« What Belfast Is Famous For | Those Loveable Rogues » |
DUP's "Heavy-Handed" Response to Policing
Nigel Dodds seemingly wasn't happy with the police arresting a barful of loyalists last week - why I'm not sure. I didn't blog it at the time but I did mention a little about the immediate Sinn Fein reaction to the arrests of 17 loyalists taking part in a rehearsal for a show of strength.
I was disappointed to read that Nigel Dodds declared the police operation "heavy-handed" (hat tip to Slugger). This is nothing more than a stock response uttered by the DUP whenever loyalists are arrested; one which they've picked up from the Sinn Fein school of victimhood. Soon we'll be hearing them talk about "political policing" and other victim-speak they've picked up, mark my words.
The DUP also complained that there seemed to be a discrepancy between how the police treated loyalists terrorists as opposed to republican terrorists.
Who does Nigel Dodds think will be the main benefactors when police arrest those extorting money from businesses owned by unionist people, operating in unionist areas serving a unionist community? He should be congratulating the police for carrying out an operation like that, arresting 17 suspected "leading loyalists" without sustaining or inflicting a single serious injury! If the police aren't able to operate in a similar manner in nationalist areas, well that's too bad for the people of those areas - their businesses will continue to fall prey to extortion rackets. That's not a good thing but it's not something the DUP should be using as an excuse to feel sorry for themselves and project any more of the victim mentality than is already taking over society here.
The problem is that playing the victim has been shown to win votes in Northern Ireland, and the most inherent flaw in democracy is that politicians are just prostitutes for votes, and as long as people vote based on superficial nonsense, that's what our politicians will give us.
I think a new campaign is needed. I therefore call on everyone in Northern Ireland to make a concerted effort to Make MOPEry History.