Just over a week ago I wrote a post on the Catalonian people's long struggle for independence.
And I made it clear I supported their right to determine their own fate with a democratic referendum.
But when the Catalans held, or tried to hold that referendum yesterday, this is how the Spanish police reacted.
With an orgy of violence that can only be described as naked fascism.
Catalonia’s defiant attempt to stage an independence referendum descended into chaos on Sunday, with hundreds injured in clashes with police in one of the gravest tests of Spain’s democracy since the end of the Franco dictatorship in the 1970s.
An outrageous assault on democracy that injured more than 800 people of all ages...
But could not suppress their desire to be free.
Voting went ahead in many towns and cities, with men and women, young and old, singing and chanting as they lined up for hours to cast ballots. Just after midnight, the Catalan government said that the referendum had been approved by 90 percent of some 2.3 million voters.
And while groups of Spanish nationalists celebrated the crackdown by singing songs from the era of the fascist dictator Francisco Franco, and by raising their arms in Nazi salutes...
Spaniards sing the Fascists anthem in Madrid "Facing the Sun" un Madrid. Ordinary people not political militants. pic.twitter.com/yO0peHgWmF— Help Catalonia (@CataloniaHelp2) September 30, 2017
And some fear that the violence of the Spanish state could trigger another civil war.
What happened yesterday can only boost support for independence.
And since the young are its strongest supporters...
And I also wear my heart on my sleeve.
I think I'll end this post with a group of them singing a very old song of Catalan resistance.
Now it's time to say that the people persist.
Down with the Franco fascists.
And long live Catalunya...
no one expects the Spanish Inquisition. The EU was supposed to prevent this kind of madness
ReplyDeleteThe European Union is on its way to being a failed experiment (just like the American Union it was more or less modeled on) thanks to, in part, Putin's meddling in Brexit, Macron not being able to quell the undiagnosed chronic A.D.H.D. of French voters, and now Merkel's weakened status as she faces actual Nazis in the Bundestag siphoning off votes from the right flank of her party and pushing her to the right whether she likes it or not. If Macron gets turfed and Merkel either doesn't seek a fifth term or is pushed out, that's the end of the E.U. Corbyn wants his own lefty version of Brexit too.
DeleteSo minus Merkel and Macron (nobody is going to take Corbyn seriously as prime minister any more than if Bernie Sanders was president), that means the leader of the free world becomes, lo and behold, Trudeau by default. I'm sure he wouldn't expect that either. He'd adjust to the role just fine, but that's a bigly yuge responsibility to shoulder when half his own country still thinks (and will always think, just as Republicans did with Obama) that he's Just Not Ready™ to run so much as a lemonade stand or a pot dispensary.
He seems to perform best when underestimated, as he did in the election and in the surreal televised boxing match that both foretold the eventual outcome and served as an allegory for it. But I'm sure he realizes that he'd basically be upgraded overnight from the fun-to-watch profile of a cheerful Dudley Do-Right acting as foil to the incompetent villain Snidely Trumplash, to the very serious, high-pressure and visible role of FDR or Churchill during World War II. Only in this case, Cheeto Mussolini would be living right downstairs.
But if the thorn-in-our-side Dippers split the vote and he ends up with a minority government, or the Liberals get outright turfed and Scheer walks through the split, it's over for civilization, period, and Trump regains status as the most powerful leader alongside his new found friend Putin. Or, with Western civilization in shambles, China at last gets to take up the mantle as leader for what will likely be the remainder of the century. The sun sets on the West and rises for the East. Either way, a frightening scenario to be sure.
That is, if we last that long. Don't count out the alternate possibility of Kim Don Duck sending us all to get high on a magic mushroom cloud in the sky. That's where we're gonna go when we die.
hi Steve...the EU has been shamefully silent. Nobody is asking them to endorse Catalonian independence, but they could at least object to that fascist spectacle....
Deletehi anon 12:15...Lordy, I read your comment while sailing a friend's boat to its winter quarters, and for a moment I wondered whether I should jump into the lake ;) But although most of what you say is true, the way I see it is that we are just at the end of an era and the beginning of a much better one. It's necessary for the existing system to come apart at the seams, for people to understand that only radical change can save us. The worse it gets, the sooner that change will come. Unless of course Kim Don Duck kills us all first....
