The problem with Alex Salmond
Do you like Alex Salmond? Myself, I couldn't care less. He's SNP. I'm not. I know nothing about him except what I've read. I'm told by people in other parties he's 'sleazy' but since I've never met him, I have no basis on which to judge him.
He seems to be on a par with other male Scottish politicians maybe of an earlier age and from a different class. I used to watch Donald Dewar (posh) and Jack McConnell (trying to be posh) in action at Holyrood. Both were swaggerers. Both were full of themselves. And they were surrounded by lesser men seeking power and women who usually acted as their servants. Not to mention civil servants who knew their place and kept their mouths shut.
The rush to defend Alex Salmond against charges of sexual misbehaviour when they came didn't surprise me. Lots of men piled in and they had every argument ready. If they were SNP, their argument seemed to be: how could someone like Alex Salmond who had brought the independence movement so far be guilty of sexual assault or attempted rape? It was all a conspiracy. The UK establishment was out to get him. (In fact, it probably was). I can't be bothered going on with the rest of the allegations we got from his fans. Why should I? That's not my job. There are loads of people - all men, as far as I can see - out there defending him. And anyhow, Alex Salmond was acquitted of all the charges against him.
I'll be honest: a couple of the people defending him now are people I wouldn't want to share a table with in a cafe. The two I'm thinking of are people female friends and I have had dealings with and they are simply misogynists. Crude, patronising men who seem to have forgotten that women have the vote these days.
If you're one of their followers - the gang of men on social media attracted to the defence of Alex Salmond - I think you need to ask where women fit into this situation, since we make up over 50% of the electorate - and we tend to vote.
Already, I see a change in attitude to Nicola Sturgeon. She seems to be shifting from being Joan of Arc to being a good person at dealing with the process of government but somehow lacking the leadership quality a man - Alex Salmond, say? - would have.
In a sentence, I defy you to tell me she's handling the C-19 catastrophe badly.
Maybe the guys defending Alex Salmond - who is not the SNP leader - is he even a member of the SNP? - need to think about a few issues: this is no longer the era of the old Labour Party, where the men ruled the party and 'a dug wi a rid rosette' could get elected if it had the backing of the men in the constituency party.
The independence movement does not belong to the SNP. It is the property of the people on the All Under One Banner marches, the Women for Independence groups and members of the Greens, the Scottish Socialist Party and Labour for Independence. You mess with us at your peril.
He seems to be on a par with other male Scottish politicians maybe of an earlier age and from a different class. I used to watch Donald Dewar (posh) and Jack McConnell (trying to be posh) in action at Holyrood. Both were swaggerers. Both were full of themselves. And they were surrounded by lesser men seeking power and women who usually acted as their servants. Not to mention civil servants who knew their place and kept their mouths shut.
The rush to defend Alex Salmond against charges of sexual misbehaviour when they came didn't surprise me. Lots of men piled in and they had every argument ready. If they were SNP, their argument seemed to be: how could someone like Alex Salmond who had brought the independence movement so far be guilty of sexual assault or attempted rape? It was all a conspiracy. The UK establishment was out to get him. (In fact, it probably was). I can't be bothered going on with the rest of the allegations we got from his fans. Why should I? That's not my job. There are loads of people - all men, as far as I can see - out there defending him. And anyhow, Alex Salmond was acquitted of all the charges against him.
I'll be honest: a couple of the people defending him now are people I wouldn't want to share a table with in a cafe. The two I'm thinking of are people female friends and I have had dealings with and they are simply misogynists. Crude, patronising men who seem to have forgotten that women have the vote these days.
If you're one of their followers - the gang of men on social media attracted to the defence of Alex Salmond - I think you need to ask where women fit into this situation, since we make up over 50% of the electorate - and we tend to vote.
Already, I see a change in attitude to Nicola Sturgeon. She seems to be shifting from being Joan of Arc to being a good person at dealing with the process of government but somehow lacking the leadership quality a man - Alex Salmond, say? - would have.
In a sentence, I defy you to tell me she's handling the C-19 catastrophe badly.
Maybe the guys defending Alex Salmond - who is not the SNP leader - is he even a member of the SNP? - need to think about a few issues: this is no longer the era of the old Labour Party, where the men ruled the party and 'a dug wi a rid rosette' could get elected if it had the backing of the men in the constituency party.
The independence movement does not belong to the SNP. It is the property of the people on the All Under One Banner marches, the Women for Independence groups and members of the Greens, the Scottish Socialist Party and Labour for Independence. You mess with us at your peril.
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