Thursday 7 July 2011

Shut up Tommy ! You're bad news.

“I cant believe I’m involved in all this” that’s what I said last night. And that sentence and the sentiment within it wilts me a bit. It wilts me because it shows I’ve lost strength. I’ve caved in. Sheridan and everything about his twisted life is wearing me down and changing me for the worse.

It’s a complicated story, a well covered story, the talk of the steamy here in Scotland and beyond a story most folk are aware of and most folk have an opinion on. The ins and outs can be found in Downfall by Alan McCombes and I would advise people to read Downfall because its brilliant but also because I don’t have the ability Alan has to list events in chronological order with every detail carefully reconstructed, he, like so many of us has been injured deeply and is forced to recount the events which brought the SSP to its knees and Tommy Sheridan to a prison cell. I am really grateful to Alan for his courage in compiling the facts. Downfall allowed me to sit down and look at the years gone by. I was back inside the whole thing but it felt safe and just and true – yes,  Alan’s ability to gather facts an deliver them so clearly is a gift.  Im afraid what I seem to have is chaos I  wake every day to my thoughts flying about like confetti  in a wind tunnel. I’ve been trying to make sense of it all, step outside the whole thing, ignore the blogs; the news stories ;the facebook chat and sometimes I have been successful but ‘sometimes’ is not good enough and I’m beginning  to feel very consumed by the entire Sheridan saga because it won’t go away.

This week we learned the vile extent of News Of The World’s phone hacking when it was revealed by Tom Watson MP and others that Milly Dowler’s phone had been hacked at the hands of News Of The World and it is likely that other murder victims have had the same treatment. It is alleged that messages were removed from Milly’s phone while she was missing to allow space for more messages to feed NOtW appetite for ‘news’. This was the tip of the iceberg and soon we would hear more and more sick attacks on everyone from child murder victims to the families of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan including a great woman and a friend Rose Gentle. Rose’s,  son Gordon, was taken from her when he was just a boy fighting an illegal war on the streets of Iraq. Rose stood up to the establishment, the government, the MOD. Her heart was broken yet she spent every waking moment demanding an end to the illegal occupation of Iraq. She had felt the loss of a child and did not want any other parent to feel the agony she was experiencing. She put her pain to one side and she fought and still fights for justice and for peace. Hacking into this woman’s life would be a horrible act.

So, It all exploded in a day… horrific, vile, unbelievable. The call came to boycott NOtW and demand all advertisers withdrew their money or they too would be targets. I have to say I have never bought The Sun or News Of The World – we were brought up to hate these papers by my socialist mother and to reject them and their attacks on workers and in particular women. It was great to see others finally ‘getting it’ .Its good to see folk demanding better and rejecting the abusive behaviour of Murdochs empire. I do wish readers had been repulsed sooner but better late than never.

As our anger built and our hearts bled for bereaved  families the inevitable happened - enter stage left…… that bloody man, yes, Sheridan. Fast to put himself in the shoes of people who have really suffered, suffered pain on a scale we can only imagine. Suffered the agony of losing a child in a horrific violent situation – yes, there he is again aligning himself with victims of the NOtW…. Cashing in on a terrible situation and making it all about Tommy.

