Posted on 09/16/2014 9:11:40 AM PDT by Kaslin
"Should Scotland be an independent country?" reads the referendum on which Scotland will vote Thursday. Voters have two choices -- yes or no.
Queen Elizabeth II went so far as to tell Scots on Sunday, "I hope people will think very carefully about the future." The queen was savvy to urge Scots to look ahead, not behind. The Scottish Parliament building opened in 2004 after the Scotland Act 1978 allowed for local control. It is a marvel of modern architecture located off Edinburgh's Royal Mile. Its open architecture and use of glass, oak and sycamore display a determination to root political power not in the moldy grandeur of nearby Holyrood Palace but in iconoclasm and steel. Sadly, from that futuristic perch, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has dredged up ancient grievances to push his country back in time -- before the 1707 Act of Union with England.
"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling has likened Scottish independence to an acrimonious divorce. Expect bitter battles over who gets custody over the pound, the banks, the royals. "I doubt that an independent Scotland will be able to bank on its ex-partners' fond memories of the old relationship once we've left," Rowling warned in June. She has donated more than $1.6 million to the Better Together "no" campaign.
Nonsense to that, the "yes" lobby counters. On Sky News recently, Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill argued that if the referendum passes, the usual social union, the currency and the monarchy will remain intact. If anything, he added, the 300-year peace, friendship and "cordial relationship" will emerge stronger.
Scotsman Jim Murphy, a member of the British Parliament, laughed at the idea there could be no hard feelings if Scotland votes "to make England a foreign country."
In June, President Barack Obama spoke against an "aye" vote when he spoke of America's "deep interest in making sure that one of the closest allies that we will ever have, the United Kingdom, remains strong, robust, united and an effective partner." Obama should have used stronger language, as he will need a strong United Kingdom in the war (yes, war) against the Islamic State.
It can be no accident that a masked Islamic State henchman engaged in the brutal beheading of aid worker David Haines, a Briton and a Scotsman, as the big vote looms. MacAskill has told Sky News that a "yes" vote would bring the very liberal Scotland freedom from decisions made under the coalition government of conservative Prime Minister David Cameron -- that is, freedom from British defense spending and any wars into which the United Kingdom is drawn.
But it's not that easy to opt out of war when terrorists are willing to export it -- as MacAskill well should know. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270, including 11 Scots on the ground. A Scottish court found Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Baset al-Megrahi guilty. Al-Megrahi received a life sentence and was to be eligible for parole after 20 years, but he served a mere eight years in a Scottish prison. On the dubious ground that prostate cancer left al-Megrahi with less than three months to live, MacAskill granted him "compassionate" release in 2009. The son of the late Moammar Gadhafi flew the terrorist home to a hero's welcome on a tarmac in Tripoli, where Scotland's worst mass murderer lived until 2012. Salmond explained, "Sometimes someone has to break the cycle of retribution with an act of compassion." It's a shame his Scottish National Party doesn't feel the same way about Great Britain.
Too bad that there is not some way to delay the vote for 5 or 10 years. Now that the Scots have the Brits' attention, there could be some reasonable accommodation, one suspects
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If the Scottish MPs leave the Conservatives will have a majority in Parliament. Only 1 Scottish MP is a Conservative.
Scotland already contributes tax towards the armed forces, as does every other part of the UK after independence Scottish taxes will pay for Scottish Defence forces.
Despite Scotland having over 60% the the UK sea area the Royal Navy has no surface ships based in Scotland so when Russian ships appeared off the Moray Firth in February a Royal Navy vessel had to be sent from the south of England.
I went to Scotland a few years ago for a family reunion, and was very off-put by their extremely socialist worldview. The average man on the street expected the government to take care of him. I went home saddened. I guess all the good ones went to the new world.
Interesting. We will see how it goes!
I have to agree with my YES friend, MadMitch, we give more than we get back, and we give more than we should given % of pop.
The issue isn’t whether we can, but should we.
Sorry to disappoint (and I am no great fan of them), but the OO march went off with no trouble and no drunken hangers on. The reports are that it was the best march they’ve had in years, they were taking pics with curious tourists and were even seen in peaceful discussions with YES supporters. All quite amicable.
Except Payton Randolph isn’t putting himself all over the media. Its hypocrisy to whine that he isn’t the YES campaign, he has chosen to plaster himself as cheerleader no 1, when he easily could have allowed other (and frankly more palatable) YES politicians to take centre stage.
Like Patrick Harvie.
