The Guardian on evil Galloway and seraphic King posted by Richard Seymour

They will simply never get over the saintly Oona King having been evicted from Bethnal Green & Bow. Guardian Unliterate today has a special interview with la principessa on the "difficulties of multiculturalism". It contains the following:

King had another uncomfortable experience of racial divisiveness during the 2005 general election, in which she famously lost her seat to the Respect candidate, George Galloway. In that bitter campaign, she claims her Jewish background was invoked by her rivals in an attempt to turn Muslim voters against her. Not much melting pot tolerance there.

This, in case you miss it, is supposed to be one of the harsh lessons King learns about multiculturalism. She also supports Margaret Hodge in her recent pandering to BNP propaganda. Now, I suppose it's only typical of someone like Oona King to repeat slanders that have long-since been despatched. I remember her blathering during the campaign about how she hoped it didn't get too dirty, then libelling Galloway and losing her court case, and then repeating the libel. I expect we'll hear the one about the evil Muslims attacking an elderly Jewish man next. This particular smear about 'anti-semitism' usually involves reference to a bunch of kids throwing eggs and stones at mourners at a war memorial service. Oona King, who was there, immediately tried to claim that it was an attack on her and later alleged that Respect was whipping up anti-semitism against her. The trouble is that a prominent witness to the event, a Guardian columnist who was also there, threw cold water all over King's theory. On the other hand, Oona King was caught in the act of placing the 'race card' herself. One doesn't expect a careerist like King to throw away her key excuses for losing the election, not while she still hopes to be a future candidate. However, it is rather odd that The Guardian simply takes her smear at face value, repeats it, and gives it a little nod.

Anyway, the piece mentions that King has been writing her memoirs since 2005, and they're coming out in September. She must have had writer's block. I have obtained a sneak preview, describing her troubles in April 2005: "I'm totally totally optimistic about people, but it was only when George Galloway stabbed his lit cigar into the eyes of a baby and laughed 'Wait til my friend Saddam hears about this!' that I realised that he was the wrong candidate to lord it over my loyal and devoted subjects. I had seen his supporters lurking around petrol stations and siphoning sanction-busting oil into BP dispensers, but I turned the other cheek. When people of all races and creeds and colours used to come to my surgery and say 'we love you, Oona, but we're so terribly poor and scared of the Evil Baron Galloway', I was heart-broken. I gave them money from my own pocket, whatever community they were from, and said unto them 'have no fear of him, he's only a very flawed and very wicked man'. But they let me down. I never never would have honestly thought that anyone could have honestly been so honestly despicable..."

Labels: 2005 election, george galloway, guardian unliterate, oona king, respect