Nick Griffin on Question Time

Friday lunch time……..I have just watched Nick Griffin MEP and Leader of the BNP on BBC News. He wants a replay!

Last night he made a complete idiot of himself on Question Time. He looked confident enough as he was escorted into the BBC Building by his strange looking henchmen and even one henchwoman. Actually she might be his wife. I daresay he thought that the omens were good. In his own imagination he had got past a howling mob of left wing protestors. After all he had been thanking “Auntie BBC ” for the opportunity to appear on QT…….like a real politician. And today he complains (without irony…..he has Ku Klux Klan friends after all) that the Audience was a “lynch mob”

Rather like the other repulsive Right Wing fanatic…..Margaret Thatcher…politicians can survive anything except being ridiculed. When Thatchers “Spittin Image” persona got confused with her real insanity……she was kicked out. So last night Griffin was like the star in a musical about….oh Hitler.  

“Springtime for Griffin and BNP…….Fascists go into your dance”

Whether this is “Britain at its best”. Political representatives of  Britain (Straw, Huhne Wazri) combining together to speak out about Evil……or as Griffin and his apologists would have it “the political elite, including Dimblebore and some loony lefty (Bonnie Greer Asst Director of British Museum) combining to bully a new comer on the political stage.

The battleground was not favourable to Griffin. Arguably Wood Lane, London is a different dynamic to Oldham, Lancashire…..where the White and Muslim working classes are seemingly at “cultural war”. Ironically RACE is actually Griffins weakest point.

The strong suit with the British National Party SHOULD BE the detachment of the Political Elite/Media (“The Westminster Village” ) from the Real World. The Bankers Bail Out, EU & Sovreignty, Migration, the Postal Strike (Labour has let down its core support …again!!!), the ”War” (and as our neighbours in Britain approach their Veterans Day……once more “our boys” get their annual two weeks in the November sun before returning to be expendible in Helmond Province). All of this would have been good ground for Griffin against ALL of his opponents.

Having courted Notoriety and Respectability all week, the story WAS the BNP itself. Frankly Griffin was made to look exactl what he is ……a man totally out of his depth. Perhaps good councillor material but leader of a major political party? Hardly. Nigel Farage of UKIP might also appear out of his depth and appear amateurish but Farage is actually quite charming and self-deprecating. Griffin is charmless and without any redeeming features. Absurdly pompous and full of his own self-importance. Frankly more Mussolini than Hitler.

In the Twilight World of Wed Sites, Internet Message Boards and the Blogosphere, people like Griffin…..and me thrive. But thats our limit. Bloggers with ambition are delusional. I have been around enough politicians in my previos employment of 30 plus years to know my limits. Which is why I only engage with people of the same or lesser political nous than myself.

Griffin taps into a residue of outdated and racist views that are actually quite common in Britain. He is “British” which in some bizarre way he finds a recomendation of Decency. To him Empire was a good thing and the downside of WW2 was its loss. Cue anti-American crap. To him there is something special about being European. That beyond the Balkans and Urals is something alien except probably his kith and kin in Australia, New Zealand and of course Seth Effrikka. He is absurdly a “Christian” and like all nutters he can only define his Christianity in terms of antipathy towards other Faiths. Naturally Islam is the new Judaism…..to the Religious Bigot. And Islamophobia is the New Black to the fashionable Racist.

These views are not unique. Crude nonsense spouted on the Clapham Omnibus, the Red Lion and courtesy of Word Press a lot of semi coherent Blogs. Some can do this nonsense with a certain grace. Griffin cannot.

I Have The Perfect Face For Radio….Tomorrow

I am being interviewed on Community Radio tomorrow.

Well……is it really an interview or just a chance to promote some meetings arranged for next week. Seems like I will be doing this reguarly. The Radio Station probably has a catchment audience of FIVE people. Maybe in a month I will be moving up to Hospital Radio.

Busy Day

Spent most of the day cataloguing some of the exhibits in the Museum. Most were photographs. The 1970s was certainly the decade that Taste forgot. Determining what exactly goes “on show” and what goes into “storage” and what is quietly “forgotten about” is difficult. Well…………..actually it is NOT difficult at all. It is just that people get disappointed if we say “well we have seen hundreds of those” and yet sometimes we wade thru a lot of dross before coming across something really meaningful. We tend to use the “we have so little space” as an excuse. Yet we are determined to hold onto everything we can…….rather like schoolkids exchanging bubblegum cards……an item make a good “swap”.

