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drewbhoy wrote: Voting Yes was all about bringing a nations people together, to work together, to advance together. Instead we voted to keep the same old, same old.........we had a chance and blew it.
As an outsider, I couldn't agree more. I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating. I have a couple of close friends who are Scottish, and I know of a (originally) German couple who have lived in Scotland for a long time now. All four of them voted "Yes". All four of them dislike the SNP and have no time for Alex Salmond and his "tory-lights" (a term my Scottish Green friend uses).
My friends are members of The Green Party (one of them is fairly active). And yet, every single time the independence issue is raised, Unionists immediately insist on identifying a "Yes" vote with the SNP. As though the two were synonymous. As though an immortal cyber-Salmond was going to be made God Emperor of Scotland for all eternity.
It's disheartening. Because there's nothing to be gained from debate with those who insist on wilfully misinterpreting your position and studiously avoiding the actual facts.
And it's especially disheartening when the very people who pull that trick - those who scream "SNP SALMOND BOGEYMAN!!" with their fingers in their ears whenever independence is mentioned - get so offended when you apply the same logic to them. Check out the lists of official supporters of both sides:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_endorsements_in_the_Scottish_independence_referendum,_2014
Would my Yes-voting friends stand shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone on their list? Of course not. But if Scottish Greens are expected to discuss Alex Salmond every time independence is mentioned, shouldn't those who voted "No" have to explain why they're happy to rub shoulders with Cameron, Farage and Peter Robinson? What is it that makes them exempt from that same scrutiny? Why do Scottish Greens have to even talk about the SNP when Scottish Labour members can ignore the tories? (and BAE Systems, BP and the BNP)
As for separatism? The German couple I spoke of voted "yes" precisely because they want closer international ties. They are genuinely concerned about the separatism and euro-scepticism in the tory heartlands combined with the rise of UKIP (a trend that a even a firmly internationalist Scotland has little influence over, because foreign policy is set in a parliament in which their voice is rarely heard). If it's a choice between a mildly Euro-friendly Scottish nationalism and an increasingly separatist British nationalism (a gross simplification of course), they know which one they'd prefer.
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