There was a time when I looked up to this man, a man who stood up against everything I hated, he was like my voice and my courage and my hero…. But sadly I ended up knowing the real Tommy the guy who throws a tantrum and makes everything all – about – him. There he was again, this man… I would have followed him to the end of the earth; this man who sat with my family, with my mother ; this man the pride of our community is on my telly again, cashing in on tragedy and making me feel very sick.
A story about families violated by the shocking actions of Murdochs soldiers is now all about this suited, booted, fake operator. The media in Scotland are jumping up and down with excitement and Tommy has once again played them like his own personal wee fiddle. He’s screaming, via Aamer Anwar, stating that because NOtW are bastards he’s a good guy. Because they were brutal he’s and angel. He’s greetin about emails and Coulson and Murdoch etc etc but HE attended  Cupids sex club in Manchester with a News Of The World hack ! He literally got into bed with News Of The World!! So, Tommy has a selective and very strange memory but the media should know better. Newsnight Scotland could have been renamed The Sheridan Show, suddenly there is no other news in Scotland as Tommy Sheridan is once more given a platform from which to say he is a victim too…he rabbits on about folk conspiring against him and the whole time he knows he’s talking mince -  its too horrific for words and makes me cringe to think I sat with the man.
Tommy is not a victim, most people know this and can sense it but this does not stop him and his followers kidding themselves on. And what the hell is that all about ? How do you do that? How do you look in the mirror and justify this whole shebang ? See there I go again, I just cant get my head round it all, it truly is beyond my understanding of human behaviour and sadly I’m in it. I am part of the whole thing. I was at a meeting and now my life is a big chaotic confetti mix and I fear that I will never get over it – well at least not whilst Tommy keeps returning like the frightening metal hand at the end of Terminator.
Every time he or Aamer and their gang get air space I get frightened and I have every reason to get frightened. Within hours of yesterday’s wee show the messages started arriving via Facebook. The name calling then it arrived on Twitter. I would be a robot if this didn’t touch me but I ‘block’ and ‘delete’ and that’s fine. However ,the last time those calls of ‘liar’ ‘scab’ ‘NOtW collaborator’ ‘police grass’ etc  emerged from camp Sheridan it  travelled onto the streets of Glasgow where’ delete’ and ‘block’ are not an option. I was threatened, pushed, hissed at, shouted at and finally one day on my way to work a man looked right into my eyes and spat on me.
I fear its all about to erupt again. I had prepared myself for his attacks on his release but I never saw this coming and was not prepared for what happened yesterday. I know the depths Tommy will sink to in order to shore up his false life but to put himself in the frame with real victims is contempt beyond belief.
Today Tom Watson MP will meet with Aamer Anwar and we are told they will deliver a “dossier” to Strathclyde Police I assume this is a list of names of folk who have had their phones hacked by NOtW.  Tommy’s legal team seem to have been sitting on this list since the trial, this disturbs me, particularly if Rose Gentles name appears on that list. If Rose is on the list I think she should have been alerted immediately – we will have to wait and see.
It is getting harder for me to get my head above this water, I cannot lie and I will not pretend I am tough and able to cope.  I am ashamed of how weak I can be at times, I am ashamed to say I don’t know anymore where I am safe. I have learned to look over my shoulder. If I get any snash  I snap back but it’s another wee chunk of confetti  to add to the mess. I am bitter and I am angry and these are emotions I have never really known  or understood so I don’t handle them well. But for me the worst thing of all is that I have been forced to regret chunks of my life. Some really good feelings and thoughts; some amazing experiences have been tarnished.  I don’t really know what to do other than write it down in my disjointed way and stick it in this wee round box, get it out and hope for the best.

40 comments:

  1. Good post.

    Take care Rosie and ignore the shite, he's just a bawbag clutching at straws.

    Murdered teenagers are fair game for him to hitch his wagon to, anyone and everyone is subordinate to the great leader.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keep your chin up Rosie! Tommy let so many people down. Folks wilnae forget that in a hurry...

    ReplyDelete
  3. rosie, lose yourself in your girls and sam - thats what matters. and be around to witness his cumuppance. poss from his daughter when she old enuf to look at things and understand what a slimball her father is, poor lassie. what he does or say now shouldn't lessen the good the whole party done then. watching the opening of parliament years ago when you were all taking the oath and you opened your hand, i was laughing, crying, cheering and so proud to know you. you kept your promise rosie and done it for the people - not for you, or ts, or the party. lose yourself in suzie, nicola and sam and wait cos karma will come his way one day. luv you helen x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Perjury is Perjury
    Equally serious and wrong regardless of whether it is Sheridan or NOTW staff!

    Sorry about being anon - don't have any of others.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great post Rosie, and I agree How long has Tom Watson known about this list??

    Easy to say ignore it, but we are all better than attention seekers, he has been found out now by many people (me included) who used to like him. His ego going to trial tripped him up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rosie He damaged himself those who knew him,those who had placed trust and hope in him and the socialist movement. The left is seen to be as corrupt as the rest and that is a tragedy for a generation.
    His behaviour throughout has been shameful and I reckon that regrettably he will soon have another opportunity to spout his lies and bile. You can just stand firm and know that you are being true to yourself despite the frenzy around him. Good luck to you and hold your head up high.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Rosie, absolutely right. With regard to Sheridan, the hacking scandal is a giant red herring.
    People wont forget all the great work you did for folk who were struggling, including asylum seekers - where there was nothing in it for yourself in terms of publicity. You're worth a hundred Tommy Sheridans.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Was Coulson not called as a witness for the defence? So are they saying that's another person from the defence lying in court.

    I know Sheridan and the likes of Doleman will see this as an opportunity to claim he's innocent but he wasn't convicted on the evidence of Coulson, he had no part in the original trial where Sheridan lied his way to prison

    ReplyDelete
  9. Donald Findlay once described a jacket as a 'Tommy Sheridan jacket' Red on the outside, Orange on the inside, though often the Orange was on Tommy's outside with that tan.

