Miliband's SS History Is Wrong

As I passed through Manchester Airport last week I picked up two titles which give you some idea as to my current state of mind. One is called DEFIANCE, written by Nechama Tec, published in 1993 by OUP. It describes a Jewish partisan group called The Bielski Otriad, which somehow survived in the forests of Belarus until the end of WW2.

The other is called RESISTANCE, written in French by Agnes Humbert, and published in English for the first time in 2008, published by Bloomsbury. This one describes the wartime experiences of the author as she helped set up the first resistance cell in Paris, was then betrayed and captured, and it catalogues her appalling experiences as a prisoner, at her trial, and then as a slave labourer in Nazi Germany through to the end of the war.

Both these books require a strong stomach to read, but they are impossible to put down, and are truly inspirational.

Agnes' story ends with her returning to France, but not before she had become effectively the intelligence arm for the American forces which liberated the area where she was enslaved. This last part of the book has many amazing revelations which are still relevant to this day, in explaining her views as to how guilt should be apportioned for the horrors of the war, and as to why and how the guilty were allowed to escape.



The picture she gives of the Americans is one of naivety, trusting any German that could speak English, and having no way of knowing if their denials of a NAZI past were true or false. The only way to sniff out those implicated from the innocent was to delve into the local communities and find out the real histories of the individuals who lived there. This she was able to do with her friends, establishing where the SS were hiding out in many cases.

As regards the freed French prisoners and slave workers, however, they were forbidden by their own government from pointing out to the Americans liberating them any Germans who had treated them humanely. She writes on p265,'It is quite superfluous, I'm sure, to spell out the reasons that might induce Vichy officers to issue orders of such a perplexing nature.'

I had always been told previously that the Americans deliberately overlooked Nazi guilt to enable Germany to be rebuilt quickly. This appears not to be the case from Agnes' experience. In her mind, they (Americans) simply didn't have enough understanding of the real evil of war, as they were relatively untouched by it themselves.

The banding together of the French with the Germans at the end of the war was not carried out in a new spirit of virtuous cooperation, as it is often presented today, but from a joint need to hide their crimes from the British and particularly the Americans. The opportunity to pull the guilty down across France and Germany, and replace them with those who had not been involved with crimes, was lost.

That is the basis on which the new Europe has been built, which goes a long way to explaining why democracies are being crushed anew by the Brussels bureaucracies, and the EU is incapable of acting other than in the way it does, corrupt, criminal and dismissive of individuals and longstanding democratic institutions.

As for the individuals fighting in the SS, which is where David Miliband has tried to pin blame on Kaminski, the Polish leader of the ECR in the EP, for permitting them to commemorate their lost comrades, Agnes Humbert has this to say -

'We now know with certainty that from January 1945 and perhaps earlier, raw recruits were assigned to the SS whether they were willing or not.'

What's interesting, overall, is that little David Miliband, who wants to make a stand against those he believes are guilty of killing his own ancestors, who he strangely associates with David Cameron! is in fact allying strongly with them himself - by his uncritical support of the EU, by advocating the destruction of British and other democracies, and by his own association with people whose secrets are well hidden, and who should have been exposed long ago.

The current EU leadership is too young to be directly involved in war crimes, but the culture of the EU was established well before Merkel and Sarkozy took over effective leadership.

The majority of NAZIs went unpunished at the end of the war, and remained in powerful positions in Germany and France, and they were instrumental in forming the EU as a way to disguise and cover their tracks.

As regards the SS, Miliband's chosen target to taunt the Conservatives with, Kaminski was right, and Miliabnd wrong. Many young men were press-ganged into joining the SS, as the war shredded the original SS membership, and the NAZIs needed replacements.

Narrative Creationists Threaten Cameron With A Hung Parliament

The ebb and flow of politics takes a new twist this week. Cameron's declared new policy of reptriating powers from the EU has sent his eurosceptic wing into a pleasant and profoundly content doze, despite great outpurrings of despair at betrayal by activists. Declaring in a relaxed and unaggressive style a programme of effective non-obedience to the Lisbon Treaty is in truth more than most of the 'sell-out' declarers feared they would get. But on the other hand, Cameron has delivered a nasty jolt to (e)utopians, who imagined Cameron would only offer token resistance.

