. (Oh dear!)
I’ve no noticed it anywhere in the rules saying a Leader must be an MSP or MP, if anyone knows differently, please say. (But, All office bearers MUST be a member of the party).
If the Leader is not an MSP the Depute Leader acts as Leader in the Scottish Parliament. (This is what happened when the Leader, Salmond was an MP and Sturgeon was Depute Leader but acted as Leader at Holyrood).
I love your work Chris, but the “Trump is literally Hitler” meme is superficial, trite and glib.
Being a vulgar oaf who once said something about grabbing a pussy doesn’t make you literally Hitler. Of all the leading US politicians this century, Trump is probably the least literally Hitler.
When you find yourself on the same page as the Guardian, the BBC, and Sturgeon, it’s probably time to take stock. I don’t ascribe to the old saw that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, but the friends of my enemies are almost certainly my enemies too. Who is Sturgeon’s political hero? (Hint: not Alex Salmond…)
If you don’t like Mr Trump, then you must be for lies and chaos, and Mr Trump was instrumental in getting people not working at least 500 quid a week, Uk 75 quid a week, if he is not one of the good guys in politics then I must be Boris Johnstone
Oh he’s a tyrant alright.You never seen the future correctly.
But, luckily he lost BIGLY
Walks like duck, quacks like a duck.He has all the trademarks.
But let’s just call him a cunt for now.
Donald Trump, the man that single handly dragged america back from the brink, and now its back on that brink again with an election fraud that’s as plain to see if you study all the evidence that has so far been ignored.
Democracy is the best system we have, and when we ignore its abuse we all suffer
Communism and fascism have many parallels. One way to indicate which-is-which is to ascertain which market model is being championed by a movements leaders. Command economies by communists, market economies by fascists. Under that simple light, it’s clear that what we have in the US is a strain of fascism. Both terms, however, have been abused to the extent that we now have a situation wherein what we don’t like or approve of is labelled as one-or-the-other in accordance with our political beliefs.
Mr Trump famously keeps a copy of Mein Kampf on his bedside table.
Ayrshire Rob
You are literally brainwashed by MSM. One day you’re going to wake up and have a ‘fuck me’ moment.
Until then, people like you are simply in the way.
Bob Mack
I don’t know about your claim, unlike you I haven’t been in his bedroom, but are you suggesting anyone who has read MK is a nazi or a fascist?
Because if you are, that is a pretty base level debate right there. Do you read the daily record by any chance??
@Ahundrddtheidiot,
His staff have noted he kedps it as a reference in controlling opinion. All very innocent
Truml stated reading Mein Kamlf has a tremendohs effect on him at college, and he had enormous respect for Adolf Hitler as a leader.
(Snopes). No wonder the extreme right just luvvs Donald xxx
Bob Mack
As innocent as your use of the German language up thread?
Do you see where that type of nonsense goes? and btw, which Staff? cos I smell bullshit on that – that would literally be shooting yourself in the foot/handing sweeties to your enemies and Trump was very cute about that (for the most part), so please, can you refer me to this solid piece of evidence? or are you just mud slinging as per your programming?
@Ahundredtheidiot,
His daughter Ivanka gave an interview to Vanity Fair. She mentions her Fuhrer(Donald) likes to read Hitlers speeches and the book as an aide to public speaking. That a close enough member of staff?
Thanks again Chris for all your excellent cartoons , You keep us laughing all through the year with your excellent work . Wishing you all the best for 2021 .
.
Grouse Beater @ 1.39 pm
Can i just say here thank you for an excellent blog post re Peter Murrell .
It’s just as well that we have yourself , Rev Stuart , Barrhead Boy , Iain Lawson and others to get the news that the MSM ignore .
Bob Mack
I just done my own digging – sure as shit, you’re full of shit.
you’ve gone from MK by the bed, to staff member, to a magazine, to a ‘book’ or some ‘speeches’
wake up man.
@Ahundredtheidiot,
Do you know how to Google? Its freely available.online from many many sources
I don’t want to enter the Trump debate, but moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem was, now how can I put it lightly, … somewhat insensitive, and might easily have incited a bloodbath.
As this site often implies, with so many issues and aspects of life there are the facts and evidence and then there is the narrative.
A year of two back there was an attempt to pressurise social media and the internet to deplatform and ban, via at least two lists, of what was labelled “leftwing” or “progressive” (whatever that means these days?) alternative media sites and blogs.