    Don't let the bastards grind you down Rosie, even when you're wrong you do it for the most virtuous reasons, trying to make the world a better place. Good on you

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well constructed piece rosie but could i suggest a change to the blog?
    I find it hard to read the text which is very small and is a strain on the eyes,otherwise i enjoy reading your posts and look forward to many more.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rosie

    You have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. I have no allegiance to the SSP but you and all the SSP witnesses who stood up and told the truth must stand proud. I've just finished Downfall and for people like me with no political links it is a real eye opener. I can understand how frightened you must get at times because from what I've read in the book he has some nasty connections. Please, if you can report any attack on you to the Police..you deserve the protection of the law. God Bless you and keep you safe..Moira

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rosie, you and your ilk are scum of the earth.
    …class traitors, political scabs, opportunist swine.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Give it up Kevin. Pathetic.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You're a lot more vocal online than in real life Mr Kiernan.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I don't understand why Tommy didn't just say "aye, I enjoy getting my rocks off, ima bit kinky...what does it matter?" ...in the same way I wish ALL politicians do so when sex and drugs scandals break out...

    ...the result of this fall out is what is going on in the comments here. Insults, anger, hatred...that shit is toxic. For years, decades...to come...small factional left wing organsiations are going to argue with each other over this non entity of an issue...and like kids cliping in the playground about who did what to whom...it's like when I got involved in politics all over again...here was me thnking that maybe, just maybe, the left might sort it's act out and unite when supposedly all wanting the same thing...I guess that was too much to ask for really...

    In decades to come, you lot bickering with one another will put of the best young minds aligned with your politics...who can see there is so much
    More important things, and so much more at stake...the left, really is, it's own worse enemy...

    You dont see the Ruling Class squabbling amongst itself like this do you? Divide and conquer.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Kev Keirnan open your eyes and ears to the truth then judge, until then shutupayaface.

    ReplyDelete
  17. whoever you are Wullie, you clearly do not know me that well.

    I almost always resist the lure of the abstract and self-obsessed bullshit of the blogs but just couldn't resist it today (what with all this good news flying around).

    all you SSP state collaborators must be feeling rather uneasy now that the cat is out of the bag (if you all didn't already).

    I'm so glad I have principles and that I stick to them…

    ReplyDelete
  18. Rosie you are bright star. Shine on and tell yourself that the streets of Glasgow are your streets. Sheridan has no shame. None whatsoever. Don't expect he ever will. But you can hold your head up along with your family,friends and comrades.
    You've so much love it tumbles out.

    Denise

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks for this Rosie you express everything so well. Every time Sheridan sinks lower it proves even more how right we were to stand up to him. I almost feel sorry for the likes of Kiernan who can't do anything without his SWP overlords telling him what to think. Lots of love Rosie xxx

    ReplyDelete
  20. Sheridan lied for gain against the advice of his comrades. He then wanted them to lie for him. They wouldn't. They did the right thing. He's an extremely selfish egotist who will continue to do harm at any opportunity he can get. Everyone who reads this should be aware he's never to be trusted in anything he says. Why the Scottish media keep pandering to him is beyond me. Maybe he's got stuff on some folks, or they simply can't resist the sleaze. It certainly keeps the left divided & conquered. One man, so much damage...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Rosie, I don't know you but my partner knows your work and has enormous respect for you, as do I. You are stronger than you think: at the trial, you maintained your honesty, your dignity, your humour and integrity. That's a hundred percent more than you can say for Sheridan and his supporters, whose LINE is that it's the duty of the left to support anybody opposing the NotW, because they are the enemy of the people. They would do well to reflect that we are in this situation now because of Sheridan's monstrous ego and his insistence that everyone follow him into battle to defend his lies about his sexual activities. Why should people on the left be happy to stoop to the level of the individuals and organisations they oppose? Sheridan clearly showed no such compunction in his vilification of his former colleagues. The damage that has been done to you and others caught up in this is immense and not easy to recover from. But you will. This too will pass . All the Very Best, Alison

    ReplyDelete
  22. Rosie, could you explain how you and your pals are able to criticise the News of the World when so many of you took money from them and supported them in court? You can't just ignore the fact that you all sided with them, so any criticism of them is surely hypocracy. That is and will always be your legacy, whether you like it or not.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Did I accept money ? did I ? No I did not. Stpid Tommy cited me and forced me to attend court in 2006 this led to me being dragged back to court in 2010. Tommy on the other hand went to a sex club with a woman who worked as a writer at News Of The World.

