I agree that intransigence is no sign of maturity. In fact, my statement admiring Esquerra for sticking to their guns was a trite and foolish thing to say. It reads like Walter in The Big Lebowski: "Nihilists? Fuck me! Say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, but at least it's an ethos!".

That said, I do believe that Catalonia should, and will, gain further independence from Spain. I think this could be done in a brutish, regressive way… or in a progressive and consensus-based way. Naturally, I'd go for the latter… and I do believe that the left-wing of ERC share that aim.

There's no doubt that ERC contain within their ranks and leadership a large number of conservatives and a small number of what can only be called fascists. But this can be said of most parties. I admire ERC for their grass-roots activism, positive attitude and cheerful grafiti. I have no illusions about the desires about a sizable proportion of their membership, and that's why I'm not a member. That said, i'd probably be more inclined to join ERC than I would CiU or the PSOE. If the PSC ever split from PSOE, it would become a more attractive choice. But ERC aren't demagogues. They may be a single issue party, conservatives, stick-in-the-muds, childish, impetuous, intransigent dinosaurs, but they ain't the demagogues here. CiU, for all their lack of conviction, their manipulative claims, thier power play and clever politics, if ever there were demagogues here, it's them.

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I will say that the ERC – who represents a portion, that is a minority in Catalonia, and obviously a much smaller portion in the rest of Spain, which whether they like it or not they are part of, and this includes the PP, their arch enemies – are espousing an ideology that should it be empowered (it will never be a majority opinion, even in Catalonia) would negate the established society, that is, Spain. No one except the most vainglorious and idealistic ERC militant could possibly want or even conceive of this – save a violent insurrection by one party that would indeed result in “balkanization” and whip up mass hysteria.

I can admire resolute, strong, even unbending principles in an artist, like say Cassavetes, punk bands like Fugazi, or even egotistical maniacs like Dali. Ol’ blue eyes with his “My Way” even … It works for them and furthers their art. But these guys are a party whose aim is fantastical and impossibly regressive. Independent Catalonia. Oh wait, how should we define Catalonia? Do Valencianos want to be part of the master plan? Do the French in Perpinyon want to be part of it? Do they really think regressing back to a pre-Carlos V era is viable? A silly pipe dream? That’s what I see. Call me skeptical. Posturing, vanity, irresponsibility. And headaches for the rest. I personally get a headache every time I talk to a nationalist.

We are talking politics in a democratic society. Some may say they have clear aims and don’t hedge on them. Some others may say that is immature. And I agree when we are talking politics. And, to tell you the truth, intransigence has never been a sign of maturity in all my observations. Now, I haven’t gone out for a census on this. Excuse me, do you think intransigence is a sign of maturity? I’m not sure. What is intransigence? It’s when you are playing a game, let’s say, and you don’t like the rules so you up and leave with your ball so no one else can play. I knew kids like that. At least the socialists and the CIU are working within the legal framework. Now that the ERC sees it has to as well and doesn’t like it, it feels it has to make a statement. Spoil the ballot so it doesn’t appear they are agreeing with the PP. They are all about posturing and cheap symbolism. Same crap as some of those PP guys. They can’t face the fact that this is part of the process. It’s not just bada-bing propose a statute – even if by a majority in the Catalan parliament – and expect everybody in Spain to agree with it. Maybe it’s too watered down for them? Democracy isn’t the most exciting process. I can see how it’s too slow for demagogues. The irony is how they act like progressives, yet are probably one of the biggest impediments to progress itself.

My mental moment for today

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- it would be silly to try and make a joke about the wind turbine working because of all the hot air he produces.

Or would that be geo-thermal?

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