Contrasting articles on Catalunya and Euskadi
Thanks to Col·lectiu Emma, I've just read an interesting article by Paddy Woodworth, comparing what is happening in Catalunya with what is happening in Euskadi, the Basque Country, a place with which he seems to be well acquainted.
Madrid's nightmare
It's worth reading alongside a contrasting article that appeared just over a week ago in Spiegel Online.
Zero Tolerance in the Fight against ETA
One of the great unanswerable questions of the last century is whether a country like Ireland would ever have won its independence from the United Kingdom if it had not fought a war for it; or whether the UK would ever have relinquished its strategic interest in the north if people hadn't been prepared to fight for it. We in Wales and Scotland can only consider ourselves fortunate that we can be independent whenever we vote for it.
But once a fight for independence has become violent—or indeed the fight to prevent it, for in any armed conflict both sides use violence—it requires no little effort and commitment to then fight by peaceful and democratic means.
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To my mind, Der Spiegel's article reads too much like a vanity piece for Patxi Lopez. As I read the situation in Euskadi, the Basques will undoubtedly vote for independence whenever Spain allows them to do so ... that's why Spain refuses to let them exercise that choice. They have been able to portray far too many Basque leaders calling for independence as terrorist sympathizers, imprisoning them and banning their parties.
But Catalunya, like Wales and Scotland, has no real history of violence in the fight for independence, so the issue is not clouded in the same was as it has been in Ireland and Euskadi. If Catalunya can gain its independence by peaceful means (the onus being on the Spanish, because they're the ones who might use military force to prevent it) it will then be hard for them not to let Euskadi do the same.
And if Scotland wins its independence, it might in turn be the catalyst that triggers Irish reunification. For the unionist community has far stronger cultural and social links with Scotland than with the RUK. And their loyalty to the crown will be severely tested when a queen they respect and can look up to passes away to be replaced by a son who cannot be looked up to.
Gwynfor
To celebrate what would be Gwynfor Evans' birthday, here is a recording of him speaking immediately after he was elected in the Carmarthen by election in July 1966. This was the first time Plaid Cymru had won a seat at Westminster.
There are versions in English and Welsh.
Stirring stuff. A reminder of how just how far behind as a nation we were before, and an inspiration to keep going until we take our own place as an independent nation in the UN and Europe ... a responsible member of the great community of nations in the world.
Thanks to Hedd Gwynfor for putting together the videos.
Guffington Pist exposes himself
Several months ago Huw Lewis took exception to an article on the Cambria Politico site in which he was called Screwloose, and his staff wrote emails threatening the website with legal action. I picked up on that story in this post on 19 November and myself encountered a foul-mouthed temper tantrum from a person who identified himself as "Guffington Pist". This is what he wrote:
I must admit that I'm not such a great fan of the style of some posts that appear on the Syniadau blog, but in comparison to many blogs I have read it usually contains nothing of any interest to anybody. There are many blogs that I would take exception to, but this is certainly one of the worst.
At present, the blog has decided to throw its way behind the unproven and offensive crap about Huw Lewis on the Cambria Politico bog (correct). The crux of this support is:
Leaving the entirely simpering and pandering tone to one side, Syniadau is one of those also-ran blogs that is totally blinded by the belief that Labour are nothing but a bunch of insidious fascists all too ready to remove the few powers that Wales has, and probably chuck those uppity bastards into concentration camps into the bargain.
Syniadau is in no position to know what the original post said, but hey, why not comment ignorantly upon its supposed comment, without stopping for one moment to check a single damn fact and then return to the mirror to admire its own cleverness in quoting from the Lewis team letter? Bet those fascists never saw that coming.
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I find this a very sad development. Politicians, by virtue of putting themselves in the public eye, are obvious targets to be lampooned for what they say and think, and that obviously includes labelling (and libelling) them mad, no matter whether it's true or not, and whether it stigmatises those with mental health issues. Next week - a round-up of Chubby Brown's best jokes.
In fact I would go so far as to say that the media has a moral duty to report lies - instead they perpetuate them every day ... about Labour. Thanks to ill-informed bedroom wank monkeys like Syniadau, that established part of our political tradition for centuries has returned.
Wales needs lively political debate. Lampooning our politicians has just as important a part to play in that as more serious stories, articles ... and even what we post on blogs. Tomorrow - why have they let women and blacks in the Assembly? A humourous sideways look.
I thought it was one of the better examples of the depths to which Labour Party activists will stoop—or at least evidence of what passes for humour in the circle that produced Annoyingly Dour—and of course left it on Syniadau for all to see. But I kept the details of the IP address from which it had been sent. Our friend has made a few other visits from the same address, but today it became more apparent who was responsible.
As regular readers will know, Adam Higgitt and I enjoy a healthy rivalry ... well I enjoy it, though I will leave it to others to decide which of us gets the better of the other in our exchanges. I left a comment today on the WalesHome blog, prompted by what Daran Hill had said in this post about those opposed to constitutional progress being prepared to:
... peddle any lie they can to scare people into resisting change.
John Tyler—a member of True Wales and one of their most active participants on the web—took exception to this, saying:
Mr Hill, your expression “Firstly, because those opposed to constitutional progress will peddle any lie they can to scare people into resisting change” is disingenuous at the very least.
I was appalled when I read the expression … “peddle any lie”, in three very small words you tell your readers that any opposition to your published position, the “Yes” vote, is unworthy of debate, it has no value, therefore any opposing view is a lie. This is patently untrue.
Actually I agree. Daran had made too sweeping a generalization. But I thought it would be a timely moment to remind people of two of the lies John Tyler has himself peddled. However, as people who've left comments on WalesHome will know, comments are moderated before they appear. The links to both of the examples I gave were visited by "Guffington Pist" immediately before my comment appeared. This means that "Guffington Pist" must be one of the moderators at WalesHome.
This was followed only minutes later by a comment by Adam Higgitt. In it he described what I had said as "unnecessary and unedifying" and "blowing raspberries". A rather misdirected attack, since Daran Hill been the one to talk about peddling any lie, and I was (though with some pleasure, I admit) providing two pieces of evidence to back up that claim in so far as it related to someone who was actively responsible for peddling such lies. But isn't it remarkable how duplicitous some people will be when they invent names like "Guffington Pist" in order to engage in foul-mouthed abuse, but present a supposedly more reasonable face when they post under their usual identity?
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