    Kevin, awy and boil your bunnet son. Youve been tricked and brain washed. Do yourself a favour and escape while you can.

    Everyone else... thanks for taking the time to read my wee therapy session and for comments. I really value input and interest.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I joined the party because of you guys not that dodgy bastard, 10 years down the line my admiration and respect for you has only grown.

    You are a hero Rosie don't ever forget it.
    You did the right things, for the right reasons.

    Blitzer

    ReplyDelete
  25. Rosie,

    Please just ignore those hurling abuse - by resorting to ad feminam attacks, they show that they have no real arguments. You and your comrades did absolutely the right thing in refusing to lie in court to cover up for Tommy.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Rosie, this post says everything I'm thinking and I have so much admiration for you for not losing your mind over this. I am having a hard time keeping my mouth shut at the moment as my party "officially" supports Sheridan, and it sickens me how many of my comrades are dancing around with glee over the fact that a lying sex pest may be "cleared" (I hope not). I have disagreed with the "party line" on this from the start, and it saddens me to see how many, usually good, comrades of mine seem to have lost the ability to think for themselves and instead resort to name-calling and cries of "scab". I had hoped that when Tommy was found guilty that it would be an end to the issue, discussion would cease and it would fade into history, but this has brought it all up again and once again I bite my tongue for fear of becoming a target of my comrades' brainwashed spite.

    You are not a class traitor. Tommy is the class traitor for compromising the entire movement to try and save his own skin. Hopefully this will all go away again soon and I won't have to feel shame in my own parties allegiances...

    ReplyDelete
  27. Rosie, I've been involved in the socialist movement for a long time and have seen so many people adopt unpricipled positions for short-term advantage like the CWI and the SWP in suporting Sheridan. It never works out in the long-term.
    I've also seen too many examples of the false choice "you are either for us or for the enemy". As a new member of the SSP I and other SSP members are totally against the Murdoch empire while at the same time being against the lying and destructive behaviour of Sheridan
    who brought down the socialist movement in Scotland rather than own up to his actions.
    And what's all this rubbish about the SSP collaborating with the state. You must think that readers are stupid with no memory at all. Wasn't it Sheridan who resorted to the courts in the first place with his insistence on taking defamation action against the News of the World. This is what started this whole disastrous legal process not the SSP who advised him again and again to stay away from the capitalist courts?
    And then there is this guff about the SSP being in bed with the News of the World. The many scandals revealed about Tommy's obsession with sexual conquests and group sex to the extent of participating in the exploitative world of sex clubs and prostitution were never generated by SSP members. They were as shocked and dismayed as everyone else in the socialist movement was.
    And what about Sheridan's close links to other sectors of the gutter press such as the Daily Record including being paid huge sums for features in which he called fellow socialists scabs, liars and traitors and split the movement?
    Even the hyprocritical condemnation of some winesses receiving payments from the News of the World contrasts with Sheridan's public calls for News of the World to pay up his £200,000 libel award. Where was Sheridan's offer to donate this money to charity or the socialist movement?
    Similarly, Tommy lied through his teeth to pretend that he was the model of a faithful family man, playing up to the hypocrisy and bourgeois morality of the capitalist press.
    As your blog shows, the other SSP members never wanted any of this and were dragged into this nightmare by Sheridan's self-serving campaign to cover up his activities.
    Don't worry Rosie - your honesty and integrity will win out in the end.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Just think it's so sad that people like anonymous, above, are frightened to speak out. What kind of socialism causes such fear? I'd like to extend the hand of friendship to that person and thank them for bringing independent thought, integrity and truth to this nightmare.
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow. Gail Sheridan's lawyer from last December's perjury trial has just clearly confirmed on the BBC's Politics Show that Sheridan did attend the Sex club in Manchester and confess it to his party comrades.
    Also that the basis of Sheridan's guilty verdict has nothing to do with the News of the World !!!
    Are we now going to see Sheridan include his wife's lawyer in the worldwide conspiracy against him?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Kev - class traitors ?? What class is betrayed when someone lies about doing something and then sues for telling these lies to gain £200K?? It's a rather bourgois thing to do imo.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Might I suggest that you stop espousing your 'truth' with such juvenile malice and then perhaps the ordinary person in the street might not doubt it (along with the likes of Ian Hamilton, Paddy Meehan, Tom Watson et al) In my oppinion, as a wee wummin off the street, there are definite inconsistancies regarding the evidence presented at TS's trial. We also have to recognise that he was convicted on an 8-6 majority verdict, and not the unanimous verdict the majority of media agencies had us believe. Obviously, as we now know, the NotW employees lied in court and they withheld evidence. Had ALL the FACTS been known, could that verdict have been the other way around?