Naturally, there was some degree of fuss and push back and then things seem to go quite around the time Alex Jones got de-platformed as attention was focussed on cheering the banning of a right wing site. The notion of this being a two edged sword apparently lost as the narrative took over from the facts.
To a degree its understandable for a certain amount of schadenfreude to be expressed over the event in Washington given the long record of the USA organising and supporting actual coups and colour revolutions for well over a century going back to the time of at least Smedley Butler.
However, the facts suggest the narrative of this being some kind of coup to be yet another official conspiracy theory. A small proportion of a far larger number of on the ground protesters/wing nuts/Fascists (pick your own label. Why not? Everyone else is) taking selfies in the Capitol building with no backing whatsoever from the military, the security services,the corporate media, any section of the political class, Wall Street, any part of the business or financial communities etc etc fits no known or accepted definition of a coup.
Certainly there was no autonomous zones set up. Nor months of riots, looting, arson, shootings, stabbings and a break down in both order and law across scores of cities and urban areas. Events which appear to have triggered an increased exodus of populations away from those areas and, in terms of the facts rather than the narrative, far more representative of such a description than what was, in comparison, a days vandalism by “insurrectionists” who were not even organised enough to be armed and carry through anything resembling a coup.
But why let the facts spoil a good narrative? Behind the fact of numpties like Trump (who despite being POTUS failed miserably to ‘drain the swamp.’) getting permanently banned from social media lies the fact that not only leading members of the Trump administration or those associated with it receiving the same deplatforming/cancelling we are now already seeing this being rapidly rolled out.
The Big Tech companies who dominate the internet and World Wide Web and associated Neo Liberal and Neo Conservative politicians are now rolling out the deplatforming and cancelling from the net and web of any one who was in Washington for that purpose (not just the small proportion who entered the Capitol building).
Their children and neighbours are being encouraged to report them. Employers are already sacking employees who attended. Calls are even being made for anyone who is/was a Trump “supporter” (on past precedent of such purity spirals that will rapidly change to “voter”) to publicly seek redemption in a Neo-Liberal and Neo-conservative tribute act to Mao’s Cultural Revolution or the Khemr Rouge’s Year Zero.
Leaving aside the very obvious point that the infringement of the Amendment on free speech by Big Tech outside a very narrow window of what is acceptable and unacceptable discourse providing a template for every authoritarian group from Governments to political factions whether it’s in Kazakhstan to Scotland, other pertinent issues arise.
Firstly, it’s a two edged sword. It might be Trump voters today – all 70 odd million of them.* Tomorrow it is just as feasible to anticipate the usual mission creep incorporating anyone who believes in biological sex; or moving the definitions of, say for example, ‘ anti-vaxers to include those who question the efficacy of administering a two jab vaccine twelve weeks apart which is outside the manufacturers scientifically arrived at recommendations of three weeks.
These kind of feeding frenzy actions tend to take on a life of their own.
*And secondly: This is divide and rule on a massive scale. Another example of Klein’s concept of the Shock Doctrine.
A lot of those Trump voters had once voted Obama. And, after three decades of cant and hypocrisy in which the industries their livelihoods depended upon were shifted abroad and they were promised retraining in high tech industry which never appeared Obama, rather than representing a change, continued the Democrats divorce from it’s working class base in favour of its Big Tech mistress, Wall Street and more overseas wars than the Republicans.
The Democrats, just like their counterparts in New Labour, and now the SNP, thought their base had ‘nowhere else to go.’ Consequently, Trump may be gone but what gave rise to him has not. Just as the Scottish Working classes abandoned New Labour for the SNP whilst the English Working Class tacked rightwards towards UKIP/Brexit Party (who came a close second in both seats in Scargills old heartland) the reasons for their existence is not going away.
As a result trying to exorcise half your voting population from society because they’ve finally got pissed off with you after four decades of neglect and being taken for granted and set them up against the other half is not going to end well.
On the present trajectory one wonders how long sites like this are going to last?
To be fair to past Presidents, not many of them have encouraged their thousands kf supporters to invade Capitol Hill.
Trump has a monopoly on that.
“‘Thank you for an excellent blog post re Peter Murrell’ Maggie @3.24
Takes time to see the accumulation and wonder how it all came about. Anyhow, your mention in dispatches is much appreciated.
