Good thing no one
knows how unimportant he is. We need earnest men—got to have ’em. Who’ll run
the show if we don’t get that kind?
Sherwood Anderson - Dark Laughter (1925)
As so often, it is possible for most political parties to
pick through the recent UK election results and find some crumbs of comfort
here and there. Labour losing second place to the Tories in Scotland though - that’s not a good electoral baptism for Jeremy Corbyn.
As I’m almost the same age as old Jeremy, I have a certain
fascinated interest in what makes him tick because he is obviously not cut out
to be a party leader. Even faced with an unpopular government and a devious and
unpopular Tory leader in David Cameron, he is far from convincing.
At his age he should know this. I’d know in his place. It’s all very odd. I
don’t like the man’s politics or his party and I think his dreary Parliamentary
record speaks for itself, but a career ending in abject failure is on the cards
and that’s a pity. Is that a whiff of sympathy for a contemporary? It may be, but it won't stretch very far. In his position I’d have resigned by now.
6 comments:
One way or another, he will avoid failure. If he manages to speak over the heads of the media and the political establishment, and explain to the public in their own decent terms what he stands for, then he thinks he can get elected. If he can't, then that just goes to show the insidious power of these hegemonic servants of capitalism, and how the game is rigged against him and his truth.
Either option would be untenable if he were not deranged.
On the other hand, Labour "hung on" in spite of:
- the Conservatives
- an increasingly fragmented political landscape that saw e.g. 7 new UKIP councillors in Wales
- Scots who hate the absentee-landlord Labour Party worse than the Tories
- the entitlement-princelings of the Parliamentary Labour Party who look forward to being intensely relaxed about sucking up to the wealthy
- and what many see as a disturbingly partisan and propagandist BBC (vide Craig Murray: https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/05/bbc-lies-statistics-sackkuenssberg/).
Perhaps we can shift our attention for a moment from denigrating one person to studying the record of the major parties who have hollowed-out our economy and democracy over - what? - 40 years.
King Lear?
I don't think he will resign but instead sit tight keeping a seat warm until a bright personable new candidate comes along just as the Tories (or Brexiteers) are falling off their perch. Mr Khan maybe, the mayor's job seems the latest breeding ground for No 10 hopefuls. So no, a normal person would quit and go on a cruise, but politicians are not normal. Plays it long does Mr Corbyn.
He seems absolutely determined, no matter what.
Sam - deranged seems about right. Probably decent enough at a personal level, but decent people can have surprisingly totalitarian political views.
Sackers - it all depends on how the projections are done with their various weightings. In my view Corbyn is worth denigrating because he's one end of the Red/Blue seesaw which has overseen the hollowing out.
Demetrius - I don't think he does drama though.
Roger - I think he wants to make a political impact on the Labour party too, although that could backfire.
James - it seems to be a characteristic of the type.
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