“The man’s search for a tyrannical fatherland never ends.”
Christopher Hitchens on George Galloway, 2005
So true. Galloway once said that “the disappearance of the Soviet Union is the biggest catastrophe of my life.” And he really meant it. Galloway has always felt an affinity with the more oppressive regimes on the planet – on the condition that they are hostile to the biggest menace of all: the United States. Iraq (under Saddam Hussein, that is), Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba: George has been to all of them, prostrate at the feet of hideous men, before flipping over and asking them to tickle his tummy. When he’s not doing this, he’s invariably standing at a rostrum delivering an obsequious speech in praise of his generous hosts.
Now, with all the reliability of a timepiece manufactured in Switzerland, he has openly spoken in support of North Korea using the platform of a show he presents on PressTV, a propaganda vehicle for the Iranian government.
“I’m much more afraid of the United States of America and so are most people in the world. North Korea has no intention to harm any of us. North Korea’s problem is with South Korea. South Korea exists because America invaded Korea, killed millions of people, divided the country and continues to garrison South Korea with military bases, nuclear weapons, chemical and biological weapon.”
It would be remarkable if it wasn’t so unsurprising. In fact, where Galloway is concerned, it would be a genuine shock if he hadn’t said this or something very much like it. This is a man whose views on everything are so predictable you already know what he’s going to say before he starts shouting about it.
But, not to be misunderstood, he clarifies his position.
“Look, I don’t agree with the North Korean political system and I’ve been there. I’ve seen it up close and personal. But there have been achievements in North Korea. They do have a satellite circling the earth. They have built a nuclear power industry even though they suspended it on false promises from President Clinton and other U.S. statesmen. They do have a cohesive, pristine actually, innocent culture. A culture that has not been penetrated by globalisation and by Western mores and is very interesting to see.”
Well, that’s true. They are certainly untouched by globalisation. Or progress, personal freedoms, human rights, literature, music, the arts, etc. They are protected from all these dreadful Western mores, quite content no doubt that their “cohesive, pristine actually, innocent culture” remains intact. I mean, many of them are on the brink of starvation and the average life expectancy is about ten years less than that of South Korea, but they remain an outpost of purity. And it’s for this reason that George would like to live there… oh wait.
“But I wouldn’t like to live there. And I’m not advocating their system. Not least because they certainly don’t believe in God in North Korea.”
Who would blame them given that they live in a hellish gulag-state ruled by a psychopathic crime family? Galloway, it would seem, is perfectly relaxed about the oppression, the grinding poverty and the death camps but takes exception to the fact they don’t believe in an all-powerful sky wizard. Actually, this isn’t even technically true. Kim Il-sung was declared the ‘Eternal President’ of North Korea in 1998, despite the fact he died in 1994. North Korea is a theocratic state, based on the cult-of-personality of a rotting corpse.
Perhaps this information might be enough to prompt Mr Galloway to reconsider his position and relocate there after all? We can but dream.
Centrist. Atlanticist. Dry liberal. Anti-totalitarian. Post-ideological pragmatist. Child of The Enlightenment. Toucan.
Citizen Sane 
Great stuff. Says it all really
Pity me! He is my elected representative! My voice in parliament…
Good grief. You have my eternal sympathy!
Was the comment about not wanting to live there because they don’t believe in god for the benefit of his Muslim co-religionists?
Insh’Allah!
One of the most disgusting and vile politicians this country has had the displeasure of entertaining.
Really Samuel? George is almost unique in politics, in that he is totally candid about his thoughts and position on matters. You may disagree with him, as do many (myself included on many points), but if ALL politicians were as open and candid about their real thoughts and motives then I’d contest that George’s position of “most reviled”, in yours and many others minds, would come under some pretty heavy competition!
I’m delighted by his candor; it lets other people know that he’s a tw*t within a few minutes of him opening his mouth.
Was he “candid” when he promised his two former wives to “love and cherish and be faithful” to them?
He and Sir Edward Heath served in Parliament at the same time. George Galloway is one of the two most evil men Sir Edward ever met. The other is Heinrich Himmler.
So, “Anonymous”, we’re to take the view of Ted Heath as sage are we? Heath, remember, was a man who had an almost uncritical admiration for Mao Tse-tung, who was perhaps the greatest political murderer in history. So Galloway is more evil than Mao? He defended the post-Mao Chinese government for shooting hundreds of people in Tiananmen Square. So Galloway is more evil than that regime? Once, when criticised by a friend for visiting Saddam Hussein, on the grounds that Saddam was an evil man, Heath replied: “It all depends what you mean by evil. She (referring to Margaret Thatcher), after all, is an evil woman.” So Galloway is more evil than both Saddam AND Thatcher?
Hhhmm!
and you a moronic cunt with no name.
I know I should not even begin to get angry about this because everything out of this offal’s mouth is pure nonsense, but the line that gets me is:
South Korea exists because America invaded Korea, killed millions of people…
The ‘invasion’ (jesus wept) of Korea was mandated by the UN and was a multinational force containing huge numbers of Turks, Ethiopians, Thais, Brits, Canadians. Kiwis etc etc
Moreover the release of Soviet archives post collapse of the USSR revealed, beyond doubt, the war was begun at the behest of Kim Il Sung, after he first informed Stalin and Mao.
Total casualties are a (horrific) 1.2 million. So Galloway is saying the US killed all of them, including their own combatants?
Whatever your political persuasion, if you’re going that fast and loose with the facts you so not deserve to be listened to
GG’s argument here is best refuted with a simple question…
Why are South Korean men taller than North Korean men?
http://digitaljournal.com/article/323549
Beyond that there is little but scraps.
He’s a good man and if you dont like it why dont you all fuck off back up anusmericas ass, pricks.
If you like wide boys with a gift for the gab who can’t keep it in their pants while they bang on about how they never drink and claim that they have an expensive holiday home in Portugal “because the poor deserve nice things, too”, then yes, he’s a good man.