A couple of weeks back I was talking to Siân about what I perceived as the shameless pro-YES campaign being run for the Lisbon Treaty. I’ve been taking notes of the kind of voices that are being given air time from the NO side and the amount of YES side commentary and blatant lies that are being thrown around, coupled with ridiculous amounts of auld buddies from business lobby groups backing up their political friends. Anyhow, I made the remark that it would only be a matter of time before we saw an advert on RTE from Aer Lingus that told people that their deal for a trip Lisbon was just too good to ignore.

Gobsmacked, I sit here with a cup of tea watching ads on RTE and behold, Aer Lingus’ new advert for city breaks, hypnotic music, oodles of enticing and pleasant sounding words, mentioning of a great deal, and finally in big, bold letters, in the middle of the screen, “LISBON” – I kid you not. I’m not big on conspiracy theories as I like cold hard facts but I said that this would happen and now, 2 weeks before the treaty vote we have the advert that asks people how they could say NO to Lisbon. I don’t believe in that kind of coincidence – not in a million years.

When the Green party in this country were sucked into power last year by the great vacuous siphon of Fianna Fáil, I thouhgt to myself, this is no longer a party of idealists and tree huggers led by the political incarnation of Duncan from About the House; this is a Marxist and Sellout Party.

Sadly I have not yet been proven wrong. Despite all their fluttering and spluttering like a diesel engine under water, the party has stood fast in its only stable belief at the moment – it’s better to be inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in.

I recently read an article in the mainstream printed media that cited further rumblings from the Green Party about further taxes on our emissions, our fuel, and pushing, pushing, pushing us further towards a carbon tax on every man woman and child. All this despite the fact that the country already has one of the higest global costs of living and the fact that we are in serious recession with no free money to spend on taxes that will be unavoidable if such measures are taken.

Recently I had the pleasure of spending lots of hard-earned money to get a BER certificate survey performed on my house that I am selling. The guy who did the assessment is a top guy and a true professional but enlightened me to the fact that half the assessment is guess work and based on assumptions. It doesn’t matter that you have a gas boiler that you may never use to heat your water it still brings down your rating if it’s not 100% efficient and many more stupid assumptions. So much in fact that a 5-year-old, modern home, with good insulation and double glazing was awarded the average rating of a D2, which is pretty low down the scale. Imagine introducing a carbon tax on that? Imagine what anyone with a 20-year-old home is facing!

Another thing that particularly annoys me about the Green Party in this country is not only do they choose to ignore EU stupidity such as the BER system and its impact on people but they also choose to ignore our own national stupidity. Just over a year ago the new road tax system came into being and vehicles were to be taxed on their emissions. On face value a wonderfully progressive idea, even if it doesn’t take into consideration that somebody might only drive 1000 km per year and have almost no emissions. However, such was the stupidity of our implementation that all possible Green intent was striped from this plan when it was announced that it only applied to cars registered in 2008 and beyond. Imagine an outwardly Green policy to reduce emissions and save the planet is actually encouraging waste, disposal of existing cars and purchase of new cars, incurring shipping, manufacturing, etc waste and emissions and dissuades people from the primary function of environmental consciousness, to recycle and reuse. Yet again our Green policies are nothing more than penalise the majority and tax everyone. Everyone knows that the only sensible way to be environmentally conscious about vehicle emissions is to tax the usage, i.e. tax the fuel and do away with road tax. Alas that idea would never fly.

Yes, our dear Green Party presides over a government of incompetence that sits only to tax and taxes only to cover its own blundering expenditure rather than putting any thought into policy making and budgetary planning. Indeed I think it is fair to say that the only shade of Green left in this party is that which reflects the envy of how Fianna Fáil have managed to garner so much power and that Super Duncan and co will never realise such ambition.

Dawn’s early light illuminated my living room while I lay asleep. A new light for a new day; little did I realise in my semi-conscious state that this was the dawn of a new age. 

Abraham Lincoln had ratified, in 1865, a bill that would become known as the emancipation of the slaves in America. While ratified by congress it would be another 100 years or so until the rights of African Americans were gaining acceptance amidst a horribly racist and bigoted nation. The civil rights marches of the late 50′s and 60′s, followed by the Black Power Movement of the late 60′s and early 70′s, opened the eyes of the world to the injustice and suffering of many races at the hands of White oppression. A sequence of events that should never have had to be fought for, was put in place and these events would eventually culminate in a great victory that would send shockwaves around the world. Shockwaves of joy, jubilance, and belief that finally we are on the road to becoming a less oppressive and racist planet.

Those shockwaves crashed on my doorstep this morning before I set off for work and while I was listening to the radio; the morning news. Senator Barack Obama had been officially elected as president of the United States of America – history had been made. The first black president of the United States of America. Even writing the preceding text I feel uncomfortable. Not that America has a black president but because I have always failed to see the difference and why distinction should be made between two races of people. In terms of the suffering and hardship that way too many people have endured, this election victory symbolises a huge shift in the temporal race plane for acceptance, understanding, and equality. Nobody would want to take this from those who fought hard so that one day equality would be shown and people across the land would recognise that there was no reason or just mindset that should stop anybody from achieving what they are capable of.

I openly hoped that Obama would win the election. I admired his poise, his capability, and I believe that his financial outlook will be both good for the U.S. and eventually for the global financial crisis. In fact I believe that our politicians in Ireland should probably take a leaf out of his book in terms of looking at investing and sustaining indigenous business in our country and not being reliant on FDI to bolster our economy. I’m not knowingly a Democrat, in the context of U.S. politics; within the Republican camp, I disliked Bush (both of) but I admired and respected Reagan for the achievements made while he was in office. For me the U.S. Presidentials were about the one who appeared to be the most competent and the one who saw America’s internal problems and wasn’t afraid to address them. America has a huge impact on the rest of the globe and needs to be careful that its foreign policies do not exclude the global economy nor the effect that the combined consuming power of the U.S. can have on that.

Barack Obama appears to have the mindset that will bring great stability to the U.S. and ultimately that makes life better for everyone on the planet. His historic win in terms of race and civil rights history should not overshadow the fact that this man has achieved a great victory; through words of wisdom, articulate speeches delivered, intelligent policies, competent debating, and overall charisma. Obama has won over a very partisan audience with his politics to become America’s next president and when one man can overcome all odds to gain such a victory, we must surely say that we have reached a turning point in the history of this world. Good luck President Obama – we wish you well.

Extra! Extra!

Damien Mulley sums it up nicely