@Maggie 3.24pm & @Grouse Beater
Seconded! Some good discussions going on BTL both here and your blog Gareth!
We were down your neck of the woods for walk along the beach this afternoon: I raised a toast (restorative hot chocolate only sadly!) to your ongoing struggle in hope we get to meet in better times!
On all the good american sites, you know, the one’s that state the facts and show them, Mr Trump did not incite anyone to go and cause mayhem.
The american constitution allows anyone to protest peacefully and that is what most did, and that is what Mr Trump asked them to do.
Anyone that hears and see’s that differently needs to get their ears checked and book an appointment with an optician.
There are a lot of people I do not normally agree with, but when they do the right thing I will acknowledge it, being a perfect human being is not usually attainable for must of us, but there is something very gratifying about trying to be the best person you can be
Ron Maclean @ 12.16
Aye, yer deid richt, Scotlan haes its ain muckle mankit slump tae suik oot.
It truly is amazing what is coming out of Scotland’s swamp, which Rev Stu and others are continually draining, and no doubt what is still to surface.
As in the saying “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
Almost no-one in Scotland liked Trump. I certainly didn’t. But the difference between me and other “haters” was that – I didn’t like Hillary Clinton either; I thought she was (arguably) worse. Nor do I like the democrat party, nor Biden, nor Obama – who was NOT “Black Jesus” – he was a loyal servant of the empire and “O-Bomber” loved a drone strike as much as the next man, if the next man was a neocon stooge like Dubya.
– not a lot to get worked up about really; it’s a faction fight between 2 wings of the same party, the “business party” (CHOMSKY, VIDAL). It’s gangsterism, with little in it for the rest of us.
Carroll Quigley (written 60 years ago, there’s wisdom in old books, y’know)
“The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, THE TWO PARTIES SHOULD BE ALMOST IDENTICAL, SO THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CAN “THROW THE RASCALS OUT” AT ANY ELECTION WITHOUT LEADING TO ANY PROFOUND OR EXTENSIVE SHIFTS IN POLICY.”
What I did like about Trump was his shameless baiting and “triggering” of the worst people in the world, those we all love to hate – the identity politics, PC correct, woko haram, intersectionalist, bourgeois left, nutcases and idiots, whose latest wheeze is to make us all, even at the point of a gun, say a man with his dick cut off is a “real woman”; the independence movement is full of these fuckheads, with the support of the SNP hierarchy, but like all middle class leftists – they are not really your friends, and their support will disappear “like that” (snaps fingers) … just in passing, the chinese have created the best name for all these idiots, BAIZUO, which roughly means “white left” but with lashings of contempt and eye-rolling.
Being a Scottish Nationalist, the only thing which occurred to me at the time of Trump’s 2016 victory, and I expressed it on Wings – was that a half-scottish, golf-nut, with property interests here, in SCAATLAN – could “do a turn for us”, i.e. “hauners” against the hard power of London and their devious, dirty tricks; he could at least ensure fair play (- think of the way the British were slapped down by the Americans over Suez.)
– of course, being Scottish, we do like to make things hard for ourselves, and this kind of “realpolitik”, practised unashamedly by every other country in the world – China, Israel, the UK, … everyone! – is thought to be “morally unconscionable” by the independence movement because … why? – the man had boorish manners and once referred to vagina as “pussy”. So, you get a lot of sanctimonious bullshit from the vocal sector of the nationalists – the SNP, the Greens, the National, Bella – all the hand-wringing cringe merchants. Nicola Sturgeon even went to a Pride march (- what have the trannies ever done for us, and what do we owe them?) rather than talk to “the guy” who could really help us.
(- Sturgeon isn’t really a nationalist, but that’s another story. Devolution has provided us the BIG GAY TRANNY DISCO social agenda, so … why spoil a good thing; the Scots might reverse this if indy actually happens, better we then “agonise about it endlessly” without actually doing anything.)
But – that ship has sailed anyway and the other nights “capitol theatre” seems to have brought it to a close – won’t it all be a great laugh, when, 50 years from now, we learn on the “hyperweb” that all those MAGA boys were CIA and Homeland Security, while the Antifa, were FBI and NSA?
