The People’s Revolt
Doesn’t the immediate silence after the PMs left speak volumes? Even Slugger was struck dumb when I last looked. The MSM is little different. From London, what can I do but risk a rare bout of Nolan. Cognitive group therapy or torture chamber, take your pick. There’s an appalling fascination in how the speechjock is now confidently installed as the maestro of a discordant orchestra of the People’s Voice, goading them on one minute and jerking them back the next. Maybe they should hand the talks over to him? A couple of days with Stephen should settle it or drive them up to Purdysburn. The mood seems captured by the Bel Tel’s headline (not on line unfortunately) ; “A shameful and disgraceful day.” On Nolan what we hear is the People’s Revolt. It’s given shape by Rev Harold Good.
Harold Good
“3 o’clock in the morning is no way to do business..”
“I thought it was about P&J. Now it’s about all sorts of other things.”
” I think people will walk away from the polls if we don’t have something more substantial.”
“If nothing else do it for the likes of Peadar Heffron“.Just before talks resumed, Arlene Foster and Alex Maskey protested good faith but gave nothing away. So much for the People’s Right to Know.
As usual, Nolan has it both ways.
You talk like this yet when elections come round you vote on tribal grounds.
If you’re so angry, why don’t you vote?
Many of us have hoped for years that the people on both sides would move to the middle ground to minimise the parties on the extremes. It has never really happened so far, are things changing? Will this embarassment really change peoples’ minds.
When it comes to the ballot box will it be the ‘same old’ or will stay at home voters finally come out to take part in democracy and join people moving to the centre ground of non sectarian politics.
Could this be the final crossing of the Rubicon?, this time to peace, that so many want or will people move back to their safe and comfortable tribes.
We will know the answers to these questions if the Assembly collapses. I can only hope that people acrosss NI are prepared to get their feet wet and do something new and different together.
People are bored; sadly this does not, and will not, translate into them not voting along sectarian lines at the ballot box.
Why; because they fear that if they do not, that the “other side” will take over. A question of who is going to jump into the middle ground first, and as events have shown, that will not be the DUP or Sinn Fein.
Having said that, there have been elections here where 30-40% of the electorate have stayed at home; presumably partly driven by inertia, and partly driven by a belief that nothing is going to change anyway.
The only hope is for a youth driven velvet-style revolution, or, perhaps Nolan himself, could stir up the middle ground by forming his own party – he could probably get about 10% of the vote.
“goading them on” is what Nolan does. He gets people worked up and then goes back and relaxes in his comfortable pad. The show should be pulled.
Brian
yeah i know its the old question; does art imitate life or life imitate art.
but perhaps the thunderous silence of the MSN reflects the mood on the ground, which is somewhere between indifference and a disenchanted hostility towards the actual outworkings of devolved government. the brave 108 on the hill have delivered nothing of any substance to endear themselves to the electorate.
and finally, lets float a trial balloon with all elegance of the hindenburg.
on the subject of any possible forthcoming assembly elections, why not a ‘none of the above option’? lifeboats for the lemmings?
see links below
http://www.power2010.org.uk/votes/entry/a-none-of-the-above-option-on-ballot-papers/
http://www.annesenges.com/opEd/voting.htm
not being familiar with UK libel and slander law, i respectfully withhold my opinion of the peoples advocate
Let the DUP and Sinn Fein publish their position papers on Friday as well. Lets all see where the sticking points are.
The problem is that it will never happen on its own.
After the fall of Trimble the NIO abandoned the Middle Ground for political expediency. Properly managed as part of a planned move toward mroe inclusive politics, that might even have worked.
But it wasnt managed. There was no plan and at St Andrew’s a desperate Blair agreed to a sectarian political carve up. Zero sum politics was built into the very fabric of Stormont itself. SF and the DUP shamefully also never sought to build any consensus or make any moves towards community reconciliation. They simply played off the 2 extremes jockeying for political advantage. And in NIs fractured politics that doesn’t mean competing with each other. Oh no – each party’s main aim was to destroy its own factional opposition – the UUP and SDLP.
So we have had 3 years of cat fights, sham battles, dogma, paralysis and inertia while our absentee landlord smiled beneficently from the dining room of his club in London.
I genuinely wish them well in now sorting out this mess. It is doable but they need to want to do it and in my assessment they don’t and the political structures make it advantageous for them not too.
So I fear it will be for the incoming Tory administration to sort out Blair and Brown’s ‘legacy’ for Ulster.,,,, just as they will have to sort out the legacy nationally in the economy, national debt, schools, defence, counter-terrorism etc, etc.
Cynic2
Blair made sure Trimble fell, it was no accident he wanted the DUP in the ring with SF.
Now of course his stupidity is there for all to see; there is no middle ground between the DUP and SF they don’t negotiate they shout at each other and both now believe in ‘not an inch’.
There will be NO progress while they remain as the two largest parties.
Oh hardly a revolt…..just the usual losers with too mch time on their hands and they phone radio shows. Those people are worse than bloggers. The silent majority should shut up.
Am reminded of the late great Alex Glasgow.
“I would have done it yesterday if I hadnt had a cold
But since Ive put this pint away Im feeling rather bold
And as soon as this pub closes……as soon as this pub closes
As soon as this pub closes the Revolution starts”
The reason Talk Radio is so called is cos its all TALK.