Shame, Sham or Shameful ?

[D'Artagnan 173]

Salmond has attended Wimbledon, the Olympics and now the Ryder Cup yet he has done absolutely nothing for, or indeed shown any interest in, the biggest sporting institution in this country.

 

Yet, the Northern Ireland First Minister finds the time to meet the English CEO of Scotland's biggest club.

 

(Bluetiful â?? Vanguard Bears Forums)

 

I have yet to see a better piece of prose anywhere which so succinctly summarises the situation besetting our club. It serves to re-enforce that age old adage that â??Adversity does teach you who your true friends areâ?

 

And we should heed that adage well. Events over the last few months, and in particular the animosity and hatred towards our club have given rise to some in depth soul searching amongst the Rangers support. There has been a significant rise in articles asking searching questions about our identity as a support.

 

For anyone visiting Rangers websites and forums it is clear that our support is indeed a â??broad churchâ?. The once default position of a support which was characterised as Protestant, Unionist, Pro-British, Pro-Monarchist, now includes supporters who neither support the Union nor the Monarchy, and in a increasingly secular society, care little for upholding Rangers Protestant heritage or traditions.

 

And I have absolutely no problem with that. I have always said, and I continue to say it â?? each to their own.

 

But what I do have a problem with, is those articles which not only carry out a critical self-examination, but actually appear to seek to apologise for who we are and what we are as a support. I am of the opinion that some of our support has become conditioned to the propaganda emanating from Holyrood regarding sectarianism.

 

I use the word â??propagandaâ? because that is exactly what it is. Sectarianism is not â??Scotlandâ??s Secret Shameâ?. Scotlandâ??s Not So Secret Sham would be a far more apt description.

 

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/National/article/19162/scottish-government-allocates-9m-to-anti-sectarianism-effort.html

 

Itâ??s no surprise that respected academics such as Dr Stuart Waiton are so critical of the SNP and their anti-sectarian agenda. Dr Waiton and Prof Steve Bruce have undertaken years of credited academic research, the findings of which demonstrate Scotland does not have a sectarian problem. I contacted Strathclyde Police recently with a freedom of information request with regard to sectarian offending. They were unable to provide me, or anyone else for that matter, with statistics due to the manner in which sectarian offences are recorded â?? they are recorded as an â??aggravatorâ? of the original offence and not a stand alone crime in itself.

 

As new research reveals 1 in 4 children in Scotland are living in poverty, this Scottish government are apportioning huge funds to a problem which our countryâ??s leading academics have demonstrated via credited research, does not exist. Its not a Secret Shame â?? Its utterly Shameful.

 

Football is a form of tribalism. At times the expression of that tribalism can be particularly unsavoury. But it does not follow that such unsavoury behaviour by football supporters is motivated or caused by sectarianism. The most recent Liverpool Man.Utd game, which, despite efforts and pleas on both sides prior to the match, saw the behaviour of football fans decline to a new low. The unedifying sight of 2 sets of rival football supporters taunting each other, with the dead of the Munich Air Crash and Hillsborough their respective weapons of choice, demonstrates that tribalism can degenerate into unacceptable standards of behaviour. Had that been Rangers and Celtic fans involved you can bet your bottom dollar the word â??sectarianâ? would have been in every political soundbite criticising such behaviour.

 

Therefore if we are to carry out such self-examination of ourselves as a support we should not do it against the backdrop of the fraudulent political football which sectarianism has begun. Nor should what James Traynor described as the bloodfest of hatred against our club be a catalyst to self-examination either. If any Rangers fan out there believes that changes to our song repertoire, our banners, our flags, and our symbolism will bring a change of attitude towards our club, then I personally think you are very much mistaken.

 

Charles Green very publicly stated that bigotry, hatred and jealousy were the motivating factors behind the attempts to punish our club.

 

If he is correct, and there is considerable evidence out there which supports his assertion, then perhaps itâ??s not the Rangers support who should be undertaking self-examination, but others.

[GovanAllan 0]

It's all about the photo op and spending the Tax payers money. While taking your eye off his shambles of an independence plan.

