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Monday 31 October 2011

Playing the man and not the ball – Brian Monteith in the Scotsman

I had something to say about Brian Monteith and ThinkScotland back in July Brian Monteith - ThinkScotland July 2011 and here we are again today...

Calling something a think tank is intended to give it an air of responsibility, conjuring up images of learned, objective academics, highly qualified in their fields, detached and disinterested, considering great problems, offering their pearls of wisdom to the people.

There are probably a few think tanks internationally that more or less conform to that ideal, but many are front organisations for shadowy interests, such as the kind of things American neocons sponsor quietly. The religious right is fond of them too, and these types of think tanks offer lucrative lecture tours and sponsorships for academics and experts who display the correct political orientation, or who are happy to faithfully reflect a line, and compromise their academic integrity for the goodies they receive.


Some of the even manage to fool the charity commissioners and are set up as non-profit organisations – non-profit until you consider the substantial gain to individuals involved in them in fees, lecture tours, expenses, global travel, etc. Indeed we have a recent egregious example that brought down a cabinet minister in the UK.


Think Scotland, however, is not one of the above types, and as my July blog – linked above – shows, there is nothing secretive about them, in who their founder and funder is, and what their politics are – it’s all up there for inspection if you take the trouble to visit their website - ThinkScotland - about us

What they most certainly are not is objective about Scotland, Scottish politics or the Union. And as far as the elected Government of Scotland are concerned, well, this can be judged from today’s effusion from Brian Monteith in the Scotsman – where else – entitled

 Sinister centralism at home in SNP. Monteith's Scotsman article 31 October 2011

In his second column, para 4, Brian Monteith makes the following complaint, after asserting that anyone that is not one of us (i.e.) the SNP) … “will be ridiculed, pilloried or marginalised”.

“ … cybernat bloggers consistently play the man and not the ball when posting comments on Scotsman.com”

He goes on to say “Sadly this style on intimidation is something that one has come to expect from the SNP.”

Of course Brian does not ridicule, pillory, or play the man, not the ball. (He can hardly marginalise the Government of Scotland, elected by a landslide majority.) The full text is linked above, so you can read it all for yourselves. But here is a flavour of Brian heroically resisting the tendency to ridicule, pillory and play the man – and woman – not the ball …

EXCERPTS

“There is a repugnant, sinister centralism in the SNP government’s behaviour …”

“All politicians suffer from hubris and Alex Salmond reveals it with alarming regularity, but what appears to be a bullying nature and a fear of losing control are now coming to the fore.”

“If this type of spinning and subterfuge continues, last week’s apology may not be the last Alex Salmond has to make.”

“Sadly, this style of intimidation is something one has come to expect from the SNP; it betrays an ugly side to nationalism that is as abusively sectarian as anything said at an Old Firm match – “

“Even the nice Mr Swinney has shown bullying tendencies that cannot be dismissed as mere political arm-twisting …”

“Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon will reintroduce her policy of minimum pricing of alcohol despite the evidence debunking the claim that price is the main factor leading to alcohol abuse. Her bullying of smokers will continue unabated …”

“In education, we can see an impatient if not arrogant Michael Russell dropping the arms-length principle; threatening the independent appointment of university principals and condoning the “merger by fax” of Dundee and Abertay universities …”

Russell’s central diktat …”

“Whichever way we look, Scotland under the SNP is becoming centralised, censored or bullied. Is it any wonder so many question privately what independence would be like under an imperious Premier Salmond?”

COMMENT

The above is the language of a right-wing think tank, representative of nobody but the individual who funds it and the handful of people who contribute to its ‘thoughts’. In it, I hear the authentic echoes of Fox News and Ross Limbaugh. It uses highly coloured terms, expresses contempt for individual politicians by the use of these terms, and attempts to engender an air of conspiracy and paranoia around the sober business of government, in a highly challenging time for the Scottish economy and the Scottish people, when the global economy is extremely fragile.

If this kind of journalism is what ThinkScotland produces – and what the Scotsman thinks deserves a platform - I think Scotland can do without its thoughts, and the Scotsman has to reflect on its editorial judgement. Of course, Brian Monteith can dismiss me as a cybernat blogger, part of the great SNP conspiracy and sinister centralism.

And of course he can also say that I am playing the man, not the ball.

Well, this man has no ball, so what’s left for me – or anyone – to play?

11 comments:

  1. In his venomous attack he aimed at the 4 top SNP members of the executive in the most derogatory context.

    The Brit nats have been trying (in vain I might add but they still try) to say the referendum is some sort of personal ambition of Alec Salmond - it's his own personal agenda. They past the ridiculing stage, now they're about to enter the attack stage. The referendum will be the dirtiest fought campaign by the British establishment ever on these islands but we need to keep it clean and offer a positive agenda.

    Let them wallow in their own miasma.

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  2. His pointing to the Scotsman for Cyber Nat nastiness is rather a mistake since it also causes one to look at the Unionists there. The utter bile and venom of the Unionist posters there is such that if one makes the mistake of reading them a good scrub is required after. They give a new definition to nastiness.

