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State of the Union
Aug. 11th, 2014 11:34 pmIn a little over five weeks' time, Scotland will vote on whether or not to leave the UK. Opinions from those I talk to vary between those (like me) who hope the Scots vote to remain part of the Union, those who feel envious of the opportunity theys have, and (less kindly) those who wish they'd just hurry up and bugger off already.
I watched the first televised leaders debate last week (no thanks to STV!). It didn't really help. Darling had some good points but failed to elaborate or hammer them home. Salmond had the stronger opening and closing statements, but in-between he was simply awful. He repeatedly equated the UK with England in an attempt to turn the whole thing into a nationalistic pissing contest. Then he wasted the entire cross-examination round on personal attacks and trivialities about who said what and when. Apparently Scotland should vote for the biggest constitutional shake-up in 300 years because Alistair Darling was a bad chancellor six years ago (he wasn't) and one of his colleagues once made a crap joke about taxes from outer space. Seriously?
So if the debate didn't help, what is it all about?
( Warning: long rambling post! )
Whichever way people in Scotland vote on 18 September, I wish them and the rest of us the very best of luck. There'll still be a lot of work to do in either outcome. Oh, and Rule Britannia, may Britain (whatever form it takes) be GREAT, etc! ;o)
I watched the first televised leaders debate last week (no thanks to STV!). It didn't really help. Darling had some good points but failed to elaborate or hammer them home. Salmond had the stronger opening and closing statements, but in-between he was simply awful. He repeatedly equated the UK with England in an attempt to turn the whole thing into a nationalistic pissing contest. Then he wasted the entire cross-examination round on personal attacks and trivialities about who said what and when. Apparently Scotland should vote for the biggest constitutional shake-up in 300 years because Alistair Darling was a bad chancellor six years ago (he wasn't) and one of his colleagues once made a crap joke about taxes from outer space. Seriously?
So if the debate didn't help, what is it all about?
( Warning: long rambling post! )
Whichever way people in Scotland vote on 18 September, I wish them and the rest of us the very best of luck. There'll still be a lot of work to do in either outcome. Oh, and Rule Britannia, may Britain (whatever form it takes) be GREAT, etc! ;o)
