Erubesco

According to unsympathetic critics, Shakespeare had little Latin and less Greek. If you are as one with this condition, the translation of the title is "I am blushing". Glasgow Airport sustains a terrorist attack by a Muslim group, with all the implications involved in that, and the reaction of the Scottish Daily Record is to be reassured that the would be assassins were not Scots. Bad enough, but again the national mantra is "Wha's like us? Deil the yin.' (Translate; Who is like us? Devil the one.) Reading this in Time Magazine makes it more uncomfortable. Then to read Time's comment that, 'getting fixated on national identities is a plan without a purpose' brings on the erubescence. The author of Times' piece let us off lightly, fixated as we are on national identity. Events have not.

Ensuring that the Muslim community took no fallout from this attack consumed enough political and media energy to change a few lightbulbs in Holyrood. Two examples of this. The Leaping Salmond and his Justice Minister Kenneth McAskill hurried to the chief Glasgow mosque to calm any fears that might exist over Muslims becoming whipping boys. BBC Scotland in an oddly titled and hastily stitched together 'special', 'Scotland After the Bomb', produced the usual format for such emergencies. A studio audience, a panel with two politicians, three Muslims and a presenter. The scene was set by the poster grandfather of Glasgow's Muslims asserting, 'The Islamic faith does not allow terrorism.' Things moved on to troops out of Iraq, back again to the peacefullness of the Muslim community, on to faith schools- do they help or hinder integration. The more familiar the territory the better. And on and on. Two things were missing. There seemed to be little representation of or concern for the people who were the object of the attack and no one really got to the core reasons why this group of professional persons tried to commit mass murder of people they did not even know.

Doing the Dhimmi Shimmy?

Whilst her desire to be civic and even-handed is admirable, yesterday's remarks by Nicola Sturgeon MSP, that 'Islam is a religion of peace' makes one wonder just where she has studied Islam to the extent that she is able to pronounce so confidently upon its theology.

I hesitate to use the expression, but is there not an Old Testament quality to her calling down wrath?

Clouding Over?

Our First Minister apparently was an economist by occupation prior to his climb up the greasy pole of British politics. Economics is known as the Dismal Science, and by the look of news coming from Scotland, any comment our FM makes has an edge to it. Despite his consistently cheerful image posture, there is already just a touch of the world growing greyer with his breath.
Take the simple matter of his salary. Since his election he has been drawing in two, one as a Westminster MP, the other as a Holyrood MSP, taking one third of the latter. Prior to his election, he assured prospective voters that he would struggle along on one salary only. Like all reminted politicians he probably aspires to learning, listening, honesty in government, transparency, all the clichés that go with the condition. Time for the Leaping Salmond to give a lead, and time he paid back the excess salary payment together with any accrued interest.
Take too the matter of North Sea oil and gas revenues. “It’s Scotland’s oil” has been the mantra of choice for SNP activists since oil was discovered in British territorial waters. Salmond has pledged to claim this money which runs into billions annually. With it, SNP creative thinkers have speculated on the range of possibilities within the reach of an SNP-driven Scotland, and its possession would finally crown the Leaping Salmond as the man who delivers. Only the still-dazed-from-election-victory SNP footsoldier can imagine the Treasury submitting meekly to such demands. Only the slightly demented British politician would want to agree to a possible Hugo Chavez type situation on his doorstep. And what it would do to the Barnett Formula (the method whereby the British government finances Scottish devolution) is unthinkable. No. This sounds like a bid to become McGazprom rather than McGasbag, which is what it is. With the best will in the world, the Leaping Salmond and the SNP are currently enjoying the privileges of proven inexperience - challenges, defiance, demands. Time to grow up?

A Near Thing (Part 2)

Perhaps now we can rid ourselves of the delusion that somehow we in Scotland are immune from terrorism. With our customary flair for secretly despising the English, we had assumed that the terrorist threat was directed exclusively towards London. No more. We are in the front line, and while Strathclyde's best are pursuing probably the most incompetent group of wannabe murderers in the history of terrorism, many 'why' question are being asked. Why now? Why Glasgow airport? Why so incompetent?

Questioning of these bunglers will no doubt produce some answers, but overheated speculation has already suggested the Queen's presence in Edinburgh, the coronation of Gordon Brown, proximity to Faslane, right of appeal given to Megrahi on Lockerbie.......Wait a minute. Is it possible that Glasgow was the intended target and that had the bomb gone off just a few minutes later, it would have been overflying the Dear Green Place? And that this was why these caduceus bearers chose Glasgow Airport? We shall probably never know.

Third Time Round

Most of the novelty and interest that might have been produced by the opening of the third Scottish Parliament was drained off by the ham-handed attempts by fledgling terrorists to blow up Glasgow Airport (media, passim). The First Minister emerging from the polls (just) like Aphrodite from the waves had some curiosity value for connoisseurs of such spectacles. The Queen however has seen it all. She presided over the opening, as stony faced as ever, regardless of what passed or was paraded before her. Quite a lot was. It ranged from three references, (two oblique, one direct) to independence by Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party and considered by his enemies as Lord of the Ascendant, Cock of the Walk and Chieftain of the Pudding Race, to what surely was an overnight sweep of the east coast's more fanciful creations. They ranged from stiltwalkers and jugglers to a group of elderly people dressed like Robin Hood, even carrying bows and arrows, to a set of pipers distinguished from their peer pipers only by dancing before the Queen like David before the ark. The Leaping Salmond waved, the Queen sat stolidly an an almost reverie, probably wondering when the quails' eggs would be served up. After what seemed an eternity, it was all over, geared and running for the business of government. First reports suggest that the Labour Party is displeased by the Leaping Salmond's independence references and that he will be pulled up for them when the windy exchanges we call parliamentary debate in Scotland start up.