    Of course, the bitterness of people like Brian Monteith is simply a loss of control. They can't shut the Cyber Nats up and control dissemination of information and opinions any more. They're left raging.

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  3. I stopped posting copmments on the Scotsman site some years ago. Jeanne, because of their failure to properly premoderate or postmoderate comments. I complained formally without any result.

    There can only be one explanation for the continued toleration of this - it suits the Scotsman to let it continue.

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  4. I myself rarely post on the Scotsman and I don't get into discussion with the 4 or 5 Brit nats there that seem to live for that comments section.

    In any case there are always more pro-independence people there by a large amount than anti-independence.

    Curiously, I came across a Lib Dem there - they are the rarest posters on the net, almost non-existant.

    The real reason the Labour party gets hot under the collar about so-called 'cybernats' is that they are drowned very quickly in the pro-independence posters. Swamped and overloaded by pro-independence supporters.

    It is curious how the same couple of Brit nats are mostly the very first to post on any new thread. Smacks of a peculiar desperation.

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  5. The Rennie negative.

    Ever since May every unionist has been running around in circles resulting in the above as they have nothing left that is positive about the union.

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  6. Hi Peter,

    If Brian is really interested in identifying political ogres, surely he need look no further than to his own party. I nominate Michael Forsyth who had the absolute effrontery (backed-up ultimately by the police and army) to impose his political diktat on Scotland for many years, without any Scottish political mandate whatsoever. Abetted by his boss, Margaret Thatcher, who perverted the whole of British society while securing less than 40% of the vote.

    Alex achieved well over 40% of the vote in Scotland and governs with the consent of the people for all of the people. What do you have to say about that Brian, other than bile?

    But let's remain positive. We are on the brink of achieving Independence for Scotland, from which time onwards, even the possibility of such nightmares as people the likes of Michael and friends advancing from beyond the margins into power should be a thing of the past.

    Regards,

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  7. 52
    Exiled Leither,
    07/10/2011 01:27:51
    The squirming by SNP officials shows that this order came from the Big Fish himself.
    On one hand I dont think we should be bowing to the grand whims of a meglomaniac such as Salmond. But, on the other hand it will provide a much easier target for snipers while he surveys his empire. So swings and roundabouts?

    71
    Exiled Leither,
    07/10/2011 07:35:25 Clearly I am not advocating anything but as the tyranical leader of a cult and political order, security should be top of his priorities.

    72
    Grahamski,
    Falkirk 07/10/2011 07:38:28 Brilliant.The dear leader is moving into Castle Grayskull.Suits you, sir..

    108
    Navvy,
    07/10/2011 08:58:18 Meanwhile when Mr.Chubby starts walking to and from Holy-rood and climbs those steps then perhaps he will become a fit First Minister

    146
    Robert the Booze,
    07/10/2011 09:51:45 An obese granny loving egomaniac trying ti get himself a glossy new residence is not politics.


    150
    Grahamski,
    Falkirk 07/10/2011 09:53:48 After the dear leader's ludicrous thought-crime legislation is forced through Holyrood there will be no football ground in the country where the tubby wee mountebank will be made welcome...


    Some comments I mention in my blog from recent Scotsman activity. One of them even fantasising about the First Minister been taken out with sniper fire. I forwarded these comments to Lothian and Borders police as recent court cases on hate crime have been for less. however it seems if you are having a go at the SNP anything is allowed. Like the sadness and bitterness of Iain Grays latest bizarre speech in Glasgow, there failure to recognise that unionist comments are as bad if not even worse than what we see coming from Cybernats, tells us all we need to know. Monteith is just putting forward what seems to be the latest attack tactics from a long list of failed negative tripe from these people. Their meetings as they discuss their online strategies must be hilarious. What ever happened to Mad Dog Maddox?

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  8. Thanks, Key bored warrior.

    I've been tempted to quote this kind of stuff myself but resisted because I find it contemptible, whatever the source..

    Of course, when Gray, Monteith and their ilk talk of cybernats, their real target is responsible bloggers, because they can't stand the antidote they provide to the unionist media's flow of misinformation.

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  9. Good article Peter. And what happened as soon as you published it? Yesterday's men AKA the Scottish Liberals post a so called cartoon (one of a number)about Salmond in Qatar, which had it been done by the SNP would have been headlines across the nation! Instead it barely gets a mention. And will it be headlined in Newsnicht? I won't hold my breath!This weeks FMQ's will be interesting!

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  10. Thanks, fourfolksake

    Had my say on Twitter -

    moridura Peter Curran
    Willie Rennie was a big mistake for the LibDems. But there's hope ... scottish-liberal.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-thi…

    moridura Peter Curran
    The inspiration for the Rennie cartoon? John McTernan" ".... Scotland like Qatar? Is it homophobic laws, sharia law or no elections?"

    ReplyDelete