A report into Labour's electoral demise is scathing. It says Labour has a mountain to climb to attain power and that a 'toxic culture' of dysfunction contributed to its defeat. On the face of it both of these things are true. Labour are now irrelevant, they have chosen not to embrace socialist policies, regardless of who they choose as leader. Those policies, that rising tendency supported by an unprecedented membership surge, was what their enemies feared. With the aid of the media they won. That and, of course, Brexit. "Get Brexit Done", got the Labour party done.
Of course blame for all this will not be properly portioned out. It will not be shared by the likes of Jess Philips who, even now it baffles me, was happy to be filmed driving through the shires with Jacob Rees Fucking Mogg! All the while badmouthing her own leader. Mogg isn't a bright lad, but evne he must have thought he'd been given an early Christmas present: here, on national television, ius a useful idiot utterly willing to trash her own party in public.
That should have been a sackable offence. Corbyn isn't blame free either; one of his 'crimes' was failing to kick her out. More broadly he comprehensively failed to deal with the red Tories, the Blairites, who weren't willing to show him the same courtesy. As amply demonstrated by Jess's unbelievable indiscretion. I suspect the counter argument would be that to try and remove her (which could have been done through creating a proper deselection process) would have been a horrible public bunfight. Is that worse than where Labour is right now?
Four years as leader saw a fairly mild mannered, community spirited, generally decent guy get trashed and splashed all over a hostile media. Coupled with that same Blairite rump's unwillingness to accept the result of the Brexit referendum, and its inability to see how arrogant that made them, it is no surprise what has happened. In fact for many, it was entirely, dismally, predictable. This isn't a fault of 'Corbynism' (a vacuous yet haunting tag) nor socialism. We simply do not have an objective media and a unified party. Say what you like about the scum in power, the Tories know how to stick together. Even to the detriment of individual members.
This is hwat it takes to turn a fundamentally decent guy - not perfect by any means - who was broadly on the right side of issues into a figure both ineffectual and dangerous. Such was the propaganda that no one saw the irony of that contradiction. A meek useless man who doesn't do or say X, and a dangerous terrorist who must not get anywhere near the levers of power.
This is why our media is so dangerous. I would concede certainly that Corbyn has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to talking to certain people. But I do not believe for one moment that is because he's secretly a jew hater or wants to destroy the western world or bomb the British mainland like the IRA. That is palpably nonsensical and completely out of character. But by comparison what does the media say about the Tories? Johnson writes published racist bullshit in that very media. The Tories sell guns and bombs to murderous regimes willingly. Who's the real terrorist?
Consider Grenfell. Corbyn's opponent in power, Theresa May, couldn't handle - as prime fucking minister - appearing before the shell-shocked victims without a vast police escort. Compared to the dangerous terrorist, Jeremy, who was welcomed and welcoming. Genuinely looking like he cared, showing real empathy. By contrast May just looked like an awkward skeleton, uncomfortable and not at all pleased to be there, as if human contact (he said presciently) was somehow contagious. If only she'd known!
Over Christmas innocent shots of Corbyn helping out at a homeless shelter got posted on social media. Nothing special - in fact that's the telling part of it all; he just does this stuff. It isn't a photo op (it may become one), it's not for sleazy reasons, like Trump waving a bible over the heads of tear gassed peaceful protesters. It's just who he is, and the real fucking tragedy of it all is that is seen as something to fear and jeer, to mock and ridicule. To the extent that a four year hate campaign is waged by a media so transparently biased just to cause him to fail. A good man is attacked.
I think that's disgusting. I'm not here to idolise the guy. He's just an ordinary (membership of a rotten institution aside) bloke who gives a shit about his community. That is way more dangerous than a spoilt Etonian buffoon; a racist bully who uses people to commit thuggery, who cares naugt about facts or lives, and has no clue what he's doing while shielding a dangerous ideological advisor and hypocrite.
There is no future in Labour. We must look to ourselves, tear down the systems of power and rebuild them for ourselves. Not for the benefit of an unjustified egregious profligate and wholly corrupt ruling class.
Class War
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