That Corbyn fella...

The most interesting thing in that whole article is in the comments
when someone quotes Mandela...

Nelson Mandela, who was instrumental in the downfall of Apartheid, spoke of the "multiplicity of courage." He said that when
people come together for a cause they feed off each other's
commitment. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts and
amazing things are possible. Once a tipping point is reached
conventional wisdom can change at breathtaking speed.'

I went to see Corbyn last weekend. The griminess of much of the
committed Left is as as described. But Corbyn himself is the catalyst
referred to. The Left, maybe all politics, is broken. I'm for Jeremy.

That's all well and good for Nelson Mandela to say looking back, but he had the majority of his country and the international community behind him. He was an icon and stood for something that really is one of the most basic tenets of a democracy - equality for people of all races. It's a far more cut and dried issue to unite behind.

I'd love for Corbyn to be the catalyst for something approaching an opposition, but I just doubt he will be. Don't think the guy writing the article is too negative, he's just realistic.

That's all well and good for Nelson Mandela to say looking back

classic

Badly phrased, conceeded. I'll try that again; It's easy for people to quote Mandela looking back but essentially, comparing Corbyn to Mandela is a bit of a stretch.

It's a far more cut and dried issue to unite behind.

That's slightly revisionist. Don't forget Thatcher's administration regarded him as a terrorist. The same administration that supported Pinochet. Yet when she died everyone (including some Labour twonks) were banging on about what a great statesman she was.

True, but I think by the early 90's there were very few people who truly believed apartheid should be anything other than abolished.

Slight disappointment that you should read the above as comparing Mandela to Corbyn. The point is not about personalities or comparisons, it's about the mechanics of people uniting over an idea...

when people come together for a cause they feed off each other's commitment. The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts and amazing things are possible...

In the 2015 election 11,334,576 people voted Conservative. In the most disproportional UK election to date, millions voted for smaller parties only to see their efforts result in single-digit representation, and a majority government returned to Parliament on less than 37% of the vote and with the support of just 24% of the electorate.

To most people the Tories suck, austerity sucks, the failed neoliberal experiment sucks, landlordism sucks, student debt sucks and government by arrogant posh boys sucks.

Corbyn seems to have ignited the hopes of the many who feel powerless, disenfranchised, deserted by the Labour party ...

It may go nowhere but I'm hoping it's the start of something new and different.

That's slightly revisionist too ;)

It's a bit of an oversimplification, isn't it? I think it was the ANC was regarded by some as a terrorist organisation. You'd also need to view that opinion in the politics of the time - ie the Troubles and the ANCs left wing policies before the end of the Cold War.

It's a bit like saying that Corbyn is an apologist for terrorism.

I hope so too, and I like that Corbyn has brought out a bit of passion in the left. The point I was trying to make is that I think the mechanics of uniting behind unifying a country and abolishing apartheid (ie. It's just so obviously a good thing) may be a little more straightforward than trying to fight the beige middle ground that the majority of UK politics seems to occupy.

Hundreds of thousands of people united against the war in Iraq and fuck all good it did.

The last election was a massive kick in the bollocks for any labour voter, myself included, but the fact Labour lost so many votes to UKIP just seem to confirm (to me at least) that we're an increasingly insular, inward-looking society at many levels. We don't like the Poles, refugees and, heaven forfend, economic migrants, that tit Farage made it far worse.

Hopefully a Corbyn leadership win will give Labour and the electorate the kick in the arse it needs, maybe they'll pick up some of the disaffected Lib Dem vote. I have my doubts, though. But at least he's not another Eton/Oxbridge cutout politician, the same across the board just with a different coloured tie.

comparing Corbyn to Mandela is a bit of a stretch.

Typical blairite comment.

It chimed a chord with me. Some of the Corbyn's domestic policy stuff pushes the right buttons for me. But the company he keeps and the foreign policy views he has espoused strike me as ill-conceived tribal leftist groupthink that he'll be eviscerated for. But the excitement around him means people are blind to it.

Also, I generally like Gonzo pieces. YMMV.

Attention seeking journalist

Is there any other kind? We have to believe somebody gives a shit what we have to say or we'd never write a thing.

foreign policy views he has espoused strike me as ill-conceived tribal leftist groupthink

How would you describe foreign policy since, say, Blair in that case?

He wants the attention to be on him, not his subject. That's bad, right?

I dunno, maybe you should ask Hunter S Thompson.

I mean, it's a story about how he feels about Corbyn. As someone coming from a similar perspective, I liked it. You don't like it, fine. But it sounds like because you don't like it, you're denigrating the journalism for not being of a style you approve of. For what it's worth, Gonzo journalism is an established genre and some people like it. I do.

Brown's foreign policy was largely about a coordinated response to the financial crisis, and for his many failings I think that was something he actually did rather well.
If the coalition had something coherent enough to be called a foreign policy I must have missed it. Cameron seemed to spend a lot of time grandstanding about Brussels and coming away with very little to show for it. They had a knee jerk intervention in Libya and an equally knee jerk decision to let Syria burn. The rest has been treading water as best I can see.

If that was Gonzo journalism then I'm Gonzo.

^ I tend to agree with that position. I like Hunter S. Thompson as much as the next person. But that was not Thompson. For all I know I agree 100% with the author's perspective. I don't know though. Because it was impenetrable (for me).

Having said that, we all have different tastes. Good of you to share it!

Damo just posted this on FB: http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/jeremy-corbyn-is-the-future-835?utm_source=vicetwitteruk

I should have known better than to question the true leader with some imperfect journalism. Maybe you can spare me the firing squad when our comrades clean out the ranks.

Looks like he's won! Tom Watson as deputy

60% of first round votes. If the party doesn't get behind him and try to work together it doesn't deserve to be a party. Or at least, the Labour party.

God, that room looks tense.

The revolution has begun comrades!

Also won the party member vote, union member vote, and affiliate member vote.

Like a boss.
The boss of the labour party.

I love that - he's on his way to the refugee event in Trafalgar Square. Something, were it done by any other leader, would look like a cheap publicity stunt.

Fuck it, I'm hopeful. That's all I can be.