I also think that it is important that we are generating interest.

On the “downside” a Diorama which was supposed to arrive and be set up this weekend will not now get to us for at least a month.

Seven Comments On The Chingford Skinhead

Unfortunately I cannot publish any of the comments…..even one that makes a comparatively good point ….because of the shocking inability of those making comments to refrain from personal abuse. Many would say…..Its a shocking indictment on the Education System. Personally I blame their parents.

Three Comments On The Chingford Skinhead

Hmmm. Three comments on the latest post. The general tone was support for the old rascal amd two of them were abusive. So obviously they did not get approved.

The curious conception of Tebbitt and Patrick Mercer (who gained an appearance in my Blog thanks to his appearance on TV last week) who has also disapproved of Patrick Magees visit…..that the “murderers” of their fellow CONSERVATIVE friends are different from the “murderers of other folks in “Norn Iron” (allegedly an integral part of the UK”) speaks volumes for their hypocrisy.

No doubt Tebbitt feels that the RELEASE of Terrorists is just WRONG. He would say that wouldnt he? His Right Wing credentials are impeccable.

By the way the third comment which I did not approve was about Mercer but as it made a discourteous comment on my own upbringing as a polite person, I could not approve it.

Interestingly no-one so far has made a comment about the notorious anti-Catholic Ampleforth educated Nairac.

Norman Tebbitt (The Chingford Skinhead)

I suspect that I am a very polite and pleasant person for one very good reason. It is the way I was brought up. I know no other way….I suspect that Norman Tebbitt is a very rude and unpleasant person for one very good reason. It is the way he was brought up. He knows no other way.

I do not expect him to like Patrick Magee, the man who planted the bomb which crippled Tebbits wife. It would be easy to sympathise with Tebbitt if he was not so obviously unpleasant. Patrick Magee is of course now a PhD and occasionally a lecturer and tutor at my old University. I always found him to be a very shy and retiring individual.

Likewise Patrick Mercer MP …a former Counter Terrorist Officer in FRU…gets all prissy about Parick Magees visit to meet the daughter of a man whom he killed. But was it not FRU who worked with the pro Union anti-Catholic UDA and Brian Nelson in particular to kill republicans and innocent Catholics alike.

Robert Nairac “George Cross holder” was also an Army countr-intelligence officer who worked with Robin the Jackal Jackson, Harry Boyle and Bobby McConnell of the UVF and arranged for them to bomb Dublin and Monaghan. Nairac was also involved in the Miami Showband killings and the Assassination of John Francis Green a senior officer of the Irish Republican Army. Nairac, a Catholic……an ENGLISH Catholic of course (educated at Ampleforth) shoved a pair of rosary beads into Greens mouth after he was killed and took polaroid photos which went on display in the barracks in Armagh City.

Nairac was himself killed shortly afterwards. His body has not as yet been discovered but he was awarded the George Cross. I have had the privelege of seeing some items relating to Nairac in the Guards Museum in London (they have an excellent Toy Soldier shop) and have had the privelege as a fellow Catholic of adding some words of my own in the Guards Museum Visitor Book.

Yet Mercer…….and Tebbitt miss the point. It is seemingly ok for Mercer and Tebbitt to get precious about all this. But consider other politicians Willie McCrea (DUP) and Jeffrey Donaldson (former UUP and now DUP) both MPs at Westminster and both bereaved by the Irish Republican Army who killed members of their family (serving soldiers). Thanks to the Good Friday Agrrement 1998 the killers such as Patrick Magee were released from jail and indeed some ex-prisoners such as Paul Butler and Martina Anderson are Members of the Stormont Assembly for Sinn Féin-IRA.

Ironically Ms Anderson was a member of the same Active Service Unit as Patrick Magee. And she is now one of the SF-IRA representatives on the Board that supervises the (new) Police Service of “Northern Ireland”

I Detest “Europe”

I am Irish. Call me unambitious but I have no desire to be anything other than Irish.

Nobody (including people I am proud to call Friends) fought and died so that I could call myself a European.

Another Republican Museum

"C" Company, Second Batallion, Belfast Brigade

There are at least three “Republican” Museums in “Northern Ireland”. As one might expect there is one in West Belfast and Derry. A private individual has a third museum. I have visited all three. They are superb. It is very important that the role that the Irish Republican Army played in the last forty years is fully acknowledged. The paradox is that the knowledge to compile a proper “History” is dangerous knowledge…the kinda knowledge that people would deny years ago.

