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MAC827

Listed below are comments made by MAC827 between Monday, 28th July 2008 and Thursday, 28th August 2008.

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Tavish Scott takes to the leadership stage 2:50pm on 28 Aug 2008 Brigadierjohn (too many posts to individually mention):

What a curious character you are …. I see numerous posts about unionism, but they always come down to the same tired old rhetoric:- to all Scottish people: you’ll never make it on your own, it’s really scary out there, and anyway, you’ll be out of pocket and will never recover, so stick with GB Plc and we’ll keep you safe.

It’s just a variation on the same old story churned out year after year by NuLab et al. - don’t vote SNP, they don’t know how to govern, they’ve no experience, we’ve got all the know-how, if you vote them in, it’ll all go pear-shaped and you’ll be in trouble ……. Well, a year on and no-one, not even die-hard labour voters are believing that one any more

And so, the message has now turned to the next level: you cannot prove you can make it on your own (as if any country that has declared independence ever could), so shut up and do as we tell you to like good little boys and girls.

The real question I have for you is what proof do you have that the Scots cannot stand on their own.

The old chestnut that you don’t need to make argument for the status quo is fatuous at best, when you really look at it, the stupidity is obvious as it goes along the lines of ‘I cannot really defend keeping the Scots under a system that gives them only a minority say in the management of their own country so I’ll just say I don’t need to defend it’. The reality is that is you cannot defend the status quo, then that is an argument for change in its own right.

BTW, love the nom-de-plume, BRIGADIERjohn, is it a subtle way to tell us you’re in charge and we should follow your orders or just pretentious?
Sympathy and sensitivity 2:22pm on 15 Aug 2008 Re #106

"If the tabloids has a hard hitting anti labour pro SNP campaign would we see this thread"

Well I suspect this is something we are not going to find out about in the near future ..... is it !

The point here is not whether some rag has political bias, of course they do, it is whether this is acceptable in a publically funded media organisation (the BBC) to have those in charge shape the message according to their political beliefs.

We have no option but to pay for the BBC, so it's not a simple as saying that we should just ignore it.
Friday's Quote of the Day 1:33pm on 15 Aug 2008 #2 SheffTim

It's not that I object to anyone having a negative opinion about a Scottish poet, but I do object to the track record Paxman has for making negative comments about Scotland and ther Scots.

The man has form !!

It's not a single comment or opinion that's the problem it's the totality of what he has said over a prolonged period.

His prejudice is there for all to see.
Friday's Quote of the Day 12:28pm on 15 Aug 2008 Ah Paxman, the Xenophic little Englander strikes again.

When are people going to realise that people who regularly snipe at other nationalities as he does with the Scots are simply showing their ignorance.

What beggars belief is that the BBC continue to pay the little racist and thereby give his rants credence
Sympathy and sensitivity 10:17am on 15 Aug 2008 #85 sorry Bighullabaloo, I didn't mean to have a go at all journalists, just the 'rose tinted glasses' type.

As I mentioned, there are the good, the bad and the ugly in all professions, so I certainly accept that there are some good journalists (current and ex)
Sympathy and sensitivity 09:29am on 15 Aug 2008 Wow, ex-journalists defend the ethical standard of journalists, shock, horror ... it's the story of the year .... no wait ...... who are we supposed to be rubbishing now?

What a load of nonsense.

If the journalists are all so high-minded and ensuring there is no bias, then how do the newspapers which have a clear bias produce these stories. Are we to believe that Rupert Murdoch spends his afternoon re-writing all the articles in his papers to ensure the correct level of bias ?

Journalists are like any other profession, there are the good, the bad and the ugly and the idea that they are all one step away from sainthood is nonsense.

I particularly enjoy the idea that journalists are all married to the voluntary codes of conduct. My view is that voluntary codes are not worth the paper they are written on (for any group or organisation). They are designed to appease regulators while still leaving you free to do whatever you want.

As for this particular blog, it seems little more than a self-obsessed rant by Brian Taylor bemoaning the fact he had a less than perfect stay in a hospital. Maybe he would like to propose that we lock up people who offend his senses or have any mental illnesses so that he does not have to encounter them.

The real point here is not whether some rag has bias, of course they do and the owner's view is always going to be reflected in the reporting, but rather whether there is bias in the BBC which we supposedly own, and which should not reflect the bias of the individuals who run it. If the BBC cannot keep a neutral stance, and ensure the journalists, commentators, editors etc. do not use it for personal point scoring or political bias, then they should be replaced by people who can.

As for the NHS:

Should Nicola Sturgeon be accountable for someone being offended by an indivdiual incident in a hospital? of course not, it's rediculous to expect her to manage individual wards

Should the SNP administration be help accountable for the overall level of care, standards of cleanliness, staffing levels etc. of the hospitals? of course they should, they have been in power long enough to make changes, and pointing at previous administrations and blaming them for leaving 'a terrible legacy' is no excuse at all
On the tour bus 1:34pm on 29 Jul 2008 "For the avoidance of doubt, I didn't cover that political gig"

Are you sure Brian?, memory can be a tricky thing when you get older

:-)
Not technical, but fundamental 12:06pm on 29 Jul 2008 #62

I have to say that I noticed the change in Lorraine Davidson's description between her comments on Newsnight - very odd, and not something I've seen before.

I'd like to hear the BBC's reasoning behind it.
Not technical, but fundamental 4:47pm on 28 Jul 2008 Brian, it's a good analysis.

I believe that the parties in Scotland who take their orders directly from the UK parties (NuLab, Tory etc.) do themselves and the Scottish public no service. They must realise that not all people who vote SNP do so because of their policies, but rather that they do so because they believe that the SNP is the only credible party that does not have to answer to an English-based party and get approval for their policies and decisions from Westminster.

Personally, I would like to see strong Scottish-based parties from all parts of the political spectrum. I think this would help us to have a real choice in Scotland and also that we could chose parties based upon their policies rather than on whether they represent Scotland's best interest instead of only that of the greater UK interest which will always be English-focused simple because of the proportion of voters in the UK regions.

I firmly believe that all parties would have far more credibility and get a true share of the Scottish vote based upon their policies if they would break ties to the Westminster parties and put Scotland's interests first.

I would welcome a true Scottish Labour, Conservative, Lib/Dem, Green etc. party as without it, the SNP will become ever more powerful and will potentially be unchallenged (as they almost are already), and this is not a good thing for Scotland.

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