    So, Rosie of The Wee Round Box, I'd try to put my point of view across with a little less poison - people on the street might then take you a wee bit more seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi Anon,

    I'm not sure my blog containes 'poison'. I have told my story here, Its about how I feel. When your name has been dragged through the gutter by an influential politician who seems to have massive access to the media you can decide how I should feel, but until then I really dont think you understand. I will ontinue to use my right to express my feelings and thoughts and if you find this offensive thats tough.This is not 'mailce' this is whats happening.

    I would remind you that I was forced to court by none other than Tommy Sheridan himself, he cited me before the news of the world did way back in 2006. It is also of no interest to me how the jury split or indeed what sentence he was given by the judge...... I just wanted to see the truth surface. Regarding News International, News of The World and emails none of this changes the fact that Tommy sold an image to the public as the family man. His wee girls life was dragged through the media even before she was born. the perfect father, the perfect husband, the man with no vices..... that what how he branded himself - thats what he fed the wee man and woman in the street. This cannot be denied as many a tabloid and broad sheet image will show. Yet, this was not who he was... the leader of the SSP was unable to control himself, he was involved in sex for profit and amazingly he went to these places with a sex writer from News Of The World. I shared an office with Tommy, we travelled together, I attended his wedding - I was very fond of him and I thought he was the bees knees as did many memeber of my family but he let us down; he let the SSP down, he attacked the entire movement, he pulled the socilaist movement apart - and this is the greatest crime of all. You describe my blog as 'juvenile malice'. This may come from the fact that I find Tommy's jumping on the Milly Dowler story as pretty low. He is not in the same boat as vicitms, he is a liar and a fake.... this is true and in time he will prove to everyone what he has proven to the SSP.

    Notw lie and cheat as does Tommy.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Well, Rosie, like I said, juvenile tit for tat. What it comes down to, really, is 8 people believed you and 6 people thought you were a liar. Now that we all know that the NotW are liars, it doesn't take a large leap of the imagination to suspect that other 'people' could have been lying too.

    As for the Milly Dowler reference, I never once heard Tom Watson or Aemer Amwer 'screaming' at any news announcement that TS had suffered to the same extent - you really would make an excellent NotW journalist.

    I have absolutely no axe to grind and I'm not a member of any political party. I'm just an ordinary member of the public giving her oppinion.

    ReplyDelete
  34. The point is Milly Dowler was a wee girl who was brutally murdered, Rose Gentle a lovely woman who lost her beloved son true a good folk. I know Tommy to be a liar. He can challange the Notw but he should at least be honest about his conviction first. He is claiming its wrong to lie in court, I agree with this - he bloody lies through his teeth too.I've always known the News Of The World newspaper is a dodgy paper i did not need to wait till the hacking scandel to understand this, Tommy shared my opinion....... Tommy admitted in court to having a 'relationship' with a News Of The World journo he did not dispute this. I'm sure you would agree that was an odd thing to do for a man who claimed to hate the paper. You claim 6 people in the jury believed me to be a 'liar' do you know this for a fact - is that what the jury were thinking?

    As I said I don't care what happens to Tommy - I stopped caring about him in 2006. One day you will see he is a fake and you will be annoyed because you were taken in...... just like me.

    ReplyDelete
  35. The point is you're havering. Rosie, you really need to let this go. I wish you well.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Ahh............... That looks familiar.

    I wont be taking any lectures from you and I will speak as I please.

    I wish you well.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Pretty strong comments there from Press Association journalist Kevin Kiernan. I expect his employers would be over the moon to see him essentially inciting hatred against a defenceless person who was essentially vindicated by the courts

    ReplyDelete
  38. Have these Sheridan fans any idea of how brainwashed/nasty they look to neutral observers? In the worst possible taste and quite shocking to see that level of bile coming from people who claim to be socialists and therefore compassionate people. Kev Keirnan - have some common sense

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wee Kev Kiernan will surely have his collar felt by his PA bosses, he is meant to be impartial ("fast, fair and accurate") but he is clearly an idiotic Sheridan-groupie who needs a swift kick up the backside to see how daft he is being.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Excellent Post Rosie. My Solidarity and Empathy for what it's worth. Hopefully will post a review of Downfall on my blog when I get over writers block. Alas can't reason with everyone.... the Sheridan mind control cult will probably run for as long as Tommy does oh for the day when it is just yesterday's fish and chip wrapping.

    ReplyDelete