Back and raging at journalists & bank robbers

I've been remiss in my blogging over the last few days but I have an excuse. Actually I have several. Sunday was very busy with family visits and campaign planning meetings. Monday night saw me down in Dumfries speaking to the branch there about my European candidacy and why I think it will be such an important election (more on that later). I travelled down with The Tartan Hero who is also one of the seven candidates. It was great, big turnout, some new members too and the inimitable Environment Minister Michael Russell who said some very nice things about me - I agreed with every word :-) Anyway I got home about 1am and spent most of yesterday preparing for a job interview today. So, it's all done now and I'm back in the land of blogging. So, here I go ...

Reading this story about a so-called "bungling armed robber". I hate when journalists use words like "bungling" to describe someone like that. The reason behind the description is because this guy parked his car (where he prepared for his robbery) between two CCTV cameras. Ho ho, let's all laugh at how silly that was. Let's not. This is not some cuddly big bear you know, some "nice but dim" harmless character. This is someone who is using terror to take someone else's money.

I once met someone who'd been jailed for attempted armed robbery. This guy didn't think it was any big deal that he'd held a gun to a bank worker because "it wasn't a real gun obviously"! Well, no, it wasn't obvious to the bank worker - otherwise the thief wouldn't have bothered would he? Can you imagine how scared you'd be if it happened to you? When you later (often months later) discovered it was a fake gun, do you think that would erase the bad dreams, the sleepless nights and the terror that he might come back? It wouldn't. By then the damage has been done. You've stood there, as this poor woman in the Post Office in Inverkip no doubt did, thinking you are about to die a violent death. To then see a report describing the person who put you through all this as merely "bungling" is just adding insult to injury.