I am knackered, Bushed, Exhausted, Drained, Burned Out….You name it….I am absolutely gubbed!
I have given 3 years of my life to write and fight for Scotland to regain it’s Independence..
Why did I do so? Well not for me.. I have lived most of my life now, and I do not expect to live all that much longer.. If I make it to 62, I will have done better than than the male expectancy in some parts of Glasgow!
My mother died at 62, and only saw two years of her pension after grafting and scrubbing away for all her life.
So I have no real expectations for myself…Not because of where I live, but rather the lifestyle that I have led.. I smoke too much and have never really looked after myself…that is my choice,and there is a price to pay some day, and I can’t blame anyone else when my choices come home to roost.
That is reality, that is here and now, and no matter what, it has all been up to me.
Sometimes..there is nobody to blame but ourselves, and we should not go looking for scapegoats, yet this is what happens all too often!
In some ways I have an Idealistic view of Scots and of Scotland, and I guess I always have been that way, and part of me always will be that way.
In general I love my Country, I love my people, and I am proud to belong here.
Scots are in general the very best people in the world in my book,and In general we are very much loved the whole world over. I should know, I have covered the globe and when I have said where I come from, the reaction has been nothing but welcoming and good.
But lets not beat about the bush here, we have our fair share of indulgent bastards of all classes too! (sorry about the language, but its the best way I can express it)
When you look at the two campaigns and compare them, you see the divisions very clearly.
YES was a bloomin Disaster! NO was an absolute Disgrace! And Disgrace was what we have been left with.
If you have read Auld Acquaintance at all, you will see that I very early on had a load of criticism about how they were running it, and to be honest, If It were not for the grassroots taking control we would have been absolutely gubbed!
It is to the vast credit of all the local YES groups and other parties led by the people that we came as close as we did. The positive smiley faced uncritical face of the official campaign HQ was a load of garbage…. We should have had a public media voice which was tearing into all the garbage fear mongering shit that we were being fed, while at the same time really pointing out the very many positives we had to offer, and why we could and would be so much better off by being Independent..
Instead….We had a media entirely against us,without challenge.. We were fed utter dross, and barely whimpered..
Where we should have been hitting them with full barrels, we hung back..
It was left to those of us on Social Media and Blogs to try and get the message across…
Wings and Newsnet and Bella were the most read and shared….But be honest…How many of the millions out there even heard of me or read what I said? Not that many.
I know that I rebuffed most of the main arguments, but I also know that at best I got 1500 views for an article.
I was often sat listening to constructed debates on Tv….almost screaming at politicians on our side to up their game…to really mix things up, to not be constrained by the repetitive questions which simply were a regurgitation of Better Together crap!
Far too often….They played the game set out to them, not actually grabbing the ball and running with it..
If you play by the oppositions rules….You get stuffed… And We were…Well and Truly.
So what now?
Well on the morning of the 19th while being deflated, I thought to myself….NO….I will not accept this! This aint over.
All the energy of the local YES campaigns, RIC, Women for Independence etc, can not just die like this!
Scotland is not the Scotland of 3 years ago…We are Alive, We are Engaged, We are Aware!
No way can we just curl up and die… NO WAY!
Others like myself obviously thought the same way that day, and the 45 were born.
I thought.. Great!!!
Here we have something to hold onto.
But almost as soon as I joined, I left….
Why? Because there was an almost immediate attack on pensioners, who were perceived as being those who denied us our Independence.
No thoughts of the lies told to many of them that their pensions would be at risk! Many pensioners don’t have the resources to the Internet that we have. Many rely on word of mouth and the BBC and the newspapers! Plus many were told out and out lies, not counteracted until far too late.
In any case ….Many pensioners still voted YES!
I then thought about it, and decided the 45 were not for me.
If we are to gain Independence…We need far more than 45% , and much like we might feel justified as the shit hits the fan over war, fracking, nuclear dumping and broken worthless vows…
Making others feel like crap because they got taken in aint going to help us!
I have seen all sorts of blame games going on, and they are not pretty! Not even worthy of the Scotland I know..
Yes …We may be grieving now, but if we get our act together….not for long!
