I didn’t vote on Thursday. I had a three-way choice: Limp Dum, Tory or Labour. That was it. I cannot in all conscience cast a vote for any of these parties, so I abstained. Yes, sure, I could have made the effort to spoil my ballot paper, but took the decision that staying away conveyed even more contempt, so that was my final decision.
If the EU elections go ahead, then I will vote. Carl Benjamin aka Sargon of Akkad is standing for my area and as he is pissing off all the right people, I’ll give him a punt. Why not? It’s not as if all those smears about him are even close to the truth. Having followed his YouTube channel for a while, I’m well aware that he is a centrist liberal – much like myself. He is not “far right”, nor is he racist, sexist or any of the other “ists” that the media are trying to claim. And if you doubt me, the source material is there online for you to look at. The media, consisting of serial liars and libellers have taken quotes out of context, stitched them together and tried to make out that he has said something that he hasn’t; indeed the opposite of his stated position.
If anything, he and Tommy Robinson are canaries in the mine when it comes to free speech and honest reporting because what they have to say is out in the open and we can look at the source material for ourselves, so it makes the lies and smears that much easier to detect. The mainstream media cannot be relied upon to convey accurate, truthful or impartial news. That last bit, partiality, is fine for private press who can openly state their position so that we may make a decision about their reporting, but the BBC, which we pay for, has no business being partisan, but that doesn’t stop it.
David Lammy can call people Nazis on the BBC and get away with it, James Goddard does it and gets arrested. Double standards? Yes, I know, David Lammy is as thick as two short planks and some expectation needs to be made for his lack of intellectual prowess – he is like a school kid who uses slurs because he simply hasn’t the wherewithal to construct a valid, nuanced and intelligent argument of his own. That said, he made a complete arse of himself on the BBC interview and doubled down on it, yet anyone with an ounce of intelligence and understanding of history will recognise his bunk for what it is. No, the ERG are not a bunch of Nazis – unless they have set up gas chambers while my back was turned. And I’m not aware that Jacob Rees-Mogg has taken to strutting about in a Hugo Boss outfit. Why people vote for this thick, racist prick, heaven knows. Maybe they are as dense as he is – or possibly as racist.
So, the drubbing received by the Conservatives and Labour to a lesser extent is being spun by both as some sort of positive. And therein lies the problem with the state of play. We, the electorate, are being systematically ignored. Even when we tell them in no uncertain terms what we think, they shrug it off with platitudes and carry on as before. The system is full of cowardly and ineffectual political lightweights who will not carry out the bidding of the people they are supposed to represent.
Democracy is a flawed system and we are seeing that play out in front of our eyes. It is, however, an alternative to violence. But when the will of the majority is repeatedly denied by a professional political class who think that they know better, then what happens? The English are slow to anger, but anger is here now. Suppressed and polite it may be, but it is there and it is growing. We aren’t like the French; we don’t riot and destroy property, we remain polite and civil – despite the propaganda from the likes of that twat Owen Jones. But how long can that last? How long will the electorate put up with this behaviour from our political class and the lying media who censor and criminalise dissenting voices?
“…How long will the electorate put up with this behaviour?..”
Not much longer, I hope.
Until May 23rd?
I wish I had your optimism.. 🙁
Likewise.
Had a couple of not liblabcon candidates on our ballot paper, I voted for them. All three conservatives got back in but the independent came close.
>We, the electorate, are being systematically ignored.
We’ve been systematically ignored for years, it’s just that now it’s become more obvious.
I’m convinced that if only three people in the entire country voted for Labour/Conservative (not much difference in my opinion) then the winner would gleefully announce that they got 66.6% of the vote and a clear majority and mandate for their policies and the loser would say “We lost by only one vote. We demand a recount and a second vote”.
Of course the real message would be that the electorate wants them but do you think that they will notice or admit that? Answers on the back of a postcard t the usual address …
Comes back to that old idea of “None of the Above”, whereby any seat being won by NotA be vacated for the term. I suspect that once Brits got used to the idea it would become quite a popular choice.
Never happen though. Those who really rule us would never allow it.
“We aren’t like the French; we don’t riot and destroy property”
Certainly we don’t do that sort of thing as a casual summer pastime like the Frogs. but you have a very short memory Longrider. What about the London riots of 2011? or maybe even the Poll Tax riots, and before that, do the names Toxteth and Brixton ring any bells? And that’s just the last 40 years.
There has been far more rioting in our history than the Government is willing to acknowledge, hence the pushing of the “we don’t riot” meme. It’s bollocks, we’ve always been a right stroppy lot.
You could have mentioned Bristol…
With the exception of the poll tax riots, there was a specific demographic involved. It wasn’t the quiet, slow to anger, well behaved Anglo Saxon English (who are now currently angry) predominantly involved and it wasn’t about changing the political landscape. So, no, I haven’t forgotten, but those riots were simply criminal behaviour in response to the police doing their job dealing with criminals not a mass uprising of civil dissent in response to an out of touch political elite.
By not voting, apart from yourself and those who read your blogs, no one is aware of your contempt for the main political parties. By spoiling your ballot paper, whether with “none of the above”, or “Brexit now!”, at least the message of your disgust, or dissatisfaction, will filter down and just may make a difference. While I can understand your reasoning about abstaining, doesn’t this mean you can’t really comment about the quality of the councillor representing you?
I live in an area of the country where Dolly the cloned sheep would be elected if she wore a blue rosette (and we have a Dolly as our MP), and so there was little local change here, despite my protest choices of UKIP and Independent.
Shooting one or more of the treacherous bastards between the eyes would better enable the message of disgust and dissatisfaction to filter down.
Excellent post LR
I shall also be voting for Mr Benjamin. The dirty dirty smear merchants are certainly living up to their names. Are they afraid of something do you think?