Arse Wars
No wonder the standard of public debate in Scotland is at its lowest level for years.
Just the other day the chief adviser to Scottish Labour leader - Johann Lamont - questioned whether the First Minister of Scotland - Alex Salmond - was 'an arse'.
The chap concerned - Paul Sinclair - used to be a journalist of some sort with the Daily Record if I remember correctly and I'm pretty sure he also stood to become a Labour candidate somewhere.
But if so his political ambitions seem to have exceeded his political talent - since he remains an appointed Labour spokesperson rather than an elected one.
As a special adviser to the Labour leader I imagine Paul must be getting paid out of the public purse - though I'm sure he'd be the first to admit that his schoolboy insults were made up in his own free time - and not at the taxpayers' expense.
In any event it's all too ridiculous for words and reflects the kind of personal attacks that Johann Lamont comes up with on a regular basis at First Minister's Questions (FMQs) these days - to little avail it has to be said.
By and large, the public are turned off by this kind of nonsense - personal attacks and silly name calling tend to rebound on the people who grasp at such straws - not least because it makes their side look as if they've got nothing more intelligent to say.
At this rate the next FMQs at Holyrood should be a classic - with the Labour front bench throwing everything it's got at Alex Salmond & Co including top insults dreamed up over the summer break - such as 'fatty', 'specky' and 'baldy'.
I imagine the SNP Government must be rubbing its hands in glee.