DeleteI concur. It's apparent that Justin, like his predecessor, will likely be unable to meet the challenges he faces without the advantage of governing in conditions of constitutional dictatorship. How can we expect him to lead the world and save it while being forced to contend with the petty insecurities of an uncomprehending and troublesome Canadian public?
DeleteIf it looks bad enough, maybe we'll have to take the "strategic voting" file out of the drawer for another run.
So it would be AOK if Quebec decided to unilaterally hold an independence referendum? Catalonia actually has been acting like Alberta, whining that it doesn't get back from the feds the same amount of taxes its residents pay in. Infantile.
ReplyDeleteBut the Catalonians have kept pressing. Apparently forgetting that independence would have them on the hook for armed forces, setting up embassies all round the world and numerous other expenses. But they cannot think beyond the ends of their noses. Typical.
None of which excuses the violence shown by Spain on Catalonians. But be under no illusion that the same thing wouldn't happen here if a bunch of privileged self-hypnotized dolts in one province or another decided to unilaterally secede just because they don't want to share their relative prosperity with their countrymen.
Next thing you know, the GTA will want to secede. Thst's the sort of blinkered brainpower Catalonia is currently exhibiting. And Scotland wants to.
Logic just isn't your best asset, Simon.
At least let them try. Independence movements have had varied levels of success all over the world. The U.S. sure seems to have done pretty well for themselves (in fact too well for their own and everyone else's good) breaking away from Britain. India is under the thumb of their own ethno-nationalist dictator right now, but it's not like they've completely failed moving away from Mother England either. Canada is still more or less connected with Her Majesty, but did they collapse when Pierre sought patriation as the crowning achievement of his legacy? 'Course not. The fact that his son is currently the head of government in what is a thriving G7 country that probably stands to move ahead of its drunk southern neighbor is bigly yuge evidence of that.
DeleteAs for Alberta, hey, I'm sure Trump wouldn't mind swapping California for another fundamentalist wingnut state. That's 55 electoral votes he wouldn't have to worry about. Bonus, Trudeau's "gaffe" at the Canada 150 event would be reflected upon as prophetic: that he "forgot" about Alberta because he predicted Alberta wouldn't be part of Canada by the time of the country's bicentennial. He wouldn't have the albatross (Albertross? Who's Albert Ross?) of oil-country voters dragging down his climate agenda to get revenge for "Petro-Canada" either. (Similar to Hillary with West Virginia.) Whether the Montréalers get their Québexit is a more complicated matter, but hey, at least they'd be France's problem and they could remain as proudly monolingual and hostile to outsiders as the Americans. I'd like to see Justin become the noble duke of York if Toronto/GTA becomes a city-state principality like Monaco. Who wouldn't want North America to have their own version of Prince Rainier?
As for me, down here behind the Orange Curtain, I'd be more than happy to let Texas break off to Mexico if we could get poor ol' Puerto Rico to balance out the 50 and finally be treated like a worthwhile equal at the table. Bring Bugs Bunny in to saw off Florida and let Mar-a-Lago float away. (The more we ignore climate change, chances are it's going to sink. Talk about an underwater mortgage.) In exchange, Guam becomes a state so that someone actually has to give a damn about it and not just offer it up in sacrifice to the North Koreans.
You guys might as well take Alaska before Trump lets Putin have it so he and Rexxon can roll into prairie land and "take all that oil." (Which would undoubtedly make the Chinese in Vancouver pretty P.O.'ed too.) We'll just add one more territory -- the U.S.V.I. or something -- or split up a bigly yuge state, maybe add another Dakota or the U.P. of Michigan -- to round out the 50 once more. If you do end up with Alaska as a province, do us dissident Yanks a favor, why doncha: deport Sarah Palin to Alberta. She can try to "convert" Jason Kenney while wearing a bikini that has Harper's mug screen-printed in strategic locations. With any luck, maybe Scheer, Trost, and their torch-and-pitchfork farm boys from Sasquatchestan will follow suit. Then you guys can have New England (word of advice: make New Hampshire a non-voting protectorate or leave it behind, they're libertarian gun nuts who really hate taxes) and we'll just even things out by making a city-state out of Washington, D.C.
