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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Et tu, John? Is another JC set to get stabbed in the back by a close ally?
Well this is very interesting. 'Allies of McDonnell claim he has become increasingly frustrated with Corbyn and his team over their botched handling of the anti-semitism row this summer, which overshadowed a carefully planned grid of policy announcements'. https://t.co/WlZKpJoRxK pic.twitter.com/wyCug9xTV6
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Edit - Wiki mentions a 2013 heart attack.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/15/john-mcdonnell-unreconstructed-on-the-left-but-with-allies-on-the-right
https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-beto-orourke-texas-election-midterms-letters-1123146
TED CRUZ CAMPAIGN IS MAILING DONATION REQUESTS DISGUISED AS LEGAL SUMMONSES
Seems a pretty clear denial.
What I wrote ended up being rather callous, or patronising, or somewhat cynical towards Ruth Davidson.
It was very hard to get the right tone on such a moving and sensitive topic.
Is for the same reasons I haven’t done a thread on Alex Salmond’s recent issues.
a) have her baby
b) spend some time with her child away from politics, to get perspective - then, if it still matters
c) get a safe Westminster seat (maybe Ken Clarke could hand her the baton?)
d) do a stint as Health Secretary - bringing her own experience to the provision of mental health treatment especially
e) re-appraise any leadership desire
Aside from possibly a few people in parliament McDonnell is closer politically to Corbyn than anyone else, Corbyn succeeding is McDonnell succeeding unless he just personally wants to be PM, even if he just wanted power and politics is unimportant (which seems unlikely given his career to date) a more likely route would be sticking with Corbyn and having a route to possibly become chancellor rather than striking out on his own.
Not that it can't be betrayed but they are pretty good friends as well.
But - for a large number of reasons I would be surprised if this story is accurate. All other considerations aside, Macdonnell would have a snowflake's chance in hell (or possibly just @Snowflake's chance) of winning a leadership election. Until somebody emerges on the left who can replace Corbyn, or unless he retires, Labour are stuck with him.
Intriguing article. What happens to the Cult?
I imagine the PLP will pretend things might get better with a new chairman in town and use it as an excuse to justify their vacillation, yet again.
@MarqueeMark
A big election loss is the most sure fire way for Corbyn to lose support and go.
@Foxy
Only for health issues would be my guess as well but even then I could possibly see him staying as chancellor to someone else as leader.
In almost every other conceivable way he was more destructive, more malevolent and more dangerous than Hitler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=za5GYbfRmWo
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/17/shocking-video-shows-pastor-beating-followers-of-south-korean-cult
Which they of course deny.
Something put out by Corbyn or May's PR team i'll wager.
I was rather more disturbed by the German neo-nazi interviewed on the C4 news last week who refused to condemn Hitler.
https://www.channel4.com/news/the-rise-of-the-far-right-in-germany
Sometimes we are asked in history, "How would you have acted to events in 1930's Europe?" Well the answer is what are we doing right now about these same dark undercurrents.
It's not clear where she goes from here though. I suspect she will leave politics sooner rather than later.
And the hideous anti-Semitism coursing through Labour is a good place to start.
Look at the history of the poll tax.
Stalin and Mao were generally unwilling to risk full-scale wars with other great powers, whereas Hitler was willing, and actually started two (with the Soviet Union and the United States) himself. So on international relations, one can perhaps marginally prefer those two to Hitler.
On domestic repression, there is nothing to choose between them. They were of course all utterly ruthless psychopaths who attached no value whatsoever to human life.
On economic matters, Hitler was less incompetent than Stalin and Mao. His policies may have somewhat revived the German economy in the mid-1930s, albeit largely accidentally, since their purpose was to rearm. He never achieved anything like the Great Leap Forward or the self-imposed madness of collectivisation, and ditched the socialist part of National Socialism fairly quickly. As a result, the German economy only started to collapse in the final two years of the war.
But overall, three blights on humanity and we can at least be glad that no leaders of any great power dares to be quite as bad as them today.
Mao took on the UN in Korea and fought border wars with the USSR and India
Mao ordered the invasion of Tibet and East Turkestan and the establishment of Han (One of China's ethnic groups) colonies in the regions to pacify them. Mao also ordered that the cultures of these regions be suppressed and replaced with Han culture, by force if required.
This resulted in the death of several million ethnic Tibetans and Uighur (Ethnic Turkmen native to East Turkestan) over the years. This is genocide by anybody's definition of the word.
Mao did similar things all over China. He ordered the local ethnic people either killed or dispersed, and that the local cultures replaced by Han culture.
Mao also lead a campaign of ethnic cleansing against over two million ethnic Japanese and Chinese of Japanese origin in North East China. The casualties were appalling and it was one of the biggest peace time acts of ethnic cleansing of the century.
Incidentally, with Stalin's aggressions there are also the Baltic states, Bessarabia and Poland in 1939.