(E)utopians, imagining themselves the main kids on the block, are not going to accept Cameron's new slant lying down, of course, and they will be looking at their various options, in the light of this shocking example of folly from Cameron. The first of these options is whether Cameron's electoral hopes can be halted in their tracks. Any election or referendum can be rigged to order these days, and while they had imagined a Cameron victory would be putting the next (e)compliant Blair into Downing Street, the election controllers would have permitted him his majority.

But now they are quite clearly contemplating another strategy - rigging the ballot to a far greater degree to the point where a Hung parliament results.

The first (e)utopian to come up with the suggestion of this strategy was Ken Clarke, Conservative (e)utopian number one. He boldly stated last week that another Labour victory would be a preferable result to a Hung Parliament, as if he somehow imagined a Hung Parliament to be the likely outcome of a GE, even with Conservative showing a consistent 14% lead over Labour over all polls....and he himself allegedly a Conservative!



Next out is Michael Thrasher, political commentator on Sky stating that he envisages a Hung Parliament as still a possible election result. See HERE. The pattern is emerging.

The reason is that, while elections in Britain can be rigged to order nowadays through the harvesting of postal votes, and ballot box adjustments made during overnight storage in a few key marginals, this cannot be done without raising suspicion, unless people already 'expect' the result that is actually delivered on the day. So the first job of an election rigging agency is to manage expectations.

And here you can see the beginnings of that exercise being carried out.

Cameron will need to urgently give out some encouraging messages to the (e)utopians to convince them that he has no real intention of repatriating powers, and that he only fears the loss of votes from minor eurosceptic parties. He can read the signs that any rebellion against EU power will not be tolerated. If he wants to win an election, he had better get his head straight. The votes don't matter. Eurosceptics don't matter. The people who control postal voting and overnight ballot box storage will decide the election result. He had better remember that.

The Guardian article quoting Ken Clarke is HERE.



Oh yes. And I nearly forgot another key (e)utopian, Michael Heseltine, also giving his opinion on BBC Hard Talk that a Hung Parliament is a 'very likely' result. Link HERE. That makes it a full house of the ageing Tory eurofanatics, talking down Cameron's chances.

The situation could not be clearer.

The Future Course Of Politics Takes Shape.

While David Cameron talks of renegotiating repatriation of powers from the EU, one of his MPs thinks there is another way. Douglas Carswell who brought the motion to expel Michael Martin as Speaker, is starting a new initiative. He is one of the few remaining MPs who still believes in Parliament. He is young (relatively), incorruptible and will not back down.

Even with only one activist MP in Parliament, who operates beyond the system of media corruption, there is a chance that a political movement could be born from the back benches. With the Front Bench so hopelessly compromised, where else could the democratic revival of Britain come from?

Carswell could maybe persuade other MPs to join him in his campaign. It would be tantamount to creating a political party within a party, if he did. If Labour's vote collapses to 120, giving Cameron 450 seats, the only real opposition might become internal opposition.

The Party would not fracture, but it might provide its own opposition, forcing Cameron to hold a referendum to quell rebellion. Eurosceptics should be voting in as many COnservative MPs as they can.

Open Europe reports -

Meanwhile, PA reports that Conservative MP Douglas Carswell has sent an email to his constituents in which he wrote, "I want you to know that I have begun a campaign for a referendum on the EU.

All three parties promised us a referendum. Yet somehow it hasn't happened. I think that's wrong." He told his constituents it was "time to let the British people have their say...No one in Britain under the age of 52 has had the chance to vote in a referendum on Europe. For years it has been left to professional politicians and diplomats to decide EU policy. I believe it is now time to let the people have their say."

The referendum would need to be timed to a period when a majority of Britos want to quit the EU, which could still be three years away.

Vote Euroscepticism Into Power

This is the last post I will be sending onto The Tap for a bit. I'll be back but have personal business to attend to, which necessitates absence from the UK til roughly March.

I will be back before the General Election.

My thoughts for eurosceptics who doubt Cameron are this.

You should still vote for him.

Why?

Because UKIP is a wasted vote, as is BNP.

There is potentially a far more fruitful source of rebellion against Cameron, if he goes slow on his EU repatriation of powers programme, from inside the Conservative Party. People like Bill Cash, Douglas Carswell will be sure to wind up the situation if they see Cameron backsliding on his promises.

They will be able to be far more aggressive in attack if Cameron has a big majority, and equally, he can be far more tolerant of revolt.

