William Wallace Has a Posse
The UK's going to the polls for local elections today and it's very possible that the Scottish Nationalist Party will win control of Scotland's parliament. And if that happens, Scotland would hold a vote on whether to leave the UK in 2010. The Scotsman's poll forecasts an SNP victory:
In the constituency vote, today's poll puts the SNP on 37 per cent support, Labour 31, Lib Dems 14 and Tories 13.
And in the regional vote, it gives the SNP 32 per cent, Labour 27, Conservatives 13, Lib Dems ten, Greens nine and others nine.
The make-up of the parliament would be: SNP 45 seats; Labour 39; Tories 17; Lib Dems 16; Greens nine; others three.
It's the best shot Scotland's had at a breakaway from the UK since the heyday of Queen Anne. Sean Connery has even signed on to the Nationalists' campaign, even though he 1)lives in Spain, 2)fled the UK because of high taxes, and 3)the SNP is generally a left-wing, tax-hiking party. It's the thought that counts!
When the polls are closed results will show up here.
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Sean Connery has been a funder and supporter of the SNP for a long time.
If they would break away and form a new low tax, pro freedom "Celtic Tiger" this would be great news. But everything I have read says the Scotts or even bigger nanny state PC maniacs than the Brits. In fact they may be breaking away because England isn't totalitarian enough. It seems to be pretty depressing state of affairs in the UK.
Yes, but how can they break away until they get the Stone of Scone back?
The interesting thing about the rise of the SNP is that Gordon Brown is going to be the next PM of Britian -- Mr. Brown is a Scot and everyone thought with a Scot in Westminister the influence of the SNP would fade...part of this is that Labour has been in power since devolution in Scotland and 10 years in Britian and people are just sick of them. The other part is a very well run campaign by the SNP.
Paging Pro Libertate! Paging Pro Libertate!
mick,
not giving much credence to david cameron's chances?
or atlease the chances of the conservatives vs. labor?
Yay, ProGLib!
You finally made a mention in H&R!
Woo-hoo!
woo hoo!
yeaaa!
and he has anal bum cover that looks really cool!
It's SHITE being Scottish! We're the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking Earth! The most wretched miserable servile pathetic trash that was ever shat on civilization. Some people hate the English. I don't. They're just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can't even find a decent culture to get colonized by. We're ruled by effete assholes. It's a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won't make any fucking difference!
Ren
Ah, my one member movement has finally caused some change!
"Italians for an independant Scotland" was my brainchild back in the late 1980s.
They already have the Stone of Scone back.
And all the rugged individualistic Scots left and came to America in the 1700s. Read Sen. Webb's book on the Scots-Irish in America.
My posse's getting big.
FRRRRREEEEEEEEEEE-DDDDDDOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!
First thing they'll do is lift the ban on swords.
"SOOOOOCIIIALLLLLIIIISSSMMMMMMM!!!!" just doesn't have the same ring.
No Stevo, it's Scottish cunning and guile. They've been playing the More-Socialist-Than-Thou game to lull the English into allowing this to continue.
Mark my words: Within ten years of independence, violent, sword-wielding fiends wearing kilts and nothing else will completely control all of Scotland and parts of Northern England, just for laughs. They'll also have another Scottish Enlightenment, just to confuse the world again.
And the Scottish group AC/DC will become the official band of Scotland.
And the Scottish group AC/DC will become the official band of Scotland.
...not Slade?
hier
No, VM. It is the triumphant return of AC/DC to Scotland* that will mark the true beginning of Scottish hegemony over world science, culture, and cuisine-on-a-dare.
* "Brothers Angus, Malcolm, and George Young were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to Sydney, Australia with most of their family in 1963."
Slade it is, then.
You're not hearing me, VM. The new national anthem will either be "For Those about to Rock" or "Whole Lotta Rosie".
Or--chortle--"Back in Plaid".
Hello from Berneray (population 128) in the Outer Hebrides.
Have voted, and blogged, and taken pictures. Here we've had a fine day for it all:
http://www.silversprite.com/?p=292
Hope the weather is as good for you there.
Run Run Away.
The Proclaimers?
John Kirriemuir,
My family (a different line than mentioned above) is from Colonsay, in the Inner Hebrides. Though they left a looong time ago.
I checked out the blog--great pictures! I'll have to go to Scotland one of these days.
. The new national anthem will ... be .... "Whole Lotta Rosie".
What's your national anthem about?
A 266 pound woman.
Cool.
VM,
Be silent. It's AC/DC or no one.
