I was totally ready not to listen to that when I saw it was 8 minutes long as my dinners about ready, thank god I did OMG, that mans life is in danger.

I have never heard a more powerful speech against the vested interests that make up the British establishment, it should be required viewing for all 165/17 year olds prior to the vote.

Didn’t see Cara Hilton’s campaign leaflets did you Garvie?

You should all crowd source buying Stu his own Saltire Sweet Shop, to make blue and white humbugs to give out at Yes events. You get to increase awareness in a sweet way, he gets to eat all the seconds, and the newspapers get to run stories about “Evil Scot Nat Forces Saltire Down Children’s Throats” stories… everyone wins!

But a bit more seriously, policy wonkery is all well and good, but I’ve followed enough elections here and abroad to know it can lead to serious blindness as to the lay of the actual battlefield. The Republicans were convinced right up to the very last few minutes that Mitt Romney was going to win, because everyone they spoke to agreed with them, they had their own websites with “unbiased” poling which indicated they were right, and talk radio which shouted those beliefs back out to the world and re amplified that narrative… the reality was though that whilst Americans are small c conservative, the encouragement to the Tea Party fringe was seriously offputting to the wider American society; they liked the economics but were repelled by the social attitudes. The Republicans thought they were solidifying the extreme wing of the conservative vote, whilst driving it’s centre towards Barack Obama, a moderate Republican with black skin (which, horrible as it is to say, allowed them to vote conservative with a good social conscience) …

And so it is with Scotland; polls are useful because they address the Media’s love for narrative and mathematics. But becoming obsessed with media “Bias” risks missing the point that Stu touches on, that some votes are simply not there for you to take. You can’t educate them, you can’t get the scales to drop from their eyes etc… it would be wasted money to run adverts in the Sun saying “Don’t look at page 3 in this newspaper!” when the advert is likely to only be run on Page 23, and the audience is only going to associate that post-wank disgust to your advert coming after it instead.

Likewise here; you’re deepening the commitment of the committed, but missing the importance of the mushy middle. I recommend reading this report of the debates within the Irish Dáil Éireann on accepting the conditions of Irish Independence;
link to historical-debates.oireachtas.ie

Notice mid way the debate gets dragged off into concerns about the bias of the media too; 100 years ago and very little changes… The votes in the end were close, too close and Ireland descended into Civil War afterwards. But the speeches that swung the public vote towards accepting the Treaty we now know came not from the doctrinaire, perfect Republicanism of De Valera… but the pragmatic, democratic views of Collins and O’Higgins who admitted quite frankly that there was explicit threats of violence if they didn’t sign, but that;

“I do not wish to be forced into a stronger advocacy of the Treaty than I feel. I will not call it, as Mr. Devlin called the Home Rule Act of 1914, a Magna Charta of liberty. I do not hail it, as the late Mr. Redmond hailed it, as a full, complete, and final settlement of Ireland’s claim. I will not say, as Mr. Dillon said, that it would be treacherous and dishonourable to look for more. I do say it represents such a broad measure of liberty for the Irish people and it acknowledges such a large proportion of its rights, you are not entitled to reject it without being able to show them you have a reasonable prospect of achieving more (hear, hear).”

Those kind of arguments would hold far, far more sway for Scottish Independence today too. There are huge holes in the White Paper, it’s not a perfect document outlining a specific path to a better world; You don’t and never have lived in one and it gets wearing to be constantly abused for not having the burning passion of the committed believer. But admit that, show your human side, and that you are going to struggle against terrible opposing forces, and you’ll catch more flies with Saltire sweets than with “bitter together” piss and vinegar; As Collins put it about a similarly flawed but aspirational document;

“I do not recommend it for more than it is. Equally I do not recommend it for less than it is. In my opinion it gives us freedom, not the ultimate freedom that all nations desire and develop to, but the freedom to achieve it”  

And that’s a much more realistic sell, and historically proven to work, than assuming Alex Salmond, and selected representatives “from across Scottish public life and Scotland’s other political parties” (pg 71) will go to London and get anything close to their final, perfect program at all.  Still, at least the First Minister has one advantage over the Irish delegation;

“In 1921, after the announcement of a truce in the War of Independence, Lloyd George, then British Prime Minister, agreed to meet with Eamon de Valera. The leader of the Ulster Unionists, James Craig asked de Valera was he going to see Lloyd George alone. When de Valera said “yes”, Craig replied: “Are you mad? Take a witness. Lloyd George will give any account of the interview that comes into his mind or that suits him.”

Plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose….