Tag Archives: Jeremy Corbyn

Boris Johnson, Sinn Fein, & The Labour Leadership Contest

A front-page story today in the British Army and MI5’s favourite morning read, The Daily Telegraph, has Boris Johnson, public school buffoon, London Lord Mayor and Bullingdon Club vandal (along with David Cameron and his finance chief, George Osborne), attacking left-wing(‘ish) Labour Party leader candidate, Jeremy Corbyn for his sympathies for Sinn Fein (I say ‘ish because a real leftie surely would have quit the moment Tony Blair took the crown!)

This is what the Telegraph article headline looks like:
Telegraph

The Bold Boris labels Corbyn ‘Sinn Fein-loving’, which is probably not inaccurate. As for being ‘monarchy-baiting’, that sounds like a pretty good reason to vote for him.

But on the question of this all being unbelievably good luck for the Tories, I just have one question.

When it comes to Sinn Fein-loving Labour leaders, there is something in my memory banks that tells me that as far as that activity was concerned, no-one could hold a candle to one Anthony Charles Lynton Blair, formerly known as the leader of the British Labour Party and one-time prime minister of Britain.

The Bullingdon Bullies at Oxford. Boris is seated far right (where else?) and Cameron is back row

The Bullingdon Bullies at Oxford. Boris is seated far right (where else?) and Cameron is back row, second from left

In the business of indulging Sinn Fein and the IRA, turning a blind eye to DAAD killings, Northern Bank robberies, bar stabbings, grudge shootings and so many breaches of ceasefire conditions along with concession after concession – so numerous and generous that it took the White House to call an end to the giveaways – surely Tony Blair and not Jeremy Corbyn is the real Sinn Fein-lover here?

So, why no fuss from Boris and his buddies when Tony Blair was giving Sinn Fein not just the shop but the key to the shop? Why no reminder now of the real truth about all this?

But there’s the rub. Tony was then Tory-lite, virtually indistinguishable from the Conservatives, and now is the spokesman for the Labour Party’s neo-liberal opposition to Jeremy Corbyn, the only thing standing between civilization and barbarity.

And so a curtain shall be drawn over that extraordinary chapter in British politics, no mention of how Blair’s purchase of Sinn Fein laid the basis for his post prime ministerial career, and fortune-making, as the world’s great peace-maker.

Instead a new version has been forged, with the powerless, but possibly naive, Mr Corbyn cast in the role of the true villain regarding the indulging of Sinn Fein, and Tony Blair written out of the story.

How convenient.

Is Donald Trump Part Of The Same Trend As Jeremy Corbyn And Bernie Sanders?

For the first time in a really long time, the left is on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic, a left that is arguing for economic equality that is. In Greece and Spain, anti-austerity parties have won considerable support while in the UK and the US, leftist candidates Jeremy Corbyn – for the British Labour leadership – and Bernie Sanders, who is giving Hillary Clinton a real scare in primary states, are doing unexpectedly well.

donald-trump

But is Donald Trump, the mysoginistic billionaire vying for the Republican nomination for the 2016 presidential election, part of the same trend?

Ian Welsh seems to believe he is. In this intriguing post on his always stimulating blog, he argues that Trump’s right-wing populism mirrors the left in important ways. Have a read. It’s worth it:

 

Why Trump, Corbyn and Sanders are doing well

Let’s state the obvious about Trump.

No, not that he’s a joke, or a sign of fascism or any of that.

Rather that a lot of what he says makes sense. His policies aren’t as crazy as people make out, and people who support him aren’t as stupid as the media pretends.

He doesn’t want to cut Social Security. Jeb Bush does. Obama has talked this up.
He wants full universal healthcare. Yeah, he badmouths Obamacare, but he’s badmouthing it from a position of “give them the real thing.”
His idea of returning manufacturing to the US and doing bilateral trade deals is not insane, or crazy, except to neo-liberal apologists and people too stupid to realize they’ve imbibed the economic philosophy of neo-liberalism, whose results have been the stagnation and then absolute decline of ordinary Americans wages. This is how capitalism worked for about half of capitalism’s history. Disagree if you like, it’s not crazy.
His idea of simplifying the tax code enough so that ordinary people don’t need professionals to fill out their tax forms is a good one. Jimmy Carter, by the way, wanted to do the same thing.
I’m not a fan of Trump, there are plenty of reasons why he’s problematic, but he’s actually an economic populist on many issues. That comes married to some nasty nativism people shouldn’t overlook, but I’m tired of people who are lumping all parts of the Trump campaign together.

And folks, he told the truth about buying politicians.

Trump is doing well because he is telling some truths other politicians won’t, and because his actual policies sound good to right wing populists. Populists have been divided into right and left for a long time, but it’s the feeling that matters to right wing populists. Trump comes across as a straight shooter and that’s why they’ll vote for him. (It is also why many of them will cross the lines to vote for Sanders if he’s the Democratic nominee and Trump isn’t the Republican one.)

Anyone who feels like a normal politician loses big points in the current environment, because people who feel like normal politicians are why we’re here, in this shithole economy, with no end in sight and plenty of reason to believe it could get a lot worse.

Sanders, Trump and Corbyn in England (whom I’ll write about in a bit) are all doing well because of this dynamic. People are sick of the status quo and they will take a chance with anyone who is willing to actually bloody well try something different than the usual. And since most people don’t parse just on policy positions (nor should they, since politicians lie), what they are looking for are candidates who don’t act like the normal candidates and who therefore might actually do something different.