David S. Moon
@daimoon.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in Politics, teaching and writing about politics, ideology and pro-wrestling, with a bit of Wales 🏴 when I can. https://www.davidsmoon.co.uk
Pinned
David S. Moon
@daimoon.bsky.social
· Sep 15
New article out in @bjpir.bsky.social that investigates the #WWE + Welsh Government 🏴 deal to host “Clash at the Castle 2002” in Cardiff.
Mixing nation branding & pro-wrestling literature it analyses how WWE fit the Cymru Wales Brand into its broadcasts. (1/?)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Mixing nation branding & pro-wrestling literature it analyses how WWE fit the Cymru Wales Brand into its broadcasts. (1/?)
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by David S. Moon
Trump's playlist includes the Undertaker's theme before his remarks at the McDonald's Summit
November 17, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Trump's playlist includes the Undertaker's theme before his remarks at the McDonald's Summit
Increasingly few people identify with a party - they don’t *feel* “I’m Labour”, etc.
A fascinating question is how quickly that sense drains away after someone exits the party & its parasocial elements. To not belong to the ‘imagined community’, both alive and dead.
And once drained, what remains
A fascinating question is how quickly that sense drains away after someone exits the party & its parasocial elements. To not belong to the ‘imagined community’, both alive and dead.
And once drained, what remains
I’d also be interested to see polling differentiating between the willingness of ex-Labour voters to hold their noses and vote Labour vs. ex-Labour members to return to the fold.
For many (not all), leaving Labour is a last resort, deep decision. A key cord is cut & that release can feel visceral.
For many (not all), leaving Labour is a last resort, deep decision. A key cord is cut & that release can feel visceral.
Another thing people don’t get about Labour IMO is the innate, tribal dismissal, at all levels, of criticism from outside the party. If you’re ‘not Labour’, then tbh most won’t cares about your opinion.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
November 16, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Increasingly few people identify with a party - they don’t *feel* “I’m Labour”, etc.
A fascinating question is how quickly that sense drains away after someone exits the party & its parasocial elements. To not belong to the ‘imagined community’, both alive and dead.
And once drained, what remains
A fascinating question is how quickly that sense drains away after someone exits the party & its parasocial elements. To not belong to the ‘imagined community’, both alive and dead.
And once drained, what remains
I’d also be interested to see polling differentiating between the willingness of ex-Labour voters to hold their noses and vote Labour vs. ex-Labour members to return to the fold.
For many (not all), leaving Labour is a last resort, deep decision. A key cord is cut & that release can feel visceral.
For many (not all), leaving Labour is a last resort, deep decision. A key cord is cut & that release can feel visceral.
Another thing people don’t get about Labour IMO is the innate, tribal dismissal, at all levels, of criticism from outside the party. If you’re ‘not Labour’, then tbh most won’t cares about your opinion.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
I also understand why people stay, ofc. The grand history of ‘the Movement’, with its iconic figures and moments is a powerful emotive link and core to many if not most members’ self-understanding. “It’s our party”, etc.
If you leave, the pull remains strong - reflexively saying “we” in critiques
If you leave, the pull remains strong - reflexively saying “we” in critiques
November 16, 2025 at 10:57 AM
I’d also be interested to see polling differentiating between the willingness of ex-Labour voters to hold their noses and vote Labour vs. ex-Labour members to return to the fold.
For many (not all), leaving Labour is a last resort, deep decision. A key cord is cut & that release can feel visceral.
For many (not all), leaving Labour is a last resort, deep decision. A key cord is cut & that release can feel visceral.
Another thing people don’t get about Labour IMO is the innate, tribal dismissal, at all levels, of criticism from outside the party. If you’re ‘not Labour’, then tbh most won’t cares about your opinion.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
I also understand why people stay, ofc. The grand history of ‘the Movement’, with its iconic figures and moments is a powerful emotive link and core to many if not most members’ self-understanding. “It’s our party”, etc.
If you leave, the pull remains strong - reflexively saying “we” in critiques
If you leave, the pull remains strong - reflexively saying “we” in critiques
November 16, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Another thing people don’t get about Labour IMO is the innate, tribal dismissal, at all levels, of criticism from outside the party. If you’re ‘not Labour’, then tbh most won’t cares about your opinion.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
Even for your average member, the feeling is ‘if you won’t work to fix this inside, then STFU’.