For example….it was illegal to be a member of the Irish Republican Army……..therefore people denied it routinely. Knowledge of members, deployments and engagements was not talked about. The only “officially” recognised members are deceased. A recent ceremony in West Belfast bestowed certificates to the Volunteers of the Belfast Brigades three batallions, including the Auxillaries. A private ceremony acknowledged the Intelligence Officers….often professional men (accountants and solicitors),civil servants, police, hospital staff etc who provided information to the Staff.

It is I think vital that the museums and of course they all have de-activated weaponry licenced by the new PSNI and vast resources become part of the local “scene”. although perfectly legal, there is a slightly clandestine aura about them. Handling a Webley revolver and feeling the weight and comparing it to the smooth and lightweight Lugar is a new experience for a younger generation. Indeed handling a RPG Rocket Launcher was a new experience for me.

Yet it is good to compare notes and hear veterans talk of the efficiency of the AK47 over the American M1 Carbine. As a “lightweight” individual I find that the Armalite is much more comfortable. Yet the veterans talk about the logistics which would perhaps have eluded me. It was a nightmare apparently to get ammunition for the Armalite or M1 but AK47 ammo was more readily available. Apparently “Noraid” the Irish-American Fund raising Group and all round nuisance did not like their money spent on Commie weapons.

Yet the museums have changed the mood music. Being “Republican” in the mid 1960s when I was a teen was a romantic throw back to an age long gone. It was possible to visit friends in say the Clonard area of West Belfast and find that perhaps they had some Republican regalia on the wall…..and certainly on reflection some older men with a whiff of cordite had an aura of being “dangerous to know”. Republicanism in West Belfast was a peculiar sect…..a minority interest.

In comparative terms of the 1970s and after……..Republicanism was a mass movement. Many young Catholics joined in the period 1969 to 1971…….it was I think a Rite of Passage for many. Of course some were killed, many lost years of their lives and many of the 1969-1971 Vintage …..faded into the background as the Troubles got worse. It was NOT a game. Many were weeded out as the Irish Republican Army went more “underground” in the cell structure of the late 1970s.

Yet the Men (and Women) involved are not going to be forgotten. All eighteen companies of the Belfast Brigade are now represented in murals in their local area. These are monuments which are now part of the landscape. And of course similar monuments are a feature of the Landscape thru North East Ireland.

The President Visits Belfast

My #2 son and I had to act as “entourage” for my wife at the Aisling Bursaries Award last night. My wife was a guest but my son and I were sitting in the car listening to Manchester United versus Wolfsburg. (2-1 to Manchester United so it was not a completely miserable night).

My wife was quite pleased with herself that on THIS occasion she got to meet President McAleese and I didnt. In terms of score-keeping on the way home, I had to remind her that on aggragate I have met the President of Ireland on five occasions and she has only met on three occasions. She tried to trump me with the fact that she has met President Robinson on two occasions but as I pointed out this was AFTER President Robinson was in office and therefore does NOT beat the solitary occasion that I met President Robinson who was actually in office at the time.

The New Job….Update

I have not blogged much recently. In part I need a sense of CLEAR BLUE WATER between my “Older” Posts and my “New Posts”.

I am now into the second week of my new job. And frankly I am finding 15 hours per week enough. I cannot be specific about the nature of the job or indeed my actual employer except to say that it is described in a “catch all” sense as “Political and Education Officer” for a community group in West Belfast. This SOUNDS good but I have also heard myself described as “The Librarian”.

In part at least, the Groups Library needs an overhaul. It has had a tendency NOT to refuse any book donation. This means the catalogue is a little outdated and much is not relevant. I think SOME (younger people) do think of me as an “outsider” but the older hands accept my West Belfast/Falls Road connexions.

Part of the work (and hopefully the most rewarding) will be finding the right Education courses for adults in the area. This will range from Literacy right thru to University level. Actually the provision of nursery education in West Belfast is brilliant (in English and Gaelic) and this is largely due to ensuring that young mothers in the area get the qualifications and the (financial and moral) backing to set up their own groups. The Catholic Church is heavily involved in this.

My “office” (so to speak) is a corner of the “library” which probably encourages the belief that I am actually a “librarian”.

So I am at home today. The Office closed early because of President McAleeses visit. The “Aisling” Award ceremony is tonight. My wife will be there. And I have the credit card receipt of a new outfit to prove it. The President will be in other parts of Belfast during the day, including visiting some groups heavily engaged in anti-sectarianism.