Perception is All

A quick update across some of our stories from the last week…Alastair McIntosh writes notifying us with some regrest that his epic Ode to Donald Trump has not succeeded in turning him back, as the Daily (Hate) Mail has it here – in fact it turns out he’s going for President! Keep up with the Trip Up Trump campaign here…

Many thanks to the many people who helped force Bill Aitken’s resignation. Flying in the face of the reality of his own words Aitken yesterday stormed the media spluttering about how there had all been a terrible misunderstanding and ‘perception was all these days’. So he’s getting abit Jim Morrison? The now disgcarced Tory said:

“In politics, you have to have a thick skin. But this issue is no longer about me. For far too many people, perception is reality,” he said. “I am standing down as convener of the justice committee. I do so with a mixture of emotions. Frustration at allowing myself to be misrepresented. Anger at being misrepresented. And remorse to rape victims and their loved ones for any hurt they feel. But also in the hope that my true views can now be heard.”

It’s certainly with a mixture of emotions that we accept this resignation, frustration that it didn’t come earlier, that the Tory leader said nothing about it and that our politics are still contaminated with people like Aitken. The Scottish Green Party’s Patrick Harvie should take plaudits for leading the efforts to have him resign, as should Kelley Temple (NUS) and others who organised on Facebook on this issue. The sadness is only that he now blames the media (in particular the Sunday Herald) and more importantly the men who attacked the woman in Glasgow are at the moment still at large.

This is also a massive media fail with very little of the MSM picking up on the story and BBC Radio Scotland last night broadcasting a woeful coverage of the events including extended airplay to Aitken blustering about justifying himself and then the old boys club of Angus McLeod of The Times who came on and waffled about how it all had been a terrible misunderstanding and the Sunday Herald were somehow to blame. Listen to our media failing at Scotland at Ten here.

As we covered in Take Caledonia the Arab Spring is raging. But amongst Tripoli and seismic shifts in Middle east and North African politics, don’t forget Wisconsin.