Goodbye Mr G

This is probably been a long time coming, I'll try to keep this short. Back in the day me and my mates were pretty big fans of Galloway's radio show. Hell back when I started this blog a went so far as to create a tag for the Galloway related posts I would make. Given how I and Galloway have developed, I'm pleased the last time that tag was used (till now anyway) was in 2011.

Since Galloway is now mostly well known for his pretty awful antics I think it prudent to just briefly list some of the reason's people like myself used to find him quite appealing.

• His promising career in the Labour party and its affiliates came to an because he maintained public opposition to the Iraq war. His comments on the war got him expelled on charges of bringing the party into disrepute.
• In addition to a long career in parliament, George has been a very active charity organiser, being the General Secretary of War on Want which lead international aid efforts to Eritrea and Tigris during the civil war in Ethiopia. [1] And was a founder and promoter of the Viva Palestina convoys that took aid to Gaza in defiance of the Israeli blockade.
• Out of all the Left but not Labour political projects in the UK, and there are dozens, his vehicle RESPECT actually succeeded in getting an MP. Personally I was never really enamoured with RESPECT but this achievement was very appealing to many self described Socialists in the UK[2].

To sum up, his appeal broadly speaking lay in his reputation for saying the right things and getting things done. A mix of practical and principle if you will. I t didn't hurt that he has skill as a talker, and he got mainstream attention by appearing on Big Brother, but I never liked Big Brother so I missed his appearance until after I knew who he was.

I think looking back it was a combination of being starved of political points of view beyond the mainstream, so Blair/Brown Labour, the Tories and the Libdems, and that at the time we had just started to turn 18 so had started drinking, but didn't have much money so instead of going to a pub we just went to each others houses sharing cheap lager. Galloway's three hour weekend radio show served quite well, it introduced us to a bit more political news and gossip, and since it was a radio show we have it as background noise and pay attention to it when things started to happen.

Also I think it helped that most of the people who bothered to keep calling or texting the show to argue with him were basically terrible people. Far right types calling him a Muslim sympathiser, neoliberals calling in to defend privatisations and boardroom bonuses, Scottish nationalists annoyed that he wasn't bothered about independence, Orange Order types etc.

But overtime the skeletons in the cupboard started to get out and Galloway seems to be intent on wasting all that goodwill he built up over the years on more gaffs and revelations. I soon parted ways with Galloway, my response was to ignore the fellow as he political platforms continued to implode and he became increasingly reactionary. I'd just go about my day and feel second hand embarrassment whenever a particularly egregious event put Galloway back on my radar.

So why am I doing this now? Well partly for some closure, but mainly because I'm hoping by publicly supporting Farage the most successful far right populist at present Galloway will finally burnt his final bridges, that the small lefty undercurrent that he still taps into will give him up. If your familiar with Galloway, you'll no doubt be thinking of one of dozens of things he's said and done that should have done that already. But alas it takes a long time to build up a reputation and it takes along time to demolish it.

Now of course even in the early days, there were warning signs. His anti-war credibility was undermined by just how grovelling a lot of his comments towards Saddam Hussein were, particularly the footage of his visit to Iraq

https://youtu.be/LzWNXEtwHUc

And while looking up that visit I also found this video where Galloway endorsed Iraq's claims on Kuwait.

I think its worth mentioning that Galloway doesn't appear to reject or condemn war wholesale, but only particular wars. During his career he's supported the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, bizarrely lamenting the loss of a "strong and stable government" [3] A government that relied on the Soviet army while fighting a civil war and persecuting and plotting against it self is strong and stable apparently. And I do remember him getting into an argument with some callers over the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.

Now I was aware of some of this at the time, and I didn't really agree, but I was still learning and honestly the conversation would usually move on. But, well it started adding up, I'm not actually sure where there was a breaking point for me. I just remember there being a time where Galloway was someone whose opinions I would listen to with respect, to an embarrassing joke, to a pretty awful person in general.

I do remember once he was very rude to a friend of mine, who called the show when the topic of the day was autism. But at the time we were all just baffled at how unprovoked his rudeness was, I'm pretty sure we laughed it off as an awkward moment. I suppose him working for Iran's Press TV didn't help. He'd spent years portraying himself as a principled outsider which kind of runs counter to working for the Islamic Republic of Iran's media arm. It definitely didn't help that in response to criticism of his gig and the Iranian governments actions he made ridiculous comments downplaying human rights abuses, executions of homosexuals and lauding the Republic as a model democracy.

But I'll give some credit here, I believe his weak comments on Iran's political system helped me develop my ideas and criticism of representative government. If you just look for a few seconds Iran does look like a democracy not much different from say Western Europe. They have elections, several parties compete, they do have different policy platforms and who gets to be President does have some impact on what happens. But then you look a little longer and you notice how many political parties are underground or in exile, how the religious authorities have seats in government and a veto over the President and parliament via the Guardian Council, which is chosen by the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei), who has the power to declare war and peace, the council chooses heads of the judiciary and other state institutions, including the head of Press TV.