‘On the other hand, the ‘No, Thanks’ side is scraping the bottom of the barrel for maintaining any sense of dignity over keeping the union intact. They’re begging the Scots to stay like an ugly girlfriend whose been dumped by her boyfriend and is making the most appalling spectacle of herself in making tearful pleas and oaths to try to win him back. It’s pathetic.’
Crap.
The NO’s have not been a pathetic negative campaign. There’s has been a positive campaign in favour of the Union, and Scotland’s ties, history and future with it. The NO’s have (shock horror) argued against and exposed the secrets, lies and hypocrisy of the YES campaign, as is their job. The NO’s have positively argued for a strong and proud Scotland within the UK. They have argued for Scotland’s stronger position as part of Europe as part of the UK. They have argued on many issues, from education and schoolleavers to OAP’s, positively.
Even the Yes’ers I know thought he was a clown and actually counterproductive.
90% of the fresh water.
65% of the natural gas production.
96.5% of the crude oil production.
92% of the hydro electric production.
Wow. Just...wow. 8.3% of population walks of with some 90% of water & power supplies?
Suffice to say: prepare for war.
For all the lofty reasons for “no”, something much bigger is glossed over. See #51.
'Crap', you say. The appeal for Unionism is miserable. Maybe Eddie Izzard the transvestite comedian can sashay down to Trafalgar Square and save the UK with his black fingernails and high heeled pumps.
Not once have I heard the 'No, Thanks' side make the keen observation that any bid for independence ought to carry a large majority of Scots, yet instead the polls seem to show 'Yes' winning in only one lousy poll of 700 respondents by a mere 51%.
The Scots aren't exactly ripe for independence. Unionists should point that out. If 'Yes' wins, they'll have put half of Scotland against them right off the bat. Why hasn't Salmond been asked "How in the hell does THAT work, sir? Do you intend to hold half of Scotland hostage behind enemy lines?"
More powers were talked about months ago.
Yes, crap. The NO campaign, and with all due respect, I have been here for the duration, has been derided as a negative campaign by people (not you) who have done nothing but shout freedom and whose arguments are thin, bar a vague notion of lets break away.
No, the NO hasn’t been as flashy as the YES, but that’s the point. The YES has been all fur coat and no knickers, all flash and little substance. They cannot, for all the razamatazz, answer the basic questions.
Oh, and you DID see all the major Scottish entertainers who have been parading their YES-ness for all to see?. Just as many as the NO celebs.
Except of course, ours actually live here. Whilst 007, Brian Cox and Alan Cumming et al tell us to vote YES, then bugger off back to the US or the Bahamas. And btw cannot vote because of that!.
What I mean is that 'No' has been adding more and more resolutions to the bribe pile over time and now that we're reaching the goal the wallets came out. They're proposing to pay Scotland a huge ransom using English money without a referendum from English voters and that makes it doubly awful. I haven't seen actual hysterics (yet) from 'No', but I think that if they'd stuck to the facts and pressed home how daft the 'Yes' campaign is, they'd be in far less trouble.
Cameron and Milliband both need to resign over this fiasco, and if 'Yes' wins Milliband will be the most irrelevant man in England overnight. Only Cameron REALLY needs to go. They must be keeping Mr. Farage locked in a basement somewhere for all the damaging clucking and crowing he could be doing to the 'No' campaign.
I'm starting to wonder if only HRH can stop the bleeding with a personal appeal setting the right tone with the right message. If 'Yes' wins, Mr. Cameron should thank God that he's not living in the Middle Ages. If I were king, I'd have him brought to the Tower by rowboat for losing Scotland. I'd be awaiting him with a mace.
That said, I agree that Scotland shouldn't be kept in the union at ANY price. It'll be an enormous embarrassment if they break away but on the other hand there's certainly some positives that'll come out of it ...along with a whole barrelful of awfulness, of course.
Aye we might just invade England and take the rest. :)
Best march in years? Does that mean there was more “NO POPERY” banners than usual? No place for the Orange Order in a modern country. I saw plenty of the drunk bigots on Saturday and they were not posing for tourists, fat fucks in Rangers and Chelsea tops shouting “Fuck the Pope” great advert fir. Scotland.
You’ve got, or will have ALL the submarines based in Scotland though, and they are the real ship-killing assets of any modern navy.
Frankly, with the disgracefully violent nationalist forces Salmond has unleashed and refused to reign in in any meaningful way, it wouldn’t surprise me if Salmond’s iScotland wouldn’t want to try and invade its neighbour for lebensraum in a desperate attempt to distract the population from its failing economy.
did not Ireland leave?
The only obligation on the scots is to live with their decision.
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