Sounds like a plan to me. Maps aren't static, after all. Where was "Slovenia" in the 1970s? Where was "Israel" before 1948? (The Bible doesn't count.) Where was Portugal or Spain during the Alhambra/Umayyad Caliphate? Heck, where was "Turkey" during the era of the Ottoman Empire? After all, Istanbul isn't Constantinople either. Perhaps at some point it won't be connected to Kurdistan either. The only constant is change. The world isn't Frozen, so... let 'em go. (Much as I really can't stand that movie or its overplayed theme song.)
hi anon 9:45 am...So you would compare the secession of the GTA to the long struggle of the Catalonian people? Do you forget that Catalonia was granted more autonomy in 2006 only to have the Spanish Supreme Court declare its new powers unconstitutional? That's the real issue fuelling the desire for independence. And just like Quebec didn't have to ask permission to hold a referendum, neither does Catalonia. The way I see it is like this: I love Spain, I love Britain, I'm half English, but I believe that both Catalonia and Scotland have the right to self determination. So may I suggest that you check your logic...
Deletehi anon 12:53...I am incredibly impressed how an American like you manages to make many Con Canadians look like fools, by knowing more about this country than they do. And do it in such a wonderfully entertaining manner. I think you've hit the nail on the head. We need to swap Alberta for California and give Texas back to Mexico. So many of the problems we face today is because imperialist rulers drew up maps that suited them, instead of the people who lived in those places. But I must draw the line at Jason Kenney in a bikini... ;)
DeleteTheir reaction was wrong but you play into Putin's hands supporting separatist shit.
ReplyDeletelike Putin cares. Putin cares about not being another Yelstin.
Deletehi anon 10:17 am...why is separatism shit? Do you feel the same way about the U.S. decision to separate from Britain? And Catalonia is not playing into Putin's hands, Spain's violent reaction is the real threat to the future of Europe...
DeleteYour white washed fantasies of the USSR have been noted.
DeleteWhoa! Such a small mind and you wish to speak of logic?
ReplyDeleteYou need to reason again, anon 945
hi Luce...that's the way it is these days, if you do not agree with the convoluted logic of those authoritarians you're the one who is illogical. Who needs fake news, when we got fake logic?
DeleteAnyone who doesn't condemn the way the Spanish police acted against people who were just trying to vote isn't a true democrat. The Catalans are an educated people with a long history and Simon is right, the police acted like fascists.
ReplyDeleteagree, you do not make a marriage at the end of a baton
Deletehi anon 1:55 pm...thank you, you summed up how I feel perfectly. I realize that in this country where separatism is a bad word I can't count on much support. But when I see police beating up peaceful demonstrators I have no intention of remaining silent...
Deletehi Steve...you know the irony is that according to the polls, most Catalonians would have rejected independence. But after the way the Spanish state is behaving it's almost as if they want them to separate...
DeleteHey Simon! You and Mr Perfect need to come get your precious Somali refugee here in Edmonton. I didn't want him to come to come to Canada but since you two are so fond of refugees I figured you could deal with it.
ReplyDeleteHe's Harper's.
DeleteBingo! He was cheap labour brought in to work the abattoirs of Brooks by Mr Harper and somehow ended up in Edmonton. Your move now 3:40.
Deletemr perfect
I don't know where the Edmonton guy was employed, but I recall that what seemed to be a policy of government-enabled wage suppression and mass displacement of Canadians working in the packing industry was initiated while the federal Liberals were in government. Our local people took their biggest hit then. Of course, I won't excuse Harper & Associates for allowing and often assisting in the expansion of abuses.
Deletehi anon...actually that's funny, I was going to ask you if you could adopt him, or visit him in jail. After all he was accepted as a refugee in 2012, when your Great Leader was running this country. What was he thinking, what closet is he hiding in, and when can we arrest him?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what is the bit about 'monolingual" Montréalais? How many languages do you speak, 12:53? Did you know that Montréal boasts the highest percentage of trilinguals in North America? I'm one of them, and it's nothing special here: can make myself understood in a couple other languages as well.
ReplyDeleteI guess for some, "monolinguals" are those who don't speak English.