Basically the façade quickly falls apart. But after coming to that conclusion I looked at other so called democratic states, and what do you know found that all of them keep a lot of the power in un elected institutions, the only functional difference is that unlike Iran the one(s) whom have legal access to those institutions (well most of them) get that access through elections, sometimes extremely indirectly.

So in a way despite Galloway's collapse I think he has taught me some lessons. Granted many of them were things not to say or do, but an education is to be valued.

Goodbye Mr G.

Edit:

Well it looks like we might not see the back of Gorgeous George after all

Looks like theirs still a political backwater for him to swim in.
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1: I can remember hearing him recollect how he witnessed bombings by the Ethiopian air force, and another time when he talked about his time doing solidarity work in the anti-apartheid movement, which lead to at least on detainment and assault by an officer Mackenzie.

2: It might be worth mentioning though that it was RESPECT's electoral presence that introduced me to the name George Galloway. During European Elections in 2004 the RESPECT party competed, but due to a ballot error all the RESPECT lists, read as RESPECT George Galloway has received X number of votes. It sounded like a command, which is oddly fitting.

3: On the Pleasure of Hating Galloway by Chris Hitchens https://diamonddavewonfor.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/on-the-pleasure-of-hating-george-galloway/

Galloway on the UNESCO Controversy

If you read this blog you might be wondering if my sense of priorities are a bit unorthodox, for example why would a man who supports justice for the Palestinians at the time of an historic milestone on that journey (UNESCO membership) would I instead make a post about an infamous but no longer relevant Paramilitary group that arguably set back the Palestine Liberation movement? well two reasons really first I was genuinely pleasantly surprised at how good that documentary was in investigation and explanation, and I know that there are a lot of other bloggers out there whom can give a more informed or passionate account then I can and I don't really want to be repetitive.

Anyway George is one of those people whom has done a better job of explaining the UNESCO situation and since I like his radio show (a lot hence his own tag) and its been a while I thought this would be good opportunity to share.

Top cat returns to the alley

You've more than likely already heard that Former Respect Mp George Galloway has got his Talksport gig back The Mother of All Talk Shows at its usual slot of 10-1am Friday though not saturday. Looks like that Facebook group really pulled through for the old Scottish teetotaller eh?

Anyway after listening to the first broadcast after an hiatus of several months does he come up to scratch? as he been rejuvenated by his holiday and now graces us listeners with renewed passion humour and insight?

Well yes and no the start of the new George series was mixed for me. The beginning was all about the Popes visit and while it did have a good interview with Peter Tatchell below.



I have to say I was pretty disappointed with George here. His argument that the Vatican is a state in the post Age of Reason world doesn't hold up. And his continued insistance it is without explaining why comes across as dogmatic.

In this contemporary world you and I live in state hood is ultimately left to the UN to decide, though that certainly doesn't stop other Nations from picking and choosing who to invite to the diplomatic club, see Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Tibet, Kurdistan, and the whole Peoples Republic of China versus Republic of China etc. The Vatican on the other hand doesn't really fit the model of what we would know regard as a state. It was created out of a deal between the Catholic church and Mussolini's Fascist party, a deal that saw the Papal states that at its height could easily have been eligible for modern statehood as it once owned the territory of Central Italy including Rome and whose governing was placed under the direct control of the Catholic church was officially dissolved and reformed into the modern Vatican that has no government nor services nor territory not a direct and active part of the Catholic church.

At best the Vatican is another Grand Duchy or theocratic style Principality like Monaco. At worst its a large micro nation in the vein of Sea Land and does Roy Bates get a red carpet reception every time he gets tired of hanging out on that concrete bunker in the sea and goes back home to Spain? I think not.

Furthermore the UK doesn't even deal with the Pope as if he is the head of state for anything. How many Embassies are in the Vatican? zero how many does the Vatican have in the UK and the world? Zero. How many trade agreements exist? none apart from between the Vatican and Italy and they kind of have to given that the Vatican is inside there own capitol. And unlike all are other disputed territories that aspire to nationhood in the world like say Kosovo, the Vatican has absolutely no chance of becoming a state. What is the ultimate pillar that all states regardless of ideology economy and geography rest upon? the monopoly on the use of Organised force. Thats how they maintain what territory they have and how they usually expand it. To quote a man whose name escapes at the moment "how many divisions does the Pope have?" the answer is again zero unless you count those Swiss Mercs and there plentiful armouries of Axes and Halberds.Truly Italian statesmen must quake in fear at this great dagger pointing directly at the heart of there nation just waiting to be unsheathed.

He also ignored Tatchell's comment that since its the Catholic population that want him here they should foot the bill you know like they did the last time one of them showed up.