Matt L,
Precisely. Not that I join that sort of thinking--Mrs. Libertate is thin when not pregnant--but it is funny.
If I had to pick an AC/DC song for a national anthem it would be "If You Want Blood (You Got It)". It would be so cool to hear that at the Olympics after winning a gold medal.
ProGLib - you're expecting a mini Libertate?
yeaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, but "For Those about to Rock" rocks so much! And it has cannons!
VM,
Oh, yes, well we are. We're havin' a wee lass.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!! yeaaaaaaaa!!!!!
woo hoo!
that's terrific, fantastic, wonderful news!
fantastisch ausgezeichnet auserlesen leiwand cool grossartig fabelhaft
*SLADE on 8 track for everyone!!!!!!!
yeaaaaaaaaaa!!!
"Hell's Bells" would be cool too.
Thanks! We're both thrilled. She has children from a previous marriage, but this is my first. About time, after 40 years on this strange, little world.
I think my daughter may be the Kwisatz Haderach. I can hear her making predictions in the womb.
Matt L,
I was saving that for the opening of Parliament.
she's the "short cut"?
[keed keed]
that's fantastic. handshakes all around!
We'll have SLADE playing at the birthing party!
ProGLib,
My condolences.
(cuz you're having a girl. Get it? We're guys, so we are disappointed if we have a girls, right? So instead of congratulations, I give you condolences. Funny, right?)
On a more serious note,
Congratulations!
Due date?
Late May. All planned, incidentally. True story: We were going to get married last November, but the tax man would've hit us up for a number of Ks more if we had. Between that and me getting a new job, our nuptials were delayed until last month.
So I'm more libertarian than ever.
"mick,
not giving much credence to david cameron's chances?"
Lost in Translation -- Gordon Brown will become PM before the next general elections because Tony Blair has said he'll step down before the next general elections...
Urkobold so confused.
How can man and woman make baby if they are not married?
God and Mary weren't married, right?
"Hey Mum! Sean Connery wants to smack you in the face!"
I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.
I believe that Sean Connery told Barbara Walters that sometimes you need to bitch slap a woman.
I think my daughter may be the Kwisatz Haderach. I can hear her making predictions in the womb.
Don't put the Water of Life in the fridge, 'cause you might mistake it for a beer and drink it. You know how bad that would be.
Oh, and congratulations!
This would be a good thing if they can then exile all the bloody chavs that are ruining Glasgow into Wales where they belong.
Slade needs to come back so they can sing the national anthem, "Mama Weer All Crazee Now".
Hey, guys -- I have some bad news about "Scottish band AC/DC":
THEY ARE AUSTRALIAN.
Slade isn't.
[runs runs away]
Good, because that old Slade song "Run, Run Away" well and truly rocks.
Even if the singer does look like a failed incarnation of Dr. Who.
Now, the Proclaimers had several good songs, in addition to "500 Miles." In fact, they even had a song calling for Scottish independence:
CAP IN HAND
I could tell the meaning of a word like "serene"
I got some 'Oh' grades when I was sixteen
I can tell the difference between magarine and butter
I can say "Saskatchewan" without starting to stutter
But I can't understand
Why we let someone else rule our land
Cap in hand
I could get a broken jaw from bein' in a fight
I know it's evening when day turns to night
I can understand why Stranraer lie so lowly
They could save a lot of points by signing Hibe's goalie
But I can't understand
Why we let someone else rule our land
Cap in hand
We fight -- when they ask us
We boast -- then we cower
We beg
For a piece of
What? What's already
What? What's already
What? What's already ours
Once I thought I could make God a bribe
So I said I was in His lost tribe
Getting handouts can be so frustratin'
"Get in line son, there's five million waitin' "
I can't understand
Why you let someone else rule your land
Cap in hand
I can't understand
Why we let someone else rule our land
Cap in hand
I can't understand
Why you let someone else rule your land
Cap in hand
----------------
You can even hear the song here, although it's unfortunately paired with someone else's dopey video.
However, it wouldn't work as an independent Scottish anthem because it's plainly calling for independence before the fact, so it would be like crying out for something you've already got, which would be dumb.
As an anthem, we might also consider "In a Big Country" by Big Country as a nice, sober but Scottish-sounding anthem, even though the lyrics are totally Rorschach.
By the way, here is a Proclaimers-to-English translation of some of the more baffling lines from the Proclaimers song above.
I got some 'Oh' grades when I was sixteen = "I got some good grades when I was in high school."
