It is fitting that a fearless scot is the one who seems able to speak the

[KlatooBNikto]

truth that seems beyond the reach of our Press or Congress. In order to speak the truth, one must be prepared to forego luxuries and indulgences.George Galloway seems to be the person who is capable of doing that.May be it is the highland living or that his language has not yet been corrupted by too many years in our elite graduate schools.Whatever it is,it was refreshing to find a man with the honesty and courage to face these bastards down.

[Kipling]

1. Galloway is an Old Labour politician

He's not the only one like that. Others include Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, and Tony Benn, famous for drinking 18 pints of tea a day. The Old Labour politician is usually working-class, tactless, and Northern.

[Quakerfriend]

2. Galloway is a hero.

He gave me back some faith in the fact that people can be honest.And, oh what beautiful theater he provided!!

Did you hear? He's signed on to do a speaking tour in the states next year!

[Clark2008]

3. You'd think that the South - the people of which are mostly Scotch,

Irish and Cherokee, would, as we'd say, "cotton" to the ballsy Scot. That they would appreciate his frank talk and see the error of their ways in supporting the Yankee Bush of Connecticut (this is meant to poke fun, not to put down "Yankees.")

Actually, many down here may support him, if they got a chance to hear him - but most didn't get an opportunity to do that. The corporate media shut him down quicker than a trap to the storm cellar during tornado season.

[KlatooBNikto]

4. It would be a great idea to get "our" George to go on a speaking tour

in the South,the Midwest and other areas where "their" George has sold his snake oil to trusting folks.I predict it will be a hands down win for "our" George!

[laura888]

9. There is some discussion of his touring the U.S.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1622520,00.html

The main thing, I think, is to get him on the media.

[H2O Man]

5. It's in his genes.

The Galloways are a powerful people. They have played an important role in both Scottish and Irish history.

[KlatooBNikto]

6. I would be interested in reading more about the Galloways in Scot

history.Any suggestions?

[H2O Man]

7. Sure.

The Galloways in Scotland are related to the House of Bruce. William Wallace, the real figure from "Braveheart," was also of the Bruces. Any of the better books on Wallace cover parts of the extended clan.

In the US, I think it was the first president of Harvard who was in the clan Galloway. I'd have to get out some of my notebooks for more.

[merbex]

8. I read a biography of Patton, I believe, which devotes a lot of

pages to the theory that this nation needs MORE Scots lineage

[H2O Man]

10. That could be true.

One of the things I find interesting in studying genealogy is how many people today want to find some "royalty" in their past. I think that is a bad sign. It indicates that we are a culture that is willing to return to a feudal society. That bothers me.

I think that it is better to find rebels in the branches of the family tree. On my paternal side, for example, I have a relative who fought with the United Irishmen in the 1798 Uprising. I have a poem he wrote while wasting away in a Limerick dungeon, sentenced to hang.

And on the maternal side, there are Galloways, which is why I am familiar with that clan.

I think that Americans need to go back to whatever ancestor(s) came here, from whatever country, and go from there. Of course those who were brought as slaves have a very different experience, but they can look at the motivations from other eras, including the Civil Rights movements. We are almost all the off-spring of revolutionary ancestors. We've been domesticated, but its still in our genes. Our great-grandparents didn't want to be "royalty" .... and we need to recall their values.

[merbex]

11. "We are almost all the off-spring of revolutionary ancestors."

I sometimes think John Adams and Sam Adams And T.Jefferson would be ashamed of how we have let this administartion get away with their lies.

Especially Sam Adams,who I believe would be a MAJOR blogger if he lived now

[H2O Man]

13. If those men were here today

they would be taking revolutionary actions to bring about democracy.

[sweetheart]

12. Its the "nothing to lose" factor

Here is a map of scotland:
On the right coast (east), a city call "perth" is about 2/3 of the
way down. Draw an imaginary line from there to the west coast, and
everything to the north is the highlands.

To the south, including glasgow, edinburgh is called today, "the
central belt" and 4/5ths of the population of scotland lives there.

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/mapindex.html

Here is a map showing the clans of scotland and their "land's" of old.
You can see that they are only in the highlands... hence the "highland
clan" thing.

http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/clanmap.htm

To the south of the central belt, is a mountainous area touching on
hadrians wall. This is called "the borders".

The highlander scots are, even today, by UK standards, economically
poor. There are few jobs and people still croft sheep for a living
or live off benefit (welfare). This poverty, though not starvation,
has developed over centuries a cynical attitude towards people from
london wearing suits... which is easily transferred to the descendents
of those london monarchists in the US senate... and speaking truth
to repressive power, has been a highland thing, as these clans have
been, much like the american indians, invaded and put down by the
guns of london. When you're poor, you've got nothing to lose in that
sense, and the "magic" of poverty is surrendering to it, and hence
why many monastic disciplines take a vow of poverty to similarly
free a person to be completely truthful in their lives... it means
not not eating, but rather surrendering attachment to material
things. Americans are enslaved by their attachments to things and
persons, that they are inclined to speak partial truths, but never
so blunt as a Galloway. This is sad, but not a quality of scotland,
per se, rather one of being unattached... that is equally an american
quality as well.

Much of the reason so many scottish names are in the USA is due to the
horrible repression of the clans during the english civil war and
aftermath during the "highland clearances" and the rebellion of
bonnie prince charlie where the english forces repressed a clan
rebellion, taking all their lands. Many became disenfranchised from
thier lands and had nothing to lose by taking to the ship for the
new world. The thematic quality unique is losing everything, and
having nothing to lose... it is a truthful power.

[H2O Man]

14. Are you familiar with

the book "The Age of the Picts," by W. A. Cummins? It was published in 1995; the American edition of the originally Sutton Publishing Ltd book was by Barnes & Noble. Dr. Cummins is/was employed at Cartermill International, St. Andrews, and at the University of Nottingham.

The book has quite a bit of information on the Galloways, and other fascinating insights on Scttish history.