And with China, Tibet and Vietnam and the pointless shelling of Taiwan.
After that, to borrow a popular colloquialism, he went a bit mad. The Great Leap was shocking and callous although at heart was an intention to leap forward greatly and it was often the local cadres, admittedly in fear, who overstated the returns and hence ensured the death and chaos. As for the Cultural Revolution, yes absolutely guilty, repressive, horrible.
The communist dictators while not having one for the spread of world communism were opprtunistic aggressors and would take the risk of ending up in conflict with other major powers.
Not sure there's much point in pondering the relative horrors of historical demons, but FWIW I think Hitler's eagerness to kill people merely for what they born as (rather than what they said or did) makes him stand out in atrocity. Stalin was a murderous paranoiac but if you stayed out of politics and did what you were told you were probably OK. I know less about Mao but my impression there too is that if you kept your head down and put up with humiliations you would probably survive.
The reason both the latter still have their domestic fans is that they were also associated with some successful national periods. My Tory-voting Russian-born mother felt Stalin had his good points (although we had at least one family member - the most political and indeed left-wing of the family - who died in Siberia) - "at least he stuck it out in Moscow when it was threatened and beat the Nazis". Churchill may have felt much the same. My impression is that many Chinese associate Mao with the emergence from chaos after WW2, though most would accept that the Cultural Revolution was insane. With Hitler, people associate him with both horror and national catastrophe, so only a few racist contrarians have anything to say for him.
I agree no major power's leader are as bad as those three, but it's eminently possible to be better than Stalin and still atrocious.
As one who has dwelt among ulster folk ( allbeit in the sheughs and hedgrows ) you are well aware we would never pass the chance to slur an englishman.
You need a refresher course - two weeks in Augher should sort you out :-)
I log on to see a thread header about John McDonnell, and then a long discussion about totalitarians of the 20th century.
Coincidence obviously.
Mao is respected as a national leader who restored unity and great power status, rather than for his economic policy. Ho in Vietnam, and even Stalin or Mugabe get some similar respect in their own lands. Hitler and Mussolini do not because they broke their countries, not fixed them.
I am far from a Mao apologist but there is no comparison with Hitler.
Theresa May says UK will leave with no deal if MPs reject Chequers plan
Theresa May is either very very clever or very very stupid. I suspect it will turn out to be the latter.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45543609?ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_source=facebook&ns_campaign=bbcnews&ns_mchannel=social
"But Mr Johnson's column in Monday's Daily Telegraph criticises her strategy to leave the EU.
He says Mrs May's Chequers plan "would mean for the first time since 1066 our leaders were deliberately acquiescing in foreign rule".
He describes a backstop for the Irish border as "an attempt to annex Northern Ireland" by Brussels in creating a border down the Irish Sea."
Anyway work to do - I have a new project on and my larder to be filled so the Cyclefrees don’t starve after next March so I will not be on here as frequently but will drop by from time to time.
Gavan Reilly
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@gavreilly
POLL: SBP/Red C #aras18
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9:49 AM - Sep 16, 2018
As far as I'm aware that's very wrong. Stalin's paranoia repeatedly imprisoned people or worse regardless of politics. It's just that we don't notice the millions of poor people who were mistreated because they didn't have a voice.
I find your slanted horror of Hitler funny given that so many people in the Labour party are following anti-Semitic memes that Hitler and his followers would have recognised and approved of. I mean, Corbyn allegedly didn't even recognise that mural as being in any way anti-Semitic ...
I too, am undertaking a new project: more-free-time-now-son-is-at-school. Unfortunately it seems mainly to consist of sewing labels onto clothes and cleaning the house ...
https://twitter.com/tconnellyrte/status/1041597372801929217?s=21
If the technology works in one location (ie British Ports) in what way is it unable to work in other locations, such as ROI / NI border?
After all, Caesar was murdered for being too attached to power, rather then insufficiently committed to achieving it.
For the avoidance of doubt, that sentence should not be read as excusing such Maoist actions as the Cultural Revolution.
Both were paranoid genocidal maniacs but the murder weighed heavier on Hitler and he needed barbiturates to survive. Stalin, by contrast, looked relatively at peace with the torture and murder of even his immediate associates.
It's still a remarkable historical footnote that Hitler was gentle with children, a great lover of dogs and could be personally very caring to his secretarial staff. Meanwhile, Stalin read copiously, wrote charming poignant poetry and enjoyed watching Hollywood movies.
I suppose you can only be a complete psychopath to be that way whilst murdering tens of millions of people!
In fact much of the recent statue argument, should we tear down all statues seems somewhat related to that, many of our great historical figures are morally compromised by today's standards. That doesn't mean we just call them bad and leave it at that. Mao is on a totally different level to most but we have had some terrible (morally) leaders that have also done good things that we can appreciate or acknowledge without it meaning we disregard the bad.