The cognitive dissonance of your basic Labour Party member - mainly social democrat w. liberal social views - during the Blair years was tempered by the fact there was a positive narrative in public service investment & poverty reduction. I can’t imagine what it’s like now with nothing to hold onto.
Many professional Labour watchers expressing incredulity at them pursuing racist policies for no clear electoral gain. Born & bred in this tendency, I get it. The standard view is Labour does racist things as triangulation.
But maybe (😱) they’re doing it bcs they do actually like/want these things.
But maybe (😱) they’re doing it bcs they do actually like/want these things.
Shabana Mahmood has vowed to end Britain’s “golden ticket” for asylum seekers by forcing people arriving illegally to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement
November 16, 2025 at 10:23 AM
The cognitive dissonance of your basic Labour Party member - mainly social democrat w. liberal social views - during the Blair years was tempered by the fact there was a positive narrative in public service investment & poverty reduction. I can’t imagine what it’s like now with nothing to hold onto.
Many professional Labour watchers expressing incredulity at them pursuing racist policies for no clear electoral gain. Born & bred in this tendency, I get it. The standard view is Labour does racist things as triangulation.
But maybe (😱) they’re doing it bcs they do actually like/want these things.
But maybe (😱) they’re doing it bcs they do actually like/want these things.
Shabana Mahmood has vowed to end Britain’s “golden ticket” for asylum seekers by forcing people arriving illegally to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement
Shabana Mahmood: ‘Illegal migration is tearing Britain apart’
The home secretary is planning to introduce a 20-year wait for permanent stay to end a ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers
www.thetimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Many professional Labour watchers expressing incredulity at them pursuing racist policies for no clear electoral gain. Born & bred in this tendency, I get it. The standard view is Labour does racist things as triangulation.
But maybe (😱) they’re doing it bcs they do actually like/want these things.
But maybe (😱) they’re doing it bcs they do actually like/want these things.
So, it seems that the one rich perverted guy who *wasn’t* emailing Epstein was Vince McMahon.
November 14, 2025 at 4:18 PM
So, it seems that the one rich perverted guy who *wasn’t* emailing Epstein was Vince McMahon.
The Maccabi Tel Aviv event embodies what I call ‘Kayfabe politics’. Key to Kayfabe is not simply those performing in the ring pretending something false is real (here politicians) but how spectators (media +) also ‘keep Kayfabe’, playing along as fans-who-believe to sustain the spectacle they enjoy.
Hi guys, I've decided as everyone else has to start a substack. Here's my first article, on how the Maccabi Tel Aviv fan furore lays bare the pretence at the heart of British politics. Feel free to subscribe, I'm going to try write at least 2 articles a month.
open.substack.com/pub/tomusher...
open.substack.com/pub/tomusher...
Fated to pretend
What the Maccabi Tel Aviv furore shows us all about pretending
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:35 PM
The Maccabi Tel Aviv event embodies what I call ‘Kayfabe politics’. Key to Kayfabe is not simply those performing in the ring pretending something false is real (here politicians) but how spectators (media +) also ‘keep Kayfabe’, playing along as fans-who-believe to sustain the spectacle they enjoy.
I missed this article at the time - further use of Kayfabe as the lens to understand Trump-world.
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
A Trumped-Up Spectacle: James Chandler considers what Roland Barthes’s famous essay about wrestling can tell us about reality and shared illusion in Donald Trump’s Washington. lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-tr...
A Trumped-Up Spectacle | Los Angeles Review of Books
James Chandler considers what Roland Barthes’s famous essay about wrestling can tell us about reality and shared illusion in Donald Trump’s Washington.
lareviewofbooks.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I missed this article at the time - further use of Kayfabe as the lens to understand Trump-world.
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
Hat-tip @pabloredux.bsky.social !
2017: Trump tweeted out the video off him ‘clotheslining’ Vince McMahon - with the CNN logo replacing his head. One of those key “everything is becoming wrestling” media report moments.
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
November 7, 2025 at 2:42 PM
2017: Trump tweeted out the video off him ‘clotheslining’ Vince McMahon - with the CNN logo replacing his head. One of those key “everything is becoming wrestling” media report moments.
