"Eck Salmond came down like the wolf on the fold...

... his caramel log gleaming in scarlet and gold."

It's Sunday morning, and that means a new edition of the For A' That podcast. On episode thirty-four of the show, Michael and I were joined for a second time by Pat Kane and by James Kelly, of the Scot Goes Pop blog.

Up for the blether this week, Scotland Tonight's Sarwar vs Sturgeon rammy on STV, notionally concerned with social security and the welfare state of an independent Scotland.  Was this Scotland's "big debate", or an unilluminating, unappealing boorach? We offer our verdicts. For Pat, it was a "credibility-threatening" performance for one of the participants. I shan't spoil the surprise by revealing who.  

We also discussed the resurfacing of a certain G Broon at a United with Labour event in Glasgow this week, on pooling our resources and entrenching devolution.  We pick through some of the the former Prime Minister's arguments, his legacy, and his surprising constitutional (il)literacy. 

Our final big theme for today was racialism and advocating independence. Over the summer, several folk have argued that the current Yes case lacks green sap, and has managed to make startling constitutional changes ... boring. Is this a problem? Is reassurance the right strategy? Are we, by consequence, disciplining reasonable disagreement and ideological diversity on the Yes side of the argument?
 

We also dip a tentative iambic foot or two into the great #indyref poetry debate. As we speak, I'm busy, scratching out a heroic verse ballad in defence of my constitutional ideals, starring an Ossianic figure, harried by a cunning crow goddess and her fell, carrion-picking minions. Now, all I need do is find a few more words that rhyme with "Unionist"...

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