The problem is now that the public need to be educated as to why Britain is in such a mess. The more Conservative eurosceptic MPs there are to fuel a rebellion, the more the public will get to hear of EU issues. If Cameron gets a majority of 200 plus, these MPs can open up quicker and more frequently, becoming the effective opposition.

There could be more Conservative MPs opposing Cameron than Labour MPs. That would be a much better situation for eurosceptics. Backing UKIP is the same as backing Labour. Why would any sensible eurosceptic wish to assist the enemy?

Cameron with 450 plus seats would be an unstoppable force. That level of victory is currently 12-1 at the bookies. In six months time, however that could come about, if all eurosceptics rallied and voted as one.

There could be two Conservtaive Parties in the House Of Commons, the loyals and the sceptics, a rerun of the wets and the drys all over again. Think About It. The drys can achieve far more to stop the wets if they can hold a Commons majority on their own. Conservative europhiles are a tiny minority. If Cameron proves to be the traitor some seem to believe he will be (I don't), he could easily be toppled by the vast majority of his own euroscetic MPs.

VOTE CONSERVATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And keep voting Conservative.

Fell The Wall. Your vote is the sledgehammer that euroscepticism requires. Labour with 100 MPs. Conservative with 500. The EU would be finished, and UKIP out of a job.

Yes Richard. This Is A Thriller.

Richard North writes to me on www.eureferendum.com comments - 'Have you ever tried writing thrillers?'.

No need. And no point. Fact is stranger than fiction. That is where you scientists come unstuck. You always want events to be logical. The plain and simple truth is never plain and rarely simple.(paraphrase of Oscar).

You are requiring Cameron to be a bigger writer of fiction with your theories, than anything I have said. I merely describe what I see. I remember a meeting with his earlier adviser just as he won the leadership. Few words were spoken, but I took a read from that meeting in which I tried to discuss possible tactics for the issue of the EU. Effectively my ideas were rebuffed. But in a way which puzzled me at the time, and I have often gone back to it in my mind since. There was and is definitely a deliberate attempt being made to park the issue.

But that, I am equally convinced, tells you absolutely nothing about the future course of events once Cameron wins power. Follow the words that are used by Hague on priorities. And judge from Hague's general demeanour, his amazing, almost deliberate weakness and look of a wimp desperate to cave in as soon as he can. Yes this is certainly a game of bluff and double bluff.

I'm pleased you now see the wall, which must tumble. But before we tumble the wall, we have to get to it.

I have never received so much abuse before, as I have received, from commenters from eureferendum, after writing my initial comments there suggesting a possible strategy that Cameron may be following. The political internet is not for wimps. There are some nasty folks out there. Richard North attracts a few, but is not one himself. He gets frustrated and very angry, but he holds the level - just about - although the sexual cartoons of Cameron might make it impossible for him to be seen on platforms with those who seek future position. They are not that funny. Why bother to publish them on a serious blog?



As I could not place my comment this morning on eureferendum, I'm parking it here.

ONE MORE THOUGHT -

Eurosceptics who doubt Cameron should want him to have the biggest majority possible.

Why's that?

Because the job now is to educate the public.

It would be possible for him to 'tolerate' open rebellion amongst MPs over the EU, if he has a huge majority, Conservative eurosceptic MPs against Cameron, with Labour down 122 MPs, as one prediction today, would become the effective opposition. The ensuing battle between a brilliant sheep impersonator, and his rebellious MPs would become the story, the narrative.

From there the public could be educated.

'Cameron the sheep'-haters should therefore vote for him in droves, so they can then form a Parliamentary sub-group, in opposition to any sell-outs.

If Cameron only has a majority of 60, he would have to silence opposition in his own ranks. If he has a majority of 200, he could tolerate a certain amount of noise.

Hague On Marr Show Re EU

From 10 am Sunday morning 8th November 2009

Marr - re Afghanistan

Hague - we need to communicate with the public more evenly. the communication is news driven , which means casualty driven. It needs regular reporting of the situation. People have to see there is a strategy they can believe. In the new strategy, coming from Obama, there needs to a strong civilian effort, not a pro-consul, a powerful coordinating figure from the international community.

Marr - difficult public spending situation..

Hague - there hasn't been a stragegic defence review for ten years. In 2004 Labour cut the helicopter budget by 1.5 billion. a big mistake.

