Corbyn Blimey
Feb. 11th, 2017 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
steepholmIt's a common meme amongst people who hate Jeremy Corbyn that his supporters are all cult-like devotees who are obsessed with their hero; but in recent months the only people who seem obsessed with Corbyn are his critics, who can't seem to shut up about him. To judge by the Facebook pages of some of my friends (friends only in a Facebook sense, in some cases), all the woes of recent times have been Corbyn's doing. You'd think that he had called the referendum; you'd certainly think that he had campaigned for a Leave vote; you'd think that he had insisted on leaving the single market - and now, apparently, the real significance of the Government's curtailing of the Dubs amendment lies in Corbyn's failure to stop it (in some unspecified way). For a leader of the opposition whose MPs have been in open revolt from before the moment of his election, he apparently wields an amazing amount of power.
Of course, if push came to shove my friends would admit that all these acts were actually perpetrated by the Tories, but it seems that they couldn't have done it (despite having a parliamentary majority) had Jeremy Corbyn not allowed them. That enrages them far more than the acts themselves. At any rate, they never post against the government but only against the opposition.
It seems to me that this constant blaming of the opposition for the acts of the government is the very essence of letting said government off the hook - the very thing, in fact, that they blame Corbyn for. It's bizarre; but it's been the pattern at least since last June, when the Labour rebels chose the moment of greatest Tory disarray - the aftermath of the Brexit vote - in order the launch their bid to replace Corbyn as leader. What a friend the Tories have in the PLP - and in their cheerleaders on Facebook and elsewhere (The Guardian, I'm looking at you).
A curious coda: in the tradition of Schroedinger's Immigrant, who simultaneously steals your job and lazes on benefits, we have recently begun to witness attacks on Schroedinger's Opposition Leader - who is both the great betrayer of the Remain voters (for voting in line with the referendum result), and the darling of the liberal metropolitan elite, hopelessly out of touch with Labour's working-class heartlands. But clearly any stick will do, as long as it draws attention from the evisceration of the NHS, the betrayal of refugees, the uselessness of Trident, the shambles of the Brexit ministers, and such like minor matters.
Of course, if push came to shove my friends would admit that all these acts were actually perpetrated by the Tories, but it seems that they couldn't have done it (despite having a parliamentary majority) had Jeremy Corbyn not allowed them. That enrages them far more than the acts themselves. At any rate, they never post against the government but only against the opposition.
It seems to me that this constant blaming of the opposition for the acts of the government is the very essence of letting said government off the hook - the very thing, in fact, that they blame Corbyn for. It's bizarre; but it's been the pattern at least since last June, when the Labour rebels chose the moment of greatest Tory disarray - the aftermath of the Brexit vote - in order the launch their bid to replace Corbyn as leader. What a friend the Tories have in the PLP - and in their cheerleaders on Facebook and elsewhere (The Guardian, I'm looking at you).
A curious coda: in the tradition of Schroedinger's Immigrant, who simultaneously steals your job and lazes on benefits, we have recently begun to witness attacks on Schroedinger's Opposition Leader - who is both the great betrayer of the Remain voters (for voting in line with the referendum result), and the darling of the liberal metropolitan elite, hopelessly out of touch with Labour's working-class heartlands. But clearly any stick will do, as long as it draws attention from the evisceration of the NHS, the betrayal of refugees, the uselessness of Trident, the shambles of the Brexit ministers, and such like minor matters.
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(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-11 05:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-11 05:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-11 05:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-12 01:16 am (UTC)And, yes, we have the ones who blame the previous government for everything. In Victoria, there is a former Tory Premier who sold everything not nailed down and got a major toll road arrangement going with a private company - including a promise not to improve public transport in that area and closing other routes so that drivers had to use the toll road. He is now complaining about it and blaming the current - Labor - government for costs involved. And the last Tory government we had knew they were about to be booted out, but made sure that they signed a contract with a company for a terribly expensive - and pointless - project, the East West Link, a few weeks before the election, with a deal that said company would receive huge compensation if it didn't go through. The Labor opposition had promised to scrap it. If they didn't they would be accused of breaking a promise. They did scrap it, as promised - and the opposition and their supporters have been complaining they had wasted money on the compensation. Whose fault was that again?
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-12 01:48 pm (UTC)Thankfully I live in Wales and Plaid Cymru, though a very small party, seems to be trying to explain to voters that though they know they have problems with lack of jobs, this is nothing to do with immigration and leaving the EU will not solve those problems and will in fact make things very much worse. Also I love my MP at the moment for the way she's pushing for the law about not dragging up a woman's past in rape cases to be tightened. It's being flagrantly disregarded at the moment. Meanwhile all the Labour MPs seem to be doing is squabbling amongst themselves.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-02-12 05:06 pm (UTC)