There is something about Alex Salmond I could never tire of slapping, if only he were within arm’s reach. During 2007, this blog would frequently scandalise nationalists by mocking Salmond’s habit of waving claymores over his head to commemorate this or that historical defeat of Scotland in battle. But this photo (right) just takes the biscuit.
It isn’t simply that, under the circumstances, “no they couldn’t,” it is the sheer gall of a narrow nationalist attempting to borrow the fairy dust off a post-racial candidate whose key call to arms was about unity, not division. How on Earth does:
we are not a collection of Red States and Blue States, we are the United States of America
(Iowa speech)
… square with a plan to divide the UK into a patchwork of mini-states? The only candidate in the US election who has expressed support for independence was Sarah Palin. We should, I suppose, be grateful that at least Alex saw the wisdom of not grabbing hold of those particular coat-tails.
UPDATE: Ah, so the SNP are claiming Obama nicked “yes, we can” from them. Which is a bit like the Lib Dems going around claiming that anyone who uses the phrase “Make the Difference” read our 1997 manifesto.
Excellent. I didn’t know the SNP was using “Yes We Can” as a slogan. I think the owners of Bob the Builder might have a better case against them than Obama…
A very good point that Obama was unifying, not dividing.
Personally, I think Salmond looks – and sounds – a lot like Shrek. This doesn’t diminish any desire to slap, though.
Yours,
An Edinburgh Correspondent!