Sarah Carey - a tonic to Fintan O'Toole's indignity

[blacbloc]

Great article. Well said that lady. Time Labour wised up to facts and ditched the 60s class warfare language.

We are entering into a period of guaranteed class warfare if the elites don't cop themselves on. There is only so much punishment you can mete out to innocents for the crimes of the rich before we get very angry indeed. Any politician choosing to disregard this simple fact is a fool. There is a constructive way to take account of this or there is the confrontational way - the one preferred by those who are too unpleasant and grasping to even think about being fair. A strong group of politicians who are able to keep their eyes fixed firmly on using resources to the optimum benefit of the greatest number of people is what is needed. Neither Fianna Fail nor Fine Gael stand a chance of doing it.

[cactusflower]

It seems very difficult to keep a Carey thread on topic. The zoning issue seems worth a separate thread of its own but is interrupting the flow here.

I've read her blog/article now. In terms of content and style I don't think Carey makes the transition from internet post to printed media. Her pieces are off the cuff fluff and aren't substantiated by any solid information or analysis. There are much better posts on the same theme all over the internet.

Carey says

1. Nearly everyone in Ireland is "happily middle class".
2. The rich who have lost their squillions won't vote Labour because they use scary words like "worker"
3. She says that Civil War politics will never end and it will always be FF versus "the rest".

Labour should therefore get real and row in behind Fianna Fail.

Her views are clearly not politically unbiased and are not friendly to Labour. The "friendly advice" smokescreen is not convincing.

Carey is imo genuinely missing a sea change in Irish politics. I don't think FF can weather this storm without serious cracks. They are going to be put our of local politics for years and implode on a National level.
They are party of the gravy train and we are all out of gravy.

The debate on the banks has opened up between FG and Labour.

I don't see Fianna Fail being that relevant to where we are going.

Labour has performed better in the polls every time Gilmore has come out more strongly to differentiate the party from the rest of the opposition. His own rating at 51% speaks for itself.

I think Labour has big issues to contend with, but they the opposite to what Sarah Carey suggests.

[jmcc]

I've read her blog/article now. In terms of content and style I don't think Carey makes the transition from internet post to printed media. Her pieces are off the cuff fluff and aren't substantiated by any solid information or analysis. There are much better posts on the same theme all over the internet.

She is symptomatic of the decline of the Irish Times as a newspaper under Madame. Solid journalism has largely been replaced by mere opinion.

Regards...jmcc

[mccafferty cat]

What an excellent article. There are a few points I would quibble with, but on the whole it's an excellent analysis of Labour Party waffle and self-righteousness

[Supermanpolitician]

She is symptomatic of the decline of the Irish Times as a newspaper under Madame. Solid journalism has largely been replaced by mere opinion.

Regards...jmcc

Utter rubbish JMCC. The Irish Times is predominantly factual but obviously carries opinion pieces as well. The opinion pieces are always confined to the centre pages, unlike in many newspapers.

And as regards the opinion itself, it is quite well written and a very accurate analysis.

[cactusflower]

Utter rubbish JMCC. The Irish Times is predominantly factual but obviously carries opinion pieces as well. The opinion pieces are always confined to the centre pages, unlike in many newspapers.

And as regards the opinion itself, it is quite well written and a very accurate analysis.

The nub of the article is the view that Irish politics will remain, in perpetuity, Fianna Fail vs the rest. Do you seriously think that is the case?
Do you think she has convincingly proved that case?

[Supermanpolitician]

The nub of the article is the view that Irish politics will remain, in perpetuity, Fianna Fail vs the rest. Do you seriously think that is the case?
Do you think she has convincingly proved that case?

Would disagree on the interpretation.

[Just Us]

Could not agree more. Gilmore seems to have learned his lesson though. I don't think Sarah Carey's article was directed so much at him than at Fintan O'Toole.

I don't often agree with O'Toole but he's correct to say that Labour should stop acting as a mudguard for FG right-wing policies little different from the FF/PD ones that got us into this disaster.

[Ecoguy]

Sarah Carey is a ghastly little suck up who will write anything that is likely to put her in Madam's good books. She's straining very hard to make herself a darling of the establishment right. Pity she's such a crap columnist though. As for Fintan O' Toole, I'd say her silly wittering is the equivalent of a scarcely audible midge flying about the room.

O' Toole is bang on the money about the Labour Party. There is a need for a strong party of the left in Ireland. We have more than enough right wing, reactionary politicians for one small Island and Spring's disastrous modernisation has rendered Labour into something resembling a soggy lettuce leaf. 'Realpolitik' is the last thing this country needs right now: it's just a jaded euphemism for corruption, cronyism and carrying with all the failed policies and philosophies which have destroyed us.

Well said - She's just another establishment hack who are in many ways responsible for Ireland having such an uninformed electorate down through the years - with catastrophic results as we are all now finding out late in the day

[jmcc]

Would disagree on the interpretation.

Does that mean that you think that her opinion is wrong?

Regards...jmcc