As she only got coverage late in the race she still remains a bit of an unknown so I wouldnât be overhyping her yet. If she is competent and principled she should do fine and may do some good for the country. Well youâd hope she would as politicians of that ilk are few and far between in Ireland. Manyâs the politician that burst on to the public sphere talking the talk only for them to show their true colours/incompetence and self preservation instincts as time goes by.
But thatâs also the case with pretty much all so called right wing âpopulistsâ.
Trump most obviously, but also the Brexiteers and the Le Pens, Salvinis and Bolsonaros of this world.
I donât think Casey is a fool. I think heâs a charlatan he plays up his stupidity because he thinks it will play well in terms of getting votes.
It also means coverage. Stupidity generates coverage.
The Green Party play to idealism and a hopeful view of the world. I find it funny how âidealismâ is one of these words that is denigrated by so many people. We need more idealism in politics - way, way more of it.
I think you are giving him too much credit
Youâre overthinking it. His profile has been completely driven by the media and online "punditsâ as his uninformed opinions create clicks and sells papers. Theres load of talking heading lining up then to counter him ( read boost their own profile).
Thatâs exactly why he plays the fool
Stupidity sells, especially in the age of the INTERNET
Itâs how all opportunist snake oil salespeople boost their profile - by saying stupid, incendiary things which appeal to base prejudice - they know there is a market in appealing to stupidity and base prejudice
Itâs how Nigel Farage gained a profile
A few months back nobody had heard of Mark Francois - that all changed when he started mentioning the war in his interviews
I happen to think Francois is a genuine fool but he knew heâd raise his profile and support by playing on that - he was right
Fascism is deliberately disruptive and dispenses with accepted truths and attempts to create a parallel, dystopian world - it is a double bind for people who inhabit the reality-based universe - if you platform or even counter bigotry and stupidity you tacitly legitimise it - if you ignore it or make fun of it, that doesnât work either, and just feeds into the circle of anger and stupidity that fascism thrives on
Thatâs the case today and it was in the 1920s and 1930s too
History has shown fascism generally has to completely discredit itself via a catastrophe for it to lose mass support
Thankfully it has never had that mass support in Ireland and hopefully never will - but there are loads of people on this forum who would be right there cheerleading it if it ever did get mass support
I was amused reading @artfoley and @sidney duking it out over AodhĂ n. While i think AodhĂ n is actually principled and idealistic (tipped up here as next leader @ 14s) I think heâs a bit too much so. He needs a dose of realism too. And he has the marmite problem that Kelly has as illustrated by the lads. Ged Nash is the future lads.
id actually have a bit of time for nash
What do you think Peter Caseyâs end goal is here?
Idealism is the new realism
Without idealism, big problems can never be solved
Every advancement in human rights and social provision was won by idealists whose views became the mainstream
Aodhan is authentic in that regard
So called âelectabilityâ is bollocks
âElectabilityâ is a PR and focus group idea which turns out bland candidates with no ideas
Itâs why every time the Democrats pick a so called âelectableâ candidate for president in the US, they lose, while the âunelectableâ candidates tend to win
âElectabilityâ is Joe Biden, who stands for nothing
Authenticity is the real electability
i always mix Aodhan and Eamon Ryan up.
End statement.
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I didnât mention electability. Youâve just decided to have a rant about it. I donât think heâs the best leader for Labour.
To become Irelandâs Trump
To turn Irish politics into a total farce where crazy ideas and total idiocy become the mainstream
To feed his own ego, and make his own ego, his pied piper nature and his own immoralism and shamelessness the vehicle for doing that
Fascism has never had a positive vision for society - and Casey certainly has none
He isnât going to achieve any of this or come close to achieving it
But this was and is his goal - heâs no different to any fascist in that regard
What is the end goal of the Brexiteers? Itâs the same - and they are achieving it - the chaos in Britain now is the entirely logical outcome of this stuff
You didnât use the specific word âelectabilityâ but that was clearly what you meant - your use of the word âMarmiteâ and reference that you donât think he would be the best leader for Labour make it obvious
You mentioned Nash as leader (again you didnât use the word âleaderâ specifically but thatâs obviously what you meant)
Nash was elected in 2011 and so has been around Irish politics for a good while now
Yet nobody knows who he is or what he stands for
I imagine the reason you mentioned Nash is because you think he will offend less people - but that isnât how you win - especially in a party which now finds itself as marginalised as Labour
People know who OâRiordain is and what he stands for
Labour doesnât need an empty vessel - it needs somebody to stand for something, and argue passionately and unapologetically for it
OâRiordain is the best Labour have by a mile in that regard
Nunan and Doyle eliminated in Ireland South. 67k votes to be distributed. This is the key moment of the count.
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You must be the richest man alive so?
How long is it now since the micks voted? 
Stupidity and inability to debate is your calling card, pal, whereas intelligence and willingness to debate is mine
Youâre an empty vessel
The proof is in the number of simpletons who like your stupid posts
Birds of a feather flock together and all that
Did anyone hear Mary Wilsonâs interview with Pearse Doc yesterday evening on Drivetime?
Now call me an ex-Shinner bot, but the hostility was off the scales I felt. And this was from Mary Wilson who Iâd consider less likely than many others in RTĂ to be hostile towards Sinn FĂ©in.
I expected him to be challenged and pressed on their poor performance but she was incredibly salty and snide. She took a right bitchy tone from the get go and wouldnât let him develop any point. All the questions were leading as well.
âWelcome to Pearse Doherty whoâs joining us from the Midlands North West count centre in Castlebar. Will Matt Carthy provide a ray of light in what youâll surely agree has been a disastrous few days for Sinn FĂ©in?â
âI donât have the numbers in front of me but how has Matt Carthyâs first preference vote held up compared to 2014?â
Doherty said he didnât have 2014 numbers to hand but Carthy got 13% this time. Wilson, who apparently didnât have the numbers, jumped in immediately in an enthusiastic âgotchaâ kind of way to say thatâs down from 17%/18% in 2014.
She then started saying âright right rightâ in a really haughty and dismissive way as he was speaking.
She asked him about lessons to learn and he said they needed to look at the areas where they did well and where they did poorly. He said with respect to the former theyâd need to see what was it that resonated with voters and made them vote Sinn FĂ©in. She, of course, interrupted him then because she wanted the interview to go a different way.
There was a load of petty/pithy little interruptions before she cut him off mid sentence then.
Sinn FĂ©in have An Phoblacht but they need to set up their own TV and radio station.
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An phoblacht is now a glossy mag sold in mainstream newsagents .
Probably a metaphor there .