"HEAR ME NOW"
Lenny has finally broken his silence on the matter of the current ongoing crisis within Respect between the SWP and Galloway.
Apparently the ". . . nature of the crisis is a division between those in Respect who cleave to socialism and those who have always tended toward electoralism. So it now comes to a point where this has to be stated in the open."
That's cleared that up then. The SWP leadership has taken the initiative and stepped forward to defend the core principles of socialism against those within Respect who are all too ready to transform the Coalition into a vehicle for pure and simple electoralism. Join the fight against the parliamentary road to reformism anyone?
Except, and I'm sure it's a minor point, Lenny neglects to mention to his readers that it was Galloway who initiated this 'debate' within Respect by penning his 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' letter to the Respect National Council way back in late August. (And the leadership of the SWP has been on the back foot ever since in its vain attempts to keep its grip on proceedings.)
But, then, maybe Lenny does truly believe that he* and his readers don't actually read those "sectarian blogs" that have been abuzz with this story since it broke in August and who, in the case of the Socialist Unity Blog, currently has a bigger blog readership than Lenny?
Anyway, all this business - you know the most serious internal crisis the Socialist Workers Party leadership has experienced in a generation - is beneath Lenny, and he has stated in no uncertain terms, in the very own comment box to his post no less, that his blog is not the place for anyone outside his very own inner cricle and wider fan club to turn up and ask any awkward questions about the one political and organisational issue that actually directly concerns him.
If you were in any way unsure that Lenny really . . . honestly . . . seriously doesn't give a shit about any of this or is even the least bit bothered about any of those irksome dissenting voices out there who have the cheek to point out the authoritarianism that is at the core of the SWP's politics, he protests too much reiterates the point one more time to his loyal readership in the comment box:
" . . . I am not told what to say on my blog by anyone or authorised, or otherwise instructed. I could easily have commented on this before, but didn't, and only did so here because of the urgency of this matter."
Sorry to sound cynical about Lenny's explanation but it does appear that he's only chosen now to publically comment on this matter on his incredibly popular blog after he saw that the Socialist Worker had published an editorial on the issue.
It doesn't take a Kremlinologist to work out that Lenny has a party card where his spine should be.
*This Lenny who popped up twice on the Socialist Unity Blog to comment on the expulsion of middle ranking SWP cadre was not our Lenny. It was the other Lenny. Glad that misunderstanding has also been cleared up.
Further Reading On Developments Within Respect:
5 comments:
Wow, I can't believe it. Something that the SWP involved with coming apart at the seams? Never ;-)
Wonder how your old mate, Martin Smith, is coping with the current crisis?
I think I'd be more interested in Wilbur Smith's opinion!
Yeah, but you'd listen to Patti before you would bend your ear to Wilbur.
As long as she didn't read any poetry!
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