Marr - did you seriously think you would go ahead with a Lisbon referendum.

Hague - it's not a simple matter and needs explaining. Referendum can no longer stop the Lisbon Treaty going ahead.

Marr - your new proposals are locks on stable door minus a horse.

Hague - a particluar horse. whenever any government transfers powers to Europe, there will be a referendum.

Marr - there won't be a transfer of power or a traety for years.

M - social and welfare policy? paternity leave. 4 weeks holiday

H - not those, but things like agency regulations. things we can ask for which are damaging our economy.

m - eu says don't make a list of demands. we're not interested

h. we have to pick our time. no quick 6 months bust up

m - nothing will happen

h - it will. i am determined. the economic problems will be on our mind 24 hours a day. we don't need a crisis with the EU.

m - so it's business as usual

h - we will be working with our EU partners.

m -

h - we will challenge other parties to agree about a Sovereignty Bill.

m - it's a gift to ukip

h - we cannot pander to fringe parties

h - fringe parties will have no impact, if you want change, vote conservative

m - abuse from foreign ministers. business as usual.

h - steady promotion of our national interest. we will be tough negotiators.

m - MP's expenses..........................

Eurosceptics Plan Their Next Match

The Eurosceptics in the media are putting up a big moan this week, at the end of the lost 'Stop The Lisbon Treaty' game. Cameron is being accused of deception by one and all, failure to keep promises and so on. But really it's time to grow up, Eurosceptics, and look to the next match. You lost Lisbon 6-0. Now stop blaming the Captain.

He played a good game. He was let down by the Irish Goal-keeper and the Czech striker, but their poor contribution was caused mostly by injury, and disgraceful off-field behaviour of opponents. The Captain did his best.

Of course, it's disappointing when your team gets stuffed in an important match. But the Season is still going on, and if the moaning attitude doesn't stop, the team could end up being relegated. There's still everything to play for.

The problem is that you have an excellent Team Captain, but as he was trained in the West London Upper League, spending time with the Bullingdon Lodge, many of the solid team-supporters from around the regions can't quite get what he's on about.

Allow me fill in the gaps in what Cameron is saying, for you.

'You guys can start pulling the wall down, and I won't send in the cops or the army. The judges will be overridden by the Sovereignty of Parliament, or other pressures we can deploy.

If the Feds send in the cops or the army from over there, the political consequences would be big enough to bring a majority referendum for out.

Now come on, Fellas. Play your part of the game. And stop yer moaning. This is the big EUSSR match we've been talking about a long time. We know how to deal with USSRs. We sorted one of those not all that long ago. The best tactic is to take apart their defensive wall, by getting their excessive number coaches all falling out with each other.

The match team talk will be delayed until after the supporters have chosen the new manager and directors. The last ones have unfortunately bankrupted the Club. Don't worry, we have backers from City. Later this year, betting on The Metric League Cup is expected to swing heavily in favour of the Martyrs. Chin up, Lads, and get back to work.'

Farage And Miliband Don't Get Cameron

Farage is trying to raise capital out of the latest Conservative EU policy statement given by Cameron on Thursday. Writing in The Guardian, he expands his argument thus -

The Dutch said: "There is more chance of a snowball surviving hell than the EU restarting debates on treaty change."

The Poles said: "Without having Brussels and other European capitals on side, London will be marginalised."

The Spanish likewise: "I do not know of a single country in Europe that now thinks we should be spending any time to change the treaty we have just spent eight years negotiating. It is really, really impossible."

My old sparring partner, Dick Roche, in Ireland points out: "There is a complete aversion across Europe to the idea of going through the kind of process we have just gone through for the last 10 years."

And the French in their characteristically brusque way have said that "it is out of the question that there would be any renegotiations".

Fat chance Dave. And you know it.

But Nigel, it's much simpler than that. To the word 'NO' there is no argument or negotiation offered or required. It's the language of non-recognition, non-obedience, non-compliance, call it what you will. Cameron is saying 'NO. I am not playing this game any more.'

He's not asking or negotiating. He's telling - something Nigel Farage cannot yet fathom. Here is a eurosceptic Conservative Prime Minister-to be, getting ready to say what he wants to happen, and who doesn't recognise the moral or democratic legitimacy of the EU as it applies to Britain.