 

Shameful excuse for a politician never mind a man.

Edited September 30, 2012 by GovanAllan

[Gazza_8 233]

Does it really bother people that Alex Salmond hasn't met Charles Green? Seriously?

[GovanAllan 0]

Does it really bother people that Alex Salmond hasn't met Charles Green? Seriously?

 

If a business worth millions to the country was in danger of going tits up do think he wouldn't be all over it, or is it because he doesn't see any potential votes in it for him.

[D'Artagnan 173]

Does it really bother people that Alex Salmond hasn't met Charles Green? Seriously?

 

 

I think what bothers people Gazza is the fact that our national game is in crisis, lumbering from one to disaster to another, and yet the government in this country have done absolutely nothing to attempt to resolve it. The Westminster government so often criticised by the SNP as being out of touch with Scotland, have a least convened a committee to look into the crisis.

[biggordy 0]

Does it really bother people that Alex Salmond hasn't met Charles Green? Seriously?

 

I don't think it "matters", but I also think it speaks volumes that he hasn't.

The fact that he was quick of the mark when a pie factory was struggling and was facing liquidation is in stark contrast to our situation.

A situation which could have a devastating effect on many other Clubs and small businesses throughout Scotland and beyond.

A situation where there is more than a whiff of corruption.

A situation where any concerned Government MUST step in.

 

Yet here he is again on yet another jolly while the economy is struggling AND there is poverty in our communities!

[26th of foot 5,839]

It's NOT just Salmond, let's look at those elected members for Govan/Ibrox at varying levels.

 

1. Councilors - James Adam(Labour), Alison Hunter(SNP), Stephen Dornan(Glasgow First), and Fariha Thomas(Labour).

 

2. Scottish Parliament MSP - Nicola Sturgeon(SNP), Deputy First Minister.

 

3. European Parliament MEP - George Lyon.

 

4. Westminster MP - Iain Davidson(Labour).

 

Only Davidson above has made any statement or comment on the Rangers saga. All the others' silence has been deafening. In excess of 250 jobs are/were in danger in one constituency and they said nothing. Personal or political preferred prejudice? You decide.

[GovanAllan 0]

GCC reporting a 48 million shortfall in the books and huge cuts coming, still find time to invest in the area surrounding the Piggery having given the go ahead for the listed school to be demolished and Celtics own G51 plans passed and invested in by said council to the tune of millions.

 

But who are sitting on there hands and tongues when it comes to Rangers one of the biggest businesses in the city utterly shameful.

[andy steel 0]

But what I do have a problem with, is those articles which not only carry out a critical self-examination, but actually appear to seek to apologise for who we are and what we are as a support. I am of the opinion that some of our support has become conditioned to the propaganda emanating from Holyrood regarding sectarianism.

 

Are you referring to the Ranger Standard website here? I gave up on that one after finding out that we are hated to the level we are because (a) a director called a player we bought from Aberdeen 'unfit' in the 60s and (b) we're not as clever as celtc fans. Attempting to find out why we are hated is always going to be a waste of time because there is no rational basis to it...you might as well try and find out why people like Irn Bru or not. They just do, or they just don't.

 

But I disagree with the idea that people have been brainwashed. There will be 101 reasons why people might agree with the position you outline, no reason to assume it is conditioning.

 

The political abdication, however, has been just awful.

[D'Artagnan 173]

Are you referring to the Ranger Standard website here? I gave up on that one after finding out that we are hated to the level we are because (a) a director called a player we bought from Aberdeen 'unfit' in the 60s and (b) we're not as clever as celtc fans. Attempting to find out why we are hated is always going to be a waste of time because there is no rational basis to it...you might as well try and find out why people like Irn Bru or not. They just do, or they just don't.

 

But I disagree with the idea that people have been brainwashed. There will be 101 reasons why people might agree with the position you outline, no reason to assume it is conditioning.

 

The political abdication, however, has been just awful.

 

Not in particular Andy - I have noticed something of a shift in a number of articles appearing on a variety of websites, not necessarily The Rangers Standard.

 

I would also suggest there is a considerable difference between brainwashing and conditioning.