According to an Irish Times survey published today, the No side on the Lisbon Treaty has gained the lead- holding 35% of the vote, while Yes has dropped to 30%.
The shocking part of this is that the main reason given by those who answered No was that "they don't understand the treaty". Is it just me, or is that an incredibly moronic answer? Voting No because you don't understand makes absolutely no sense. First off: the information is there- go out and get it. Make yourself understand. Secondly, if you don't want to do this and insist on staying in the dark- then don't vote at all!
To me this is the greatest success of the No campaign- confusing everyone. All sorts of irrelevant issues have been brought into this debate. Most of the No argument is based on sensationalism. Because of this we have debates on TV & Radio which solely consist of one side saying 'This is the case', the other saying 'That is NOT the case', and back and forth ad infinitum.
It's underhanded rhetoric which has characterised this referendum campaign. The likes of Coir (national crazies) have been handing out leaflets with such utter rubbish it's shocking that anyone would believe it. According to these loons, Lisbon will (amongst other things) legalise hard drugs & prostitution. They also criticize the treaty's intention to respect the rights of all major religious organisations, while condemning it's lack of a specific reference to the Catholic deity.
The media is obliged to provide equal coverage to both sides of the debate, but with the vast majority of our politicians voting Yes, media debates are reduced to having to give airtime to crazies like the above Coir (last night's late debate on Newstalk, for example) & the other one- Jim Corr, who raved last week on Today FM about how we should vote No to 'fight the New World Order'. Sigh...
Lets just hope people see sense, be it one way or the other, and vote on the actual treaty- not some moron's publicity stunt.
Listen to Crazy Jim Corr here.
12 comments:
just something thats been bothering me recently about this whole campaign; there is a complete lack of acceptance among politicians and journalists about people's stances on party politics regarding this issue.
Already you can see the complete arse-holes from Sinn Fein and people who are campaigning for the sake of it, getting ready to claim a victory over the more established parties. Similarly the attempts coming out of the yes wing has always been to discredit their opponents, and not to sit down and explain without fear mongering why people should vote yes.
I don't buy that people don't understand the issues, I think they have been confused and very very badly treated by the media and politicians who refuse to look at this vote as anything other than regular party politics.
That, sir, is a very very valid point.
The mob is a fickle my friends!
It does seem strange that if a general election comes along the majority of the electorate tend to play it safe and go with the devil they know (despite dig-outs, good days at the races and obvious hands in tills)
Give the public a mundane referendum on EU reform and they panic as if its the most pressing problem since the Wehrmacht came to a halt in northern France.
What is even more strange is that when a regular post comes along Oz chooses not to comment but when the blog turns political he finds a voice and becomes master of the metaphor.
:)
Thats because my opinion on music is quite narrow minded and not very interesting,
Anyway, everything is shite since Johnny Cash died.
to be fair rob, if someone doesn't understand or want to understand the treaty i think it is better that they exercise their right to vote and vote to no rather than not vote. at least this way they reassure themselves that they are trying to keep the constitution as it is.
i will be voting yes by the way.
I'd disagree Sean! Much as I'm obviously big on exercising one's right to vote, as Oz pointed out people who don't understand the treaty are more than likely voting no on the basis that it's the 'safe' vote... but in this case it's not.
Yes & No would both have their repercussions- I don't think voting no will just 'keep things as they are'. So I just wish people would have the sense to look at the call before they make it (although I realise that's just wishful thinking- dream on, etc).
No can't agree with you there. I frequently don't vote for the very reason that my own disinterest I feel in what is happening makes me incapable of having an opinion as far as the subject at hand is concerned. if you vote yes or vote no then you're taking a side which gives an unfair advantage to the side you're voting for. The only way to remain truly neutral is to stay the hell out of it. This country has traditonally stood behind that curtain for a number of years so we should be well used to it.
Interesting paraphrasing of "The Commitments" by the way Oz.
For a while I toyed with the idea of spoiling my vote, I've been considering the topic and have almost made up my mind, but I didn't want to vote one way or the other if I wasn't sure.
In our recent college elections we learned every vote counts (somebody won by two votes) so I didn't want to vote one way and then later go damn I should of voted the other way
Thinking this I did not want to refrain from voting however as the right to vote is so important, hence my plan to spoil vote, I think if somebody really isn't sure about the treaty and doesn't have the time to check it out then send a message to the government without voting for a side you don't understand, write confused on your ballot then at least your still voting but without upsetting the actual result...
Man my ramblings rarely make sense, I'm just wrecked after rocking out at bon jovi so appologies
But people really should just look at the literature and if they're still confused abstain or spoil your vote rather than vote for something for the sake of it I think.
There is something else to consider here.
During the campaign I have to say I cringed when Cowen and the rest of Kildare Street warned about the damage a No vote will cause. But now I realise what it could mean.
A very possible scenario is this: Ireland rejects the treaty but no second chance is talked about. There is no 'Nice II' in other words and the government can't just wander back over to Brussels to negotiate 'a better deal' as Sinn Féin think they can, (even though Sinn Féin have been against every vote taken on Europe)
Then Gordon Brown falls down a manhole and the Tories return to power in the UK and seriously start talking about British membership of the EU, as they have threatened to do.
Then a split forms in Europe (sound familiar anyone?) when the central countries (Germany, France, Spain, Scandinavia etc) forge ahead with closer integration. Britain and Ireland become isolated. And Eastern Europe becomes torn between American missiles or EU economic aid.
Voting No on the basis that the status quo will remain is simply naïve. I think this is a vote on whether you want to be in Europe or without it?
So if you are going to mark a ballot paper, make a decision, are you in or out?
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa249/betahands/lb67f10b6f875f06af72faekt8copy.jpg
Har har, you gotta admire those dudes' political conviction. They'll do anything for the cause...
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