On that day…. 19th September 2014…. YES Alliance was born…
Come and join us….
Next time….
In fact NOW
We begin again…. YES survives… and we will win..
Take the positives, learn the lessons, and join together…
Believe!
YES WE CAN! And WE WILL! In Alliance …Parties, People, and Nation. #YES Alliance
Don’t Blame…..Get Even and Win!
Auld Acquaintance 
I don’t have a Facebook account, and am reluctant to get one given their privacy issues. Is there any other means of joining the Alliance other than Facebook?
Sianna,facebook only knows what you tell it,as little as you like or as much as.I have had a facebook account for a few years now and there is lots of good discussions on it,and lots of rubbish ones also.You can always leave it if you feel uncomfortable with it,but I have had some great conversations with folk all around the world,and still learning from it as well.
Well said Rod. As you know I’m a pensioner who voted AYE as did my oldest sister, but my younger sister, not a pensioner yet, voted no. I live up here in the Aberdeen bubble and all ages voted no. Many of my son’s friends were taken in by Brown, I know hard to credit but too young to know his disastrous history though I tried my hardest to explain how he raided the pension pot so that we now have no pot etc. The only answer I can come up with here is to try and show how much more wealthy they could be with independence. Unfortunately as we have high employment here they believe the crap about scroungers so ideas of fairness etc just goes over their head. I know I’m cynical but in this instance I think I’m honest.
Better finish my rant, which might be better posted on YES ALLIANCE
AYE
Beautiful piece… echoes my turmoil and attiudes as I imagine it does many others. It is true that the YES campaign only began to make headway when they started kicking back. They seemed to imagine they could hug and cuddle their way to victory against the British empire’s worst protectorate… well they finally understood they blddy couldn’t. THAT was again the grass roots who changed the tone finally forcing the SNP to grow a pair but too late by about 6 months to a year. It is peculiar seeing my thought written down by another in our sturggle but there it is. It is true that we ae not made of faint stuff and we shook ourselves back in to action the next day – that was one heck of a feat but we did and we ain’t giving up till we get what we want. The BritNats know this and are sneakily organising tactical voting in Scotland but if the polls hold (and with the Brit leaders’ debates they probably won’t unfortunately) then we can perhaps fill Westminster with SNP MPs and in a hung parliament or a difficult coalition relationship between the Tories and UKIP then things might go our way.
Well written Rod I have read your blogs,and the poems,thanks for them.I am 62 the noo,I I have stopped smoking again,and never was a great drinker,a “two can Dan” and my Alice made sure I never drank that often.I had a thought about how the SNP behaved over the course of the referendum debate.I recall it being said on more than a few occasions that if a majority of Scottish seats in the Westminster parliament went to the SNP then that would be a vote for independence and that is how we shall win through.The referendum was just the first half of the game.The question I think remains is this,have enough people been convinced of independence and that the referendum was somehow not fair or “Kosher” the ire may be fresh in all of the minds as to vote for the SNP come May and we win the 30 seats needed.Like you I found myself shouting at the TV “why don’t you ask this or that ” and my suspicions were aroused several times when I could see that the yes campaign from the SNP was not as robust as it should have been.Is Alex Salmond smarter than I even thought has he been playing the game ten times better then I thought?It looks like Westminster will be in a strange mix come the May elections,turmoil might describe it better,with UKIP,with Labour in dispute with itself,Lib-Dems a big question over if and any?The Tories leaning very far right and having tied themselves into another referendum over an EU exit.The SNP could be the only party with the same message and with cohesion.The more I think about it the more it makes for a plan,and don’t you just love it if a plan comes together!The referendum may have been dismissed by Westminster as a new parliamentary session is not bound by the previous one,but a majority of seats cant be ignored! is this when the whistle will blow.I have had confidence in Alex Salmond and certain he had a plan although nothing came out as a game changer in the last few days of the referendum like I and I suspect many others thought it would.I was dismayed and wondered why there was not a storming finish perhaps I’ve guessed right for once.
