Just listened to John McD speak at a zoom meeting & thing that struck me was him saying people must be careful about what they say at meetings so they don't get suspended, & others in the meeting spoke of the importance of knowing the rule book really well to protect ourselves...

...and while I think, fair play to them for staying in the party, I think it's naïve to think that people will be protected from suspension or expulsion if they are totally perfect in how they express things & know and abide by the rules perfectly...

...those doing the accusing, suspending, expelling are not in good faith. They will bend, break, change, ignore rules to get the desired outcome. We've seen this time & again. The reality is that John McD & the rule book whisperers are essentially talking about self silencing...

...anyone who's ever been in an abusive or coercive relationship will know that internal monologue carried out when weighing up the perfect way to express something in an attempt to avoid bad repercussions, yet no matter how carefully something is expressed, it doesn't work...

...&, apart from the impossibility of always walking that line, it's just very uninspiring-"stay & fight"? Or stay & try to out rule-book the bad faith, unaccountable bureaucrats who really don't care about due process & rules & will do whatever they want anyway. Dispiriting