Scotland and Salmond

It must be terrible for wee Alex Salmond!
He has huffed and he has puffed and he has tried to bring down the Union but for all his bluster we can now see him for what he is - a calculating politician rather than a Scottish patriot.

He wants all of the trappings of being 'El Presidente' but is scared to let go of the apron (and purse) strings of the Union.

He wonders:

"Who will pay, if my independence ploy becomes a folly?  What happens if I upset the neighbors and then when I ask to borrow a wee cup of sugar, they say, 'no more, you borrowed from us, too many times in the past and then just snub us and bad mouth us '? "

"What happens if the ungrateful and unforgiving Scots wake-up and say 'Hold on a minute, we have swapped shared governance  by the 'Brits' and Westminster, to domination by the Germans and French - didn't we fight wars against them, to avoid being ruled by Bonaparte and Adolf?'"

"How, when I know, 100% for sure, that constitutional matters are reserved to Westminster, can I gracefully and face-savingly  back-down?  What words can I use to deflect the Scots from knowing that the accursed Westminster parliament have seen through my plan?  That the public schoolboy running the show is not the easy push-over I took him for"

"I don't think I can win a straight Yes or No question, so how do I 'pull the wool over the eyes of the electorate' and get them to back me going for 'Devo-Max', when it seems that only my party and the Greens, want it and at the same time hold on to my 'Freedom for Scotland' credentials?"

If it wasn't for the fact that he is a politician, I might feel some sympathy for him.  But no!  I will reserve that sympathy for the decent Scots that he has deceived and led-up a garden path, never intending to get to the end.

Who was it said?
"Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive"

Sir Walter Scot, methinks!