Reblogged this on charlesobrien08 and commented:
Well written Rod I have read your blogs,and the poems,thanks for them.I am 62 the noo,I I have stopped smoking again,and never was a great drinker,a “two can Dan” and my Alice made sure I never drank that often.I had a thought about how the SNP behaved over the course of the referendum debate.I recall it being said on more than a few occasions that if a majority of Scottish seats in the Westminster parliament went to the SNP then that would be a vote for independence and that is how we shall win through.The referendum was just the first half of the game.The question I think remains is this,have enough people been convinced of independence and that the referendum was somehow not fair or “Kosher” the ire may be fresh in all of the minds as to vote for the SNP come May and we win the 30 seats needed.Like you I found myself shouting at the TV “why don’t you ask this or that ” and my suspicions were aroused several times when I could see that the yes campaign from the SNP was not as robust as it should have been.Is Alex Salmond smarter than I even thought has he been playing the game ten times better then I thought?It looks like Westminster will be in a strange mix come the May elections,turmoil might describe it better,with UKIP,with Labour in dispute with itself,Lib-Dems a big question over if and any?The Tories leaning very far right and having tied themselves into another referendum over an EU exit.The SNP could be the only party with the same message and with cohesion.The more I think about it the more it makes for a plan,and don’t you just love it if a plan comes together!The referendum may have been dismissed by Westminster as a new parliamentary session is not bound by the previous one,but a majority of seats cant be ignored! is this when the whistle will blow.I have had confidence in Alex Salmond and certain he had a plan although nothing came out as a game changer in the last few days of the referendum like I and I suspect many others thought it would.I was dismayed and wondered why there was not a storming finish perhaps I’ve guessed right for once.
Totally agree, the blame lies squarely with the lying unionist brigade. The YES campaign played it too nicey nicey, but if they came out fighting they would have been accused of bully boy tactics.
I believe independence is just a matter of time, I would have preferred it on the 18th, but I’m not dead yet; neither is the campaign.
Rev
You are correct, the future cannot be about blame. I have changed my 45 to say Hope Over Fear.
Bruce
For many months I did however small my battle for the Independence of Scotland, a country I love and I will never forget! I cannot imagine the waste of this magnificent opportunity…
Your essay touched me immensely, thank you 🙂
I fought and I cried, your sentiments echo mine. If we glory in being 45, we will never be anything more.
I was prepared to grit my teeth and put up with the dreadful punctuation and random capitalisation, but the following line told me I should not waste my time reading any further.
“If It were not for the grassroots taking control we would have been absolutely gubbed!”
This one line encapsulates an abundance of ignorance about the nature of the Yes campaign. It was always clear that the anti-independence mob didn’t understand the nature of that campaign. It seems that this incomprehension was not confined to the unionist ranks.
The grass-roots didn’t “take control” of the Yes campaign. The grass-roots WAS the Yes campaign. It was always intended that it should be so. The anti-independence mob always thought of Yes Scotland as a top-down organisation directed by politicians and professional managers. An organisation, in other words, which mirrored Better Together. Other than in the very early days, Yes Scotland was never like this. And it was never meant to be.
Yes Scotland had a well-crafted strategy, the principal element of which was sowing the seeds for a campaign that would grow organically. In the early days, there was a lot of complaints that Hope Street was not providing direction for the nascent groups. That they would arrange a meeting where the skeleton of a group would be formed, and then walk away. While not entirely true – the team at Yes Scotland HQ were always readily accessible for assistance if required – the whole idea was to let these groups find their own level. To let them adapt to local conditions so that they could better communicate with local communities.
To say that this strategy was a “disaster” is complete nonsense that defies the evidence of 45% support for independence and an ongoing campaign that is, if anything, stronger than ever.
I continue to wear my Yes badge with pride. I am proud to have been part of something which has brought so many people together to strive for a common purpose. I am proud to have been part of something that engaged and energised so many thousands of people. I am proud to have been part of a movement which rescued our democracy and reclaimed it for its rightful owners.
Don’t tell me the Yes campaign was a “disaster”. I know this to be a lie every bit as deplorable as the lies which won the anti-independence mob their inglorious victory.
WE strongly disagree here Peter…So I guess we will just have to live with that.