The Dutch, the Poles, the French and anyone else can line up and express irritated opinions, but if Cameron's not playing, Cameron's not playing. NO does not need a vote. NO does not need any more hesitation or thought. NO is NO. It is final.

The Germans are strangely silent. The one comment from a Die Welt journalist speaking on Newsnight was that many people in Germany feel that Cameron is expressing exactly what they feel about the EU. It's gone too far and has to stop.

Now Nigel Farage, you didn't mention that side of the conversation, did you!!!

PICTURE - Farage outside the institution that, this week, has banned him and all other MEPs from having passes. Will he soon walk inside as an elected representative?

Maybe he will, but his old anti-Conservative lines are ageing fast in the new era of Conservative open EU-disobedience. He will need to find a new angle of attack as the Lisbon Treaty period, and taking the EU game and its all preposterous self-importance seriously, is passing. The bogeymen are no longer conforming to type. Cameron is incorruptible.

Without the same old easy targets, snake-like Blair, secretive brooding Brown, evil lying Clegg, or merely wimpy old Hague, Farage's raison d'etre will just fade away. He must be sensing the change and wondering how and where his new lines will come from. The new generation will soon be taking over. For Farage, life will never be the same.

Another politician who cannot fathom Cameron's approach to the EU is David Miliband.

David Miliband said this morning at the Fabian Conference that they will be campaigning against Cameron on his new EU policy as being either meaningless or dangerous, as it will lead to Britain leaving the EU.

But David, if it's meaningless, it's not dangerous. And if it's dangerous, it's not meaningless. And if it is dangerous, Farage is out of a job.

Herr Britler Prepares For Gotterdamerung

With news that the GE might be called to take place earlier than previously thought, before Budget Day, possibly on March 25th, I had the following thoughts to offer on CH.

Damn. I just arranged with my company to come back to the UK in April. Could Gordon Brown possibly reconsider?

Mind you Cameron can get at the Finances two months earlier. OK. Yes. That is more important.

Brown has transformed again.

At first he was described as Labour's answer to Stalin.

Then Vince Cable realised he was more like the selfish and incompetent Mr Bean.

This was followed later by comparison to tragedy incorporated, Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.

But now, amidst the dying embers of his regime, it's 1945 all over again. Britler is back in his bunker. With Tory artillery landing on the roof, he's determined to destroy the ungrateful country that failed him.

General Cameron's tanks have reached the Thames Embankment. The Failure's preparing suicide pills for Mandelson and Milband, as he reaches for his revolver.

See Scorched Earth Policy on CH.

Helmer Hannan and Cash Are Out Of Time

The three flouncers, who declared public opposition to the abandonment of a referendum on Lisbon, as named above, received scant support. Two years ago, Conservative eurosceptics would have been cheering from the rafters, egging them on. So why not now?

One reason is that it's only months away from an election, and no matter how much justification there might be for a flounce, there is more appetite for winning power, than there can be for any policy.

Another is that Cameron's new policy is not without interest to eurosceptics. Yes Lisbon is signed and all its hateful terms will now be applied with glee by the obnoxious creeps who adore and staff the EU, which must stick in the craw for those who had hoped that it would be stopped. But the moment Lisbon was lost, it makes sense to move onto a Lisbon non-recognition and non-cooperation platform which is what Cameron has done.

But third the lack of support for the flouncers tells you one more thing. Cameron is winning support,not just because he wears a Conservative badge, but because people like him and want him to be Prime Minister.

That is the biggest change of all. When he was acting the me-too Blair pre-Blair's resignation, he was detested by eurosceptics who believed they had been sold a pup. But up against Brown, Cameron has grown in confidence and stature, to the point where he provides reassurance to people.

The times are worrying, and trouble, we all can see, is on its way. Here is one possibility for Britain to at last find a Prime Minister capable of running the country well, at a time when we need good government. People sense that, and so the appetite for rebellion against Cameron, which was strong in 2006 and 2007, is now almost non-existent.

Here is the first sign that the Conservatives are now truly a united force. The DUP are on board. The eurosceptics. People from right across the country are getting ready to rally to drive Labour out of power, sick of the bankrupt mess they have created.

Blair's attempt on President was pushed to one side with one puff by Cameron. Miliband is merely nuisance value as EU Foreign Secretary, and good advertising of how arrogant personal ambition has sent Labour and Britain into a political blind ally.

