“That was a conscious decision - to project the cause of independence in that inclusive way, as a civic, democratic, liberating movement that everybody can buy into.”
Halftime in America
1 hour ago
06 June 2009
“Civic” nationalism: genuine progress or contrived spin?
Posted by
Scottish Unionist
at 4:03 PM.
There are 10 comments.
Ever wondered why the SNP no longer issues overtly anti-English statements? Or why they don’t call the rest of us traitors any more? Where has all the extremism gone? Alex Salmond explains:
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That's interesting, Wardog. I didn't notice you criticising the nationalist cyberactivist in today's Scotsman who described Jim Murphy as “a traitor to his nation” and said that “he should be strung up from the nearest lamp post a la Mussolini”.
Or the cybernat who referred to what he called the “sick english union” and the “undemocratic, squanderous english union”.
Do you deny that such language is less prevalent in official SNP circles than it used to be? Or is that me playing the “race card”? Clever spin. As if it's me who's racist!
So, let me see if I’ve got this straight...
Journalists who dare to publish anything which shows the SNP in a poor light are to your mind writing a “crock of sh*te”.
You think I am “rather unsavoury”, motivated by “grand imperialism” and “islamaphobia”. And to cap that off, you imagine me to suffer from “paranoid delusions”.
You see Jim Murphy as “treacherous”. Indeed, that’s not a matter of opinion. His views, you say, “can only be seen” as treacherous.
(So do you think that “he should be strung up from the nearest lamp post a la Mussolini”?)
You think that the term “sick english union” is justifiable. Indeed, you seek to do precisely that.
You think unionism is about keeping Scotland “in it's [sic] place” and is “racist” against Scotland. Therefore, in your world, I am also “racist”.
Does that just about sum it up?
Sour Alba!
Another juvenile insult. That'll really bring me round to your way of thinking!
SU
Sorry to butt in, but in amongst all of the jibes, a few interesting things have been mentioned.
Jim Murphy for one. A traitor? I don't think so. A waste of money? For the taxpayer, yes. But I'm sure Gordon thinks that it's worth wasting taxpayers money on high-profile anti-SNP spin. Don't get me wrong, Jim Murphy is a very capable politician, but his talents are merely being used to bolster a weak Scottish Labour Group.
Wardog is spot on about the "uneven nature of the Act of Union." The current UK set-up also follows that uneven nature: a collection of nations(?)/ principalities/partitioned states/weaker partners, each with decentralised assemblies or parliaments bar one, a legislature with an unfair voting system, a government which wields ultimate power courtesy of only 25% of the electorate, a Prime Minister with presidential powers able to appoint an unelected Lord into the inner cabinet, and to top it all, an unwritten constitution. If you truly wish the Act of Union to continue, the UK Government set-up needs a radical overhaul. Cameron will only tinker at the edges of this, so I don't personally believe this will happen.
Some of your so-called 'cybernat' comments are truly awful, but I have glimpsed similarly dreadful unionist piffle from time to time. However, the "sick English Union" is a bit of a misnomer as far as I am concerned. Through our history, it seemed to me as if it were Scots who drove through the Union-with-England concept. Whether that was Royalty or Earls, and often in the minority, the desire was generally a Scottish desire. However, perhaps that was a survival mechanism, because England's intentions pre-Union were generally Overlordship. And to this day, it's Scots in Government who are more likely to talk up the Union.
Racism in all forms should be condemned.
The anti-English sentiments expressed by the nutter on the Scotsman message board are utterly disgusting.
Anti-Englishness is a shameful problem and we all have a duty to combat it.
I am concerned by the way in which you constantly smear an inclusive, multi-cultural, social democratic party and, more widely, the drive for equality and independence for the Scottish nation.
A few so-called "cybernats" don't represent the massive vast majority of decent independence supporting citizens anymore than the BNP or the Orange Order represents the massive vast majority of decent Unionists.
Social Democrat
You would, I suspect, be surprised at how many of the so-called "cybernats" are members, activists, councillors etc. So if they represent a fringe it's a very substantial one with significant reach into the "mainstream".