So in my previous post, I explained that some organisations were putting up really godawful posters for the Lisbon Treaty. And I think most people agree that very many of them are pretty substantially awe-inspiring.
I was awfully inspired on a few of them to pull them down and correct their grammar, possibly add a coherent argument, but resisted the temptation. I, of course, do not have a vote, thanks to the border and my British citizenship. Suits me.
But just have a look at a few of these dreadful pieces of detritus. I present, for your viewing pleasure, three from the ‘Ireland For Europe’ war room, one from Labour and one from the left-leaning ‘No to Lisbon’ movement. I may have given the impression in a previous post that Cóir are the lead agency of opposition to Lisbon, when, of course, that is nonsense.
The lefties are the prime movers on Lisbon, but Cóir/Youth Defence are much more fun to make fun of, and they sue much more liberally (they’ll probably sue me for accusing them of being overly litigious).
Ireland For Europe.
I want to draw your attention to three posters from Ireland For Europe first.
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I want you to consider in what sense the Lisbon Treaty, a document Brian Cowen was unable to read before the first referendum, is simple. These posters, with their fancy cut-out, their naive design and their utterly disgraceful patronising tone, are actually, if you think about it, bullying. “It’s simple. I want something. Vote Yes.” There is no meaningful attempt to connect with the people in these posters, which is almost why they fail. The real reason they fail, just like the others, is that they have practically nothing to do with the Lisbon Treaty. Practically nothing at all.
“It’s simple, I want a strong voice in Europe”. How will voting Yes give you a stronger voice? Is this a threat? If we vote no, will our voice become weak? Almost as weak, perhaps, as the nation’s puny, tiny population deserves?
“It’s simple, we need Europe.” Okay. I don’t see much of a move to chuck Ireland out of the EU for doing what the UK deeply wants to do and vote No.
“It’s simple, I’m safer in Europe.” This bears no relation whatsoever to any fear anybody actually has. It is ridiculous, and it’s utterly irrelevant to the Lisbon Treaty. First, Ireland will not be made to leave the EU unless it declares war on another member state. Second, if there is a European armed forces protocol in the lifetime of the treaty, you won’t be safer. You’ll be a target, and a combatant nation. That is, if you want to play your full role and not be ambiguous about your commitment to the project.
Epic fail.
Labour
Second, let’s look at this gem from Labour.
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Only one thing to say about this generally okay poster. Labour is saying Yes. How large is the work ‘Yes’ on the poster? Where is the call to action?
Lefties
Next, the only lefty poster I’ve seen so far (maybe I missed a few) is here:
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This is a great poster. It really captures a basic concept, and it’s straight to the point. The people who put this together should be pretty happy with this. VW and other corporate organisations are probably not going to best pleased.
Nutters
Finally in this round up, as usual around All-Ireland Final time, North Dublin gets an infestation of this crap:
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I hate the message, but the poster makers for referendums need to get with the programme on this: if the 32 County Sovereignty Committee can put a fucking call to action on their posters, perhaps your armies of graduates could try something in the future?