But I digress, I also found his other argument that the Pope is the head of the Catholic church therefore every Catholic should automatically bend there knee to him on every thing he says line quite insulting. As a man of Irish (among others) descent I've lost count of the times I've heard my Nan and Aunts say "If the Pope wants me to have a hundred kids he can pay for them" variations there of. Sorry George but I thought you believed everyone should practice reasonable thinking and try to reach conclusion based on that, not you know blindly following what someone else tells you. Look just because the Pope or any other Religious leader tells you something thats wrong it doesn't magically become right. When the Pope says contraceptives actually aid the spread of HIV in Africa when all the evidence says otherwise he is still wrong in saying that.

Anyway as I said this was just the first hour, and it did get better as it progressed. There were too very good and very interesting interviews with a couple of September the 11th survivors. And even the interview (below) with the conspiracy theorist was reasonable and coherent throughout.



But just one last thing though what ever happened to that "Radical Radio network" George said he was organising, the one that was and I quote just "over the rainbow" (scroll down a bit). Looks like that ain't happening. Thats a shame as George himself has pointed out he is quite a solitary figure in the right wing hang em and deport em world of Talk radio. Which seems set to increase given his reduction in air time. To me George's idea of a grouping of prominent Left wing and Progressive commentators is a missed opportunity given that he would be uniquely placed to plug the thing to a wider audience then most internet radio shows get. Oh well.

Israeli commandos kill 20 peace activists

I'm sure you've probably heard of this appalling criminal action undertaken by Israel's security forces against Turkish solidarity activists as they were delivering aid to the blockaded territory of Gaza. Madam Miaow has a much more in depth anylisis of the events here complete video footage of the boarding. And Alex Snowdon as chair of the Tyneside Palestine Solidarity campaign has been organising protests for tomorrow here and you can see contact information for are new foreign secretary here.

As appalling as this attack is I honestly can't say I was surprised as taking a look back at the mounting pressure Israel was placing on previous aid convoys including the last one organised by George Galloway and Viva Palestina which culminated in Egyptian riot police impounding and assaulting activists . It was clear that the aid convoys are a continued humiliation to Tel-Aviv which has been trying to starve the Palestinians into admission in Gaza since 2006, by not only delivering vital supplies that ensure that the Palestinians can go on surviving a little longer, and by showing up the IDF the main pillar Israel and sacred cow of Zionism as impotent.

This looks set to continue as Turkey has stated that all other convoys to Gaza will enjoy the protection of the Turkish Navy no doubt further humiliating the Hawks of Tel-Aviv.

Edit: sorry about the lateness of this, but the death toll was 9, when I started writing this the details were quite sketchy and "around 20" kept coming up. However the cases of series injury by the commandos are at the 30 mark.

The end of the Mother of all Talk shows?

Apologies as this is a bit late but, it seems like George Galloway's Four year long radio show on Talksport has been brought to an end. You can read George's take on it here.

And here is his farewell's.





Now George is something of a Controversial figure for the left and I know not everyone will be as sad to see him go as I am.

However personal preferences aside I do feel that the ending of the Mother of All Talk shows is detrimental to political discussions in Britain. Can any one out there name another prominent Left wing pundit in the regularly seen in the mainstream media?

Still this new Internet show he talks about looks somewhat promising especially if he can get a few more talking heads on, though the ability to get a large mainstream audience seems a bit challenging; though he does have a few ways of self publicising(the Daily Record Column, his own website, His job at Press TV etc.) But anyway good luck with your future George.

An Eight year olds take on the BA strikes

May I be the first to say, Awwwwwwww that's just darling.

Seriously though, I am actually quite impressed with little Dylan there; he admitted his ignorance on a subject then asked someone more knowledgeable on the subject for more information. I wonder how many adults are out there right now bad mouthing Unite for having the gall to inconvenience them in some way without the faintest idea that the strike is about ensuring passengers safety.

Some interesting views on Race

Colourful poem aside these are some very good points. Though I personally wouldn't mind "going for an English" once a week. Incidentally that poem at around seven minutes in reminds me of a scene in Cry Freedom were a judge is and Mr Steven Biko are having an argument, and one of the points that is raised is why Africans call themselves Black when there closer to Brown to which he replies, why don't you call yourselves pink instead of white.

Gary McKinnon extradition postponed

Gary McKinnon's impending extradition as been recently postponed for a review following worries that his aspergers syndrome and deterioration of his mental health may lead to a suicide attempt should the extradition go ahead. Currently the Free Gary McKinnon campaign as many ways you can help to put pressure on the Home Secretary and the President to drop there hounding of this poor young man, but one way as the video above makes clear is to text (at no extra charge mind) the word Gary to 65000, Thats Gary at 65000.

Special thanks to George Galloway for his campaigning efforts on this issue and to Ignaciosanmon for his great work uploading the Mother of all Talk shows for the Masses.