Tuesday 5 May 2009

Hope against hope – the hopeless Ian Parsley

Well, if repeating the word 'hope' incessantly worked for Barack Obama, then why shouldn't it work for the hopeless candidate of the Alliance Party in the European election?

"Parsley submits nomination and says a vote for him is vote a for hope"

"The politics of fear is about scare tactics from the past, demanding votes simply to fulfill a redundant argument of interest only within Northern Ireland. The politics of hope is about a positive message for the future - a positive message which voters can send out to the whole of Europe by choosing a new type of politics on 4 June."

"Europe - Time for the Politics of Hope", "… we have set out on a campaign where you can replace the politics of fear with the politics of hope", "… we are replacing the politics of fear with the politics of hope."

"We must deliver message of hope"

And so on. A quick Googling of Barack Obama's collected campaign speeches will probably give you a fairly good idea of what the hapless and hopeless Parsley will come out with next.

How sad that the Alliance Party was reduced to selecting as its 'unity' candidate (did the Green Party not get that message?) a first-time district councillor who, in his whole political career, has received 343 votes, and only got elected in the most Alliance-friendly corner of Northern Ireland on the coat-tails of David Alderdice.

Apart from what Parsley's selection says about the paucity of talent in the Alliance Party, and the unwillingness of its more senior members to submit to ritual humiliation, the man himself is a rather pompous, self-important example of all that is wrong with the Alliance Party (have a look at the 'history' of his Wikipedia article – do Wikipedia now allow vanity articles?)

Look, also, at some of his statements on Europe and the European election:

" … in June, voters can make a clear statement that Northern Ireland is ready to move on from conflict, to lead Europe's recovery from recession … ". To lead Europe's recovery from recession … ?! Has he no idea of how small and irrelevant Northern Ireland is, or how completely retarded it is economically? There is barely a private sector in Northern Ireland, and yet Parsley expects it to 'lead Europe'.

" … The news [of 30 jobs created by Eircom] underlines the potential Northern Ireland holds to attract investment and to lead Europe out of recession … ". That again!

"… this campaign is about improving our engagement with Europe, not by rolling over to every directive making us work for Europe, but by directing Europe to work for us …". Um, sorry to point this out to you, wannabe-MEP, but directives are not open to discussion – they must be transposed into national law. You will 'roll over' to them, or face fines imposed by the European Court of Justice.

" … we should focus on the concrete health and quality of life benefits of environmental conservation in local communities. There is no reason whatsoever the Greater Belfast area should not be a world leader in all of these fields … ". Does he want to represent 'Greater Belfast' or Northern Ireland?

"At this time of educational uncertainty, economic decline and environmental chaos, it is time for everyone who is ambitious for Northern Ireland to unite and speak with one voice, and to make that voice heard in the most powerful parliament in the world." More powerful than the US Congress? The Bundesrat? Westminster? A parliament that cannot even initiate its own legislation! What planet is Parsley on?

In any case, it is rather academic who the Alliance Party select to lose in the European Parliament election. Their vote is insufficient to get their candidate elected. In the past they have received small votes, or have not even stood. To avoid humiliation in 2004 they 'lent their support' to John Gilliland – a 'unity' candidate who failed to unify many people. In 1999 their voters deserted them for John Hume, in 1994 they got 4.1% of the vote, down from the 5.2% they received in 1989. In 1984 they received 5.0%, down from 6.8% in 1979, which was the first directly elected European Parliament election in Northern Ireland. So Parsley has not got a very steep hill to climb – a vote that has declined to zero (6.8%, 5%, 5.2%, 4.1%, 2.1%, and zero%) can only bounce back upwards.

The main hope for Parsley is that the more short-sighted of the DUP's elderly voters will mistake his name for that of Ian Paisley, and give him their votes by mistake. Failing that, he will be lucky to attract the 30,000 votes of the diehard Alliance supporters.

8 comments:

Militant Mike said...

Well Ian's got my vote no matter what you say - i was also one of the 343 so that probably explains it.

PS -I only discovered this Ulsters Doomed blogspot yesterday and like it.

Anonymous said...

All this from a nut who believes the "relentless march of history" alone will lead us to a Republican Utopia (presumably).

I'd say someone who speaks a few languages and has run a successful business would have a better chance of achieving the above than Bairbre "I'm going to deliver a nuclear-free Europe (I just haven't told the French yet)" de Brun.

And as for the candidates who are going to persuade us all to leave the EU, or persuade us they've changed by shaving, or who think you vote for change by electing the same old suit who's been there 20 years...

Suddenly, Parsley looks pretty good, I'd say. And I was one of the non-343 who voted against him last time...!

Horseman said...

Hi 'anonymous', you're Ian, I assume! Nobody else except you keeps referring to yourself so self-importantly as "someone who speaks a few languages and has run a successful business". Strange how you never tell us what your 'successful business' actually is. Why not put it on your sad little Wikipedia article?

And of course you didn't vote for yourself in 2005 - because you live in Groomsport and you stood in Hollywood - two different DEAs, so you couldn't have voted for yourself.

Militant Mike said...

Well i thought Ian did fine on the BBC Politics show on sunday 17th may - why not watch it yerselves folks on the BBC iplayer bit of their website and go straight to 52mins 20secs to Jim introducing him.

ps i wud have preferred a brighter coloured tie but maybe that being a bit pernickety.

Don't vote for the rest, Parsleys the best.

Militant Mike said...

and he did fine on The Politics Show yesterday - bit of a rabble rouser me thinks.

Horseman said...

Militant Mike,

and he did fine on The Politics Show yesterday ... - though the camera positions tended to exclude him a lot, as he was at the end of the row. He got a bit tangled up with his 'rabble' comments, of course, but at least gave us a laugh.

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Alan Castle said...

Horsemen, i have to totally disagree with your point of view, i know Ian, and although he is no longer in the Party i believe in, i can tell you, he offers this country more than the bloody fools up there at the moment trying to destroy this fragile NI economy.

I mean HOW dare you slag of the economy of Northern Ireland, as if myself and other like minded businessman added to. I have put millions into this country, what the hell have you done apart from slag it off.

You havent the first clue by your statement about the business, and how we are suffering, and any attempt is better that the gobshytes paying the likes of InvestNI to spend millions on empty properties while my company and other businessmen like myself are shat on for higher rates, harder regulations and more costs than you can blink at, I know he will work for the country, so have some faith in the new people like Ian, i know he will serve my business better than most on that hill. Even if his efforts are small and low for your level, my substantial business that you blow over will be greatful for any movement for me to create more wealth back into this great country