I can understand why Stranraer lie so lowly
They could save a lot of points by signing Hibe's goalie
= "I know why the Stranraer football team plays so badly -- they ought to sign up the goalie from the Hibernian team."
Once I thought I could make God a bribe
So I said I was in His lost tribe
= "Once I thought things would be better for me if I thought of myself as British instead of Scottish" (referring to an Anglo-supremacist legend that England was settled by the Lost Tribes of Israel and that the English are the true Chosen People).
Oh, crap. I didn't see this until just now:
Pro Libertate | May 3, 2007, 4:09pm | #
No, VM. It is the triumphant return of AC/DC to Scotland* that will mark the true beginning of Scottish hegemony over world science, culture, and cuisine-on-a-dare.
* "Brothers Angus, Malcolm, and George Young were born in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to Sydney, Australia with most of their family in 1963."
I guess Scotland might also have a claim on them, then.
... And congrats to Pro Libertate on the impending birth of the wee lass.
(Someone else can post know if they want.)
"now"
MacBurma Shave!
And all the rugged individualistic Scots left and came to America in the 1700s. Read Sen. Webb's book on the Scots-Irish in America.
Yes, this is the proper way to mentiion Senator Webb here. No mention of his aide getting by on a potential machine gun charge with the Steve Martin defense "I did not know I had a gun".
Saves the cost of milkshakes to Mr. Weigel, Balko and Gillispie too.
Someone else can post know if they want[...]now
DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW YOU REALLY SCREWED THAT UP, STEVO? DO YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENED? THIS MAY BE THE TIME, STEVO.
Stevo,
It took you a while, but now you've reached AC/DC enlightenment.
So, which song should be the Scottish national anthem? Ooh, I forgot another candidate--"Have a Drink on Me". That's pretty apropos.
"Let's Get It Up" sounds pretty triumphal and anthemic to me.
BTW, ever listen to Hayseed Dixie? They do AC/DC songs in a country/bluegrass style, with banjos and fiddles.
I like their cover of "TNT," because they use farts for the explosion noises.
Although their version of "Hell's Bells" may be their best. With the ominous banjo intro, it would be perfect music for the opening credits of a movie about a small rural town that has a Terrible Hidden Secret..
Well, following the "Back in Plaid" concept above, they could redo "TNT" as "SNP".
"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" has bagpipes, incidentally. Maybe it could be remade as "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rule Scotland)"
BTW, Hayseed Dixie perform "Hell's Bells" here.
(Tempo seems a little bit faster than on the CD, though.)
Pro L, sincerest congrats on the Wee Lass. Please do report on the birth and such, and give my regards to Mrs. L.
I do have to disagree on the Scots National Anthem. It's got to be "Saturday Night" by the Bay City Rollers. In the silly pants. It just does, that's all.
Oh, and my ancestors, Clan MacPherson, arrived on these shores from Glasgow in 1746 and proceeded to engage in the great Scots national sports of cattle thieving, fueding, and the production of contraband booze.
Oh, yes, well we are. We're havin' a wee lass.
Congrats there, PL.
Thanks, everyone! It truly is the Summer of Pro Libertate š
Karen, I've got two Scottish lines, but both have been here for a while. The one from the Hebrides came over in the late 1600s. Needless to say, I didn't grow up eating haggis or anything š
Barkeep, Gimme a Rob Roy.
What, no love for:
Aztec Camera
Teenage Fanclub
Snow Patrol
Franz Ferdinand
Jesus and Mary Chain?
Fun stuff. They also do a nice cover of "Centerfold".
Possible official Scottish bands:
Too bad Johnny Cunningham has passed away, or Silly Wizard could reform. Of course, the Battlefield Band is still going strong. There's a group with a great name, Ceilidh Minogue.
Roddy Frame could (re)assemble a new version of Aztec Camera. Let's not forget The Exploited.
Peter Wishart, who was in Big Country and Runrig, is an MP. He's the SNP's Chief Whip at Westminster.
BTW, legends have it that the Stone of Destiny was brought to Caledonia from Scotia Major (Ireland), by either the Dal Riada Scots or St. Columba, so unless the plan is to eventually reunite Erin and Alba, maybe it's about time to return it. š
Kevin
There's always Salsa Celtica, which is a mix of Cuban and Scottish music. Yes, how did that happen?
Hey look!!
Not only does Europe correctly call low tax small government types liberals but "left-wing, tax-hiking" Nationalists are called by their correct name as well.
Sorry Joe but you are a member of the American reformed fascist party