Confused
I would not disagree with any of that. In fact, I often said that there was probably on balance more chance of President Trump getting Scotland its independence than the questionable Ms Sturgeon. He also merited by parental descent a vote on the self-determination of ‘the Scottish people’, and far more than the million or so resident folk in Scotland originating from south of the border who are 80% guaranteed to vote No to ‘belonging to Scotland’.
It is simply not the Scottish culture to insult any President of the USA or any other country, whether of Scottish origin or not. And what was the point of that anyway? As you say, realpolitik should have meant Scots looked on President Trump as a Scottish ally, and an avenue to independence. An opportunity totally wasted, and for what? So this FM can ingratiate herself to whoever and whatever she thinks is important, and none of which has anything to do with independence.
Confused, I don’t find your comment confusing at all. On the contrary, I find it most enlightening! And I also echo Alf’s comment above.
As my father always said, the two-party system serves one purpose and one purpose only – to maintain the status quo. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon serves that purpose!
Has it escaped the attention of you Trump fanboys that having lost a democratic election Trump was attempting to retain power by staging a coup. The US military is too attached to the Constitution to go along so he was forced to try other methods. He tried to get State legislatures to overturn the vote and appoint his delegates instead. When that failed he tried to get judges to overturn the election. When that failed he tried to get Vice President Pence to declare him the winner. When Pence wouldn’t go along he incited an armed mob to storm the Capitol in an effort to intimidate the Congress and the VP into acquiescence of his power grab. This is High Treason, plain and simple.
His “achievements” in his 4 years in office are laughable. A “peace treaty” between Israel, Bahrain and the UAE? Since when were they at war other than notionally? Were there any casualties on either side? To achieve peace in the Middle East would require Israel to abandon its Master Race policies and stop treating the Palestinians as Untermensch. Trump has done nothing to achieve that, rather he has legitimised the theft of Palestinian land by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem.
As for the economy, Trump risked igniting a global trade war by illegally slapping tariffs on a whole raft of imports from numerous countries, not only China.The only reason that didn’t happen is that other countries are well aware that the US’s Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930 and the tit-for-tat retaliation by other countries caused world trade to implode and turned a recession into the Great Depression. The only people that think raising tariffs is a good idea are economic illiterates and simpletons like Trump and his fanboys. As for energy, going into net energy surplus is nothing to do with anything Trump did but is simply the extension of a trend that began in the mid-2000s as can plainly be seen in the top graph here:
link to eia.gov.
The upward trend in exports beginning about 2005 is due to the use of fracking technology which has greatly expanded production of natural gas.
Not started any wars? He came damn close when he ordered the drone murder of the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – who had been invited there by the government of Iraq – and without that government’s knowledge or approval, plus several Iraqi citizens who were in the same cars. And all because Trump wanted some favourable news coverage. (This should give concern to any nation that is hosting US forces on its soil, that some future US president could involve you in a war without your knowledge) Only the restraint of the Iranian Govt prevented that from blowing up into full-scale war.
Face it, Trump is a ("Tractor" - Ed), a serial fraudster, a blowhard and the most ignorant fool ever to occupy the Oval Office. He belongs in jail.
What’s with the change to “tractor” Rev?
It is with detest that I note if you speak up on a subject that matters to us all, that you are shot down in a very woke manner by throwing accusations like you must watch Fox News etc, this is just a policy to shut people up, and close down free speech, and for those that didn’t or were not unable to understand the message, , please go back and read my comments again.
My comments included both sides and both political parties. The issue here is big tech and media ruling countries by becoming a de facto government. Not voted in or out by the people, but controlling,
Over ruling the narrative of all voices on both sides to invent your own world, is and was what happened before wwii.
This is best cartoon on storming of the capitol I have seen – thank you!
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Pete,
Your post is disgusting.
You are saying that it’s okay for the NHS to be overwhelmed and you are prepared to see mass deaths of the over 80s from Covid.
You cite no references.
Well here’s some scary information for you. Drs Chris and Xander Van Tulleken featured in a documentary that shows how dangerous Covid is to younger people. Coronavirus may not kill the under 40s quickly, but the dreadful research that came from real doctors and proper epidemiologists is that younger people who have had “mild” Covid are now destined to have early dementia and premature heart attacks due to it being a vascular virus and not a pulmonary disease.
Pete, I would like to ask you to name your sources for killing off a generation, many of whom risked their lives in World War 2 for you, you reptile?
Also do you have a medical degree?
Disgusting comment from a loathesome creature.