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
2025: Newsom is putting out videos of him giving Trump the ‘pedigree’. 🇺🇸 🤷🏻
www.wrestlezone.com/news/1589184...
On Palantir
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
November 7, 2025 at 1:39 PM
On Palantir
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
April: Ambassador Peter Mandelson arranged for Keir Starmer to have an “informal visit” (unminuted) to Palantir, a client of his lobbying firm Global Counsel
11 Sept: UK Gov announced a strategic partnership with Palantir
18 Sept: Mandelson sacked 🤷🏻
goodlawproject.org/mandelsons-e...
I am reminded of the fact that as LOTO Keir Starmer whipped Labour MPs to abstain on the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Act 2021, which allows undercover state actors to commit crimes when covertly infiltrating organisations.
Undercover police officer fabricated gun plot by animal rights activists, his managers tell inquiry
Undercover police officer fabricated gun plot by animal rights activists, his managers tell inquiry
Spycops inquiry has heard James Thomson lied to superiors and deceived two women into relationships
Managers of an undercover police officer believed that he had concocted a plot in which animal rights activists purportedly sought to obtain a gun to inflict a revenge attack on a political opponent, the spycops public inquiry has heard.
The officer, James Thomson, claimed he had uncovered the plot while he infiltrated animal rights groups. But his managers later came to doubt whether it was genuine, one of them appearing to call it “bollocks”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I am reminded of the fact that as LOTO Keir Starmer whipped Labour MPs to abstain on the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Act 2021, which allows undercover state actors to commit crimes when covertly infiltrating organisations.
Triple H is chatting about Trump again:
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
Triple H Reveals Similarities Between Donald Trump And The Rock
Triple H has explained how the similarities with the Rock helped Donald Trump excel in his political career and become US president
www.sescoops.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Triple H is chatting about Trump again:
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
“Donald Trump was very good in our world of WWE because he was okay to be himself. […] But he’s charismatic. He’s larger than life. He’s not afraid to say what’s in front of him, right or wrong. The Rock is the same way.”
www.sescoops.com/news/wwe/tri...
So Starmer *knew* Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s after he was jailed for sex crimes - but *didn’t* know about the emails where Mandelson treated him as innocent.
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
November 3, 2025 at 6:33 PM
So Starmer *knew* Mandelson stayed at Epstein’s after he was jailed for sex crimes - but *didn’t* know about the emails where Mandelson treated him as innocent.
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
So the logic below was right: “it was fine if he believed Epstein was guilty but not if innocent” FFS
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
If you read the headline only you’d probably assume the resignation was related to an investigation into the abuse (rape) of a detainee - but no, it is the *leaking* of the abuse, not the abuse itself, that is being investigated as a crime. Ofc.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Israeli military's top lawyer resigns over leak of video allegedly showing abuse of Palestinian detainee
Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi was facing an investigation into how the video at a detention facility holding detainees from Gaza was leaked last year.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 10:56 AM
If you read the headline only you’d probably assume the resignation was related to an investigation into the abuse (rape) of a detainee - but no, it is the *leaking* of the abuse, not the abuse itself, that is being investigated as a crime. Ofc.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
After posting this short thread on Kincora I thought, “what’s up with Colin Wallace?”
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
October 31, 2025 at 6:01 PM
After posting this short thread on Kincora I thought, “what’s up with Colin Wallace?”
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
And it turns out I missed the recent news that the MoD lost or destroyed his personal files in 2023 - the year Wallace began legal proceedings against them.
Ah, Brit Pol!
www.declassifieduk.org/military-los...
Good point to raise with Andrew Lownie who the BBC is interviewing now. His Andrew biography was key, alongside Virginia Giuffre’s book, in costing Andrew his title. His 2019 Mountbatten biography detailed evidence of a link to Kincora abuse & he discussed more in Chris Moore’s 2025 book on Kincora.
Not sure Andrew Windsor adopting the Mountbatten name is such a good idea
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-nort...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-nort...
