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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Mark,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Just a swift note in response to your MSPWatch
message to media-watch this evening. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I hope many people will get a pleasant
surprise tomorrow evening when the results start to come in. There is so
much 'apathy', or so we are constantly being told - but how much of
it is genuine 'war-weariness' is hard to tell, and it's harder still to
anticipate how that will translate into voting patterns. Any
'alien' observer would not have concluded that Scots were apathetic people
after viewing the streets of Glasgow on Feb 15th or Edinburgh a
few weeks later. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It's disappointing that you feel you didn't get a
decent response to your MSPWatch, but that's not to say that the idea isn't
right, and as you pointed out, the number of 'hits' doesn't relate to
'real' debate and conversation between those concerned about the topics it
raised. And as for opinion polls !? - well, common decency
forbids a 'colourfully colloquial' response to claims that Labour
support has been boosted and 70-80 % of the UK population now support the 'war',
but the words 'arse', 'windae' and 'hat' can be arranged to form an authentic
Glaswegian retort.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>No pollster is needed to verify
the simple fact that there are many many Scots who are so
scunnered with the Scottish Parliament that they cannot be expected to devote
much time and energy to its scrutiny - even as the Scottish
Parliament was engaged in fierce debate over what should happen to crapping dogs
and/or their owners and sealing the fate of oblivious hedgehogs in Uist,
the fact that the UK Prime Minsiter has been, and remains, embroiled in
a game of global 'RISK' alongside his good ole Texan pal has been a
severe distraction for most folk. Perhaps, if the 'perpertual
war' and constant fear being generated by the Blair/Bush/Sharon Axis
of Deceit ever relents, we will see more focus on
domestic shenanigans. A wee while ago they were asking for the public to
send in suggestions for a suitable 'logo' to be engraved on the facade of
the Parliament building. Don't know if they ever got one. (Does anyone know
the Latin for 'We're Only Here For A Laugh' ?)</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sometime later tonight Bush will declare that
the 'war' is over. He'll be on the aircraft carrier 'Abraham Lincoln', no doubt
heading for the safest home-port available. Against that Hollywoodesque
backdrop, the protests of online outfits like media-watch, MSPWatch etc must
seem pitifully small - it is difficult to keep focussed and calm,
the retention of one's own sanity becomes the priority. Right now, in the US,
opponents of their government's behaviour are being pilloried and shunned,
and the compliance of mass-media ensures that dissident voices are not
heard. Here, Galloway is being prepared for lynching. In Iraq, the
frightened and homesick US Forces have figured-out that no-one can
stop them doing whatever they want - throw a stone at them, a dozen civilians
are shot dead in response. But Bush will say tonight that the 'war' is
over, that Iraq has been 'liberated'. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tomorrow, in oor ain wee Scotland, the people will
cast their votes, show their allegiance. Depending on what estimates you
believe, there were between 80 and 100 thousand people at the SECC on Feb 15th,
and they screamed to the long-gone Blair not to do it, and warned him that
if he did, it was not in their name. That was only ten weeks ago. Anyone
who was there that day will remember it for the rest of their lives, and
it's hard to imagine that many of them will have so suddenly been convinced that
the 'war' was right and cast their vote for anyone representing 'Blair's'
party - is it Labour ? New Labour ? The War Party
? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>You fellas who set-up media-watch and MSPWatch and
similar projects don't get many thanks - you certainly won't get any
fast-track funding to supplement your efforts - but maybe you should all
take a wee sit-back at times, give yourselves a tiny pat on the back and be
assured that plenty of folk are deeply appreciative of the work that you do,
even if it isn't often stated. This 'war' has been catastrophic
for so many people, it promises to spark further horror, but at least it has
spurred a great many folk to make some effort, however small, to make their
voices heard, to help one another through the barrage of bullshit and
propaganda, and those contacts have now been made, are very valuable, and
could be vital in the future.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Best regards to all,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ian Brotherhood</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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