Cameron's moment is here.

The only criticism in the media is coming from the Daily Mash.

Revealingly the first line of the 'bit of a fishing trip' article tells it all -

Mr Hague received a mauling from Conservative candidates disappointed at the leader's U-Turn on Europe..

The article continues,

Mark Reckless, an ally of Tory MEP Daniel Hannan, who stood down from the frontbench in Brussels in protest at the policy change, hit out at Mr Hague's handling of the affair.

He said Mr Cameron's plans offered 'three proposals to entrench the status quo' in Brussels rather than 'reverse the process'.
He asked Mr Hague: 'Do you understand the sense of disappointment with regard to you personally?'

But Mr Hague stressed that voters are more interested in the economy and schools than in Europe as an issue.

But, even here, not a glove was laid on David Cameron.

French Want Cameron Castrated.

In an interview on the BBC's Newsnight last night, French Foreign Minister Pierre Lellouche attempted to explain his comments that Conservative policy on Europe was "autistic" and would "castrate" UK influence in Europe, saying they had been mistranslated.

How exactly, one wonders can the word 'castration' be mistranslated?


He said that, in his relations with William Hague, "On Europe it seems like we cannot talk...I've been talking to him over the year and it doesn't make a dent. There's no listening, no exchange on this."

The Guardian notes that Hague dismissed the comments, saying "We won't be put off by one emotional outburst from one minister. I think more senior members of the French government would take a more careful approach." He added, "We will stick up for our national interests, which French ministers never fail to do, by the way."

German opinion seems more supportive.

speaking on Newsnight, Die Welt's London Correspondent Thomas Kielinger said that there had been an over-reaction to Cameron's speech by many European politicians.

He added, "There are a lot of eurosceptics in Germany on the ground - people who feel rather sympathetic to the way Britain is trying to re-evaluate what Europe is about, what Brussels should be - who don't speak up because the powers that be in my country are holding such a strong hold over public opinion that they won't let these voices come to the fore."

Quotes from Open Europe.

Vote Fraud In Britain

North Asks Where Cameron's Big Stick Will Come From

Richard North has decided that because he cannot see a big stick that therefore one does not exist. And because no EU renegotiation can occur without a basis of threat, he sees Cameron's position on EU renegotiation as fundamentally a lie.

That is to misunderstand the basis on which people give their consent to political leadership or government. While the economy prospers and people are making money they will agree to nearly everything done by their governments. When the economy turns nasty, then the opposite process kicks in and people attack their governments over nearly everything, and kick them out.

The western economies have been through many long years of debt-fuelled growth. The debt cycle has now topped and people are retrenching, bringing the economy down step by step. Only massive government spending which is unsustainable, is keeping the wolf from the door, and holding up the political cycle at the moment. This cannot go on much longer, and all the money is being used to prop up asset markets, which are rising at their fastest pace ever in history.

When the mood changes over to 'bear' mentality again, which it will, Cameron's programme of repatriating powers will move from a minority sport supported by a few to a majority position, from a population angry and wanting revenge. Cameron cannot go in advance of the economic and social mood changes. He has to ride them. It would have been unthinkable for a speech such as the one just made by Cameron, to have been heard pre-2008. But after that autumn briefly shocked the world, and kicked many places into a downward spiral, a new politics becomes possible.

This is the one factor that you are not considering, Richard. The EU is an expensive 'bull market' political phenomenon. The bear will bring it down. Cameron is ahead of the wave, and is waiting to ride on it. He cannot create a force that will undo the works of a generation, but he can take the political ride which the next phase will offer. One man cannot create the events you desire, but he can anticipate them. If you start to see events as less directly 'this causes this therefore this', you would have more scope to tolerate human failings such as the odd deception or even outright lie.

After all Macchiavelli instructed us that politicians have to lie, but they must try not to be seen as liars nonetheless. See the rise and fall of events, of empires, of economies, and see the big forces that shape the world as unstoppable by any human being, and don't expect one mere mortal to change the fundamental basis of life for you. It will ease your political thinking, and get you out of your scientifically minded trench.

Cameron can be depicted as King Knut trying to hold up the waves, as you like to see him. Equally he could be seen as someone reading the tides and seeing that there is a change on its way. He's just moving his boat down the beach, to where the flow will lift him up and set him on his way. The force is the sea, not the boat.