Man who alleges Mountbatten abuse launches legal challenge
Arthur Smyth is suing five state institutions including the Department of Health and the PSNI.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Good point to raise with Andrew Lownie who the BBC is interviewing now. His Andrew biography was key, alongside Virginia Giuffre’s book, in costing Andrew his title. His 2019 Mountbatten biography detailed evidence of a link to Kincora abuse & he discussed more in Chris Moore’s 2025 book on Kincora.
“This sense of kayfabe I think goes right throughout the Irish system, state and economy.”
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:03 PM
“This sense of kayfabe I think goes right throughout the Irish system, state and economy.”
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
New article using the pro-wrestling concept of #Kayfabe as a tool for political analysis.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Hashtag not all sensibles ofc. But I’ll be interested to see if the revelations now published will spark any wider attention or reflection among scholars on what it means for how we study and interpret “politics” - or if it will be overlooked or dismissed. Cf. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
October 27, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Hashtag not all sensibles ofc. But I’ll be interested to see if the revelations now published will spark any wider attention or reflection among scholars on what it means for how we study and interpret “politics” - or if it will be overlooked or dismissed. Cf. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
One legacy of 2017-2019 in UK politics was random social media accounts like @/TontysArse97 showing a clearer understanding of the internal dynamics within the Labour Party than the ‘sensible’ professionals paid to explain politics who instead tweeted 🦄 at them www.declassifieduk.org/how-keir-sta...
How Keir Starmer conned the British electorate
Book review: ‘The Fraud’ offers the most damning portrayal yet of the Starmer project.
www.declassifieduk.org
October 27, 2025 at 12:26 PM
One legacy of 2017-2019 in UK politics was random social media accounts like @/TontysArse97 showing a clearer understanding of the internal dynamics within the Labour Party than the ‘sensible’ professionals paid to explain politics who instead tweeted 🦄 at them www.declassifieduk.org/how-keir-sta...
There’s nascent talk of Green/Your Party electoral pacts to avoid splitting the Left vote. Caerphilly shows Plaid need to be part of any discussions. The Greens backed indie Wales in 2024, ZP reiterated in 2024 & Greens have a history of electoral pacts w. Plaid. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-oper....
Co-operation between the Green Party and Plaid Cymru - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 24, 2025 at 10:51 AM
There’s nascent talk of Green/Your Party electoral pacts to avoid splitting the Left vote. Caerphilly shows Plaid need to be part of any discussions. The Greens backed indie Wales in 2024, ZP reiterated in 2024 & Greens have a history of electoral pacts w. Plaid. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-oper....
Reposted by David S. Moon
That scene of the Welsh BBC correspondent being the only person interviewing Caerphilly's new Plaid AM while the rest of the media interviewed Reform's loser in the background was far too on the nose.
October 24, 2025 at 1:34 AM
That scene of the Welsh BBC correspondent being the only person interviewing Caerphilly's new Plaid AM while the rest of the media interviewed Reform's loser in the background was far too on the nose.
“Dissolved” maybe too strong here - outsiders can struggle to realise the actual depth of loathing that exists within elements of Welsh Lab for “nationalism”. But my sense is that feeling is more concentrated in older members + Welsh Lab own tilt to soft-nationalist rhetoric did much to aid this.
Part of the story from Caerphilly is a wider change in Welsh political culture: old divides like language & indie policy, which split the centre-left into tribal silos, have dissolved. The “never-Plaid” mentality within Welsh Lab has shrivelled - meaning its disillusioned voters have an alternative.
October 24, 2025 at 8:36 AM
“Dissolved” maybe too strong here - outsiders can struggle to realise the actual depth of loathing that exists within elements of Welsh Lab for “nationalism”. But my sense is that feeling is more concentrated in older members + Welsh Lab own tilt to soft-nationalist rhetoric did much to aid this.
Part of the story from Caerphilly is a wider change in Welsh political culture: old divides like language & indie policy, which split the centre-left into tribal silos, have dissolved. The “never-Plaid” mentality within Welsh Lab has shrivelled - meaning its disillusioned voters have an alternative.
October 24, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Part of the story from Caerphilly is a wider change in Welsh political culture: old divides like language & indie policy, which split the centre-left into tribal silos, have dissolved. The “never-Plaid” mentality within Welsh Lab has shrivelled - meaning its disillusioned voters have an alternative.