Comments on The Pensive Quill: Nick the Prick

case of civil disobedience severely backfiring on ...

2009-10-29T19:01:05.820Z

case of civil disobedience severely backfiring on the protesters

Starry Plough, as always something to think about ...

2009-10-28T19:56:09.882Z

Starry Plough, as always something to think about here. I think your nuanced approach to these matters is something that should be emulated. The notion that we should empower with a veto those who scream 'racist' the loudest is anathema to progressive thinking.

Seán Mór, I was touching on this very point in the...

2009-10-28T19:49:45.693Z

Seán Mór, I was touching on this very point in the piece when I said the BBC were right to put him on regardless of how he performed rather than seek justification in the fact that he was hopeless. I think you are right in suggesting that had he the panache of someone like Jorg Haider the response might have been very different and more people would be clamouring to have him banned

Saw Scargill last night talking in Dublin. Plenty ...

2009-10-28T12:49:11.835Z

Saw Scargill last night talking in Dublin. Plenty of good old time stories etc, but on the subject of immigration he was very interesting. he attacked the left for being afraid of the issue and said it needed to be addressed. He argued it needed to be broken down into three parts. Asylum seekers, immigrants and economic migrants.

His main problem was with the impact of free mobility of labour as outlined within the EU. He argued this served the interests of the capitalist class and was a direct attack on workers within a country. He said mass immigration ofthis type was bound to cause social strife of various discriptions.

I myself am unsure how i feel on this subject. Given the experiences of the Irish people and my own family etc it has always been an area whereby those who move to a new country should always be supported.

However, it is also clear that in the short term such patterns of migration help the ruling class by depressing local wages and reducing union power.

This to me is an area I feel much more honest and open debate amongst those on hte left if the rise of far right groups is to be avoided.

I watched the show lastnight on BBC IPlayer. Great...

2009-10-27T19:02:58.820Z

I watched the show lastnight on BBC IPlayer. Great invention. I agree that we shouldn't be censoring the likes of the BNP from public platforms. They should be let speak, and challenged.

That said, let's say he didn't come across as a fool, let's say he was the opposite, and was quite a charismatic and attractive fellah, I wonder what people would think? The fact that he looks like that big bulldog in the Tom and Jerry cartoons probably put him on the back foot in the popularity stakes to start with. But I'm sure the BNP will at some point produce something a bit more dangerously seductive. Even then, I think they should be allowed to speak, and challenged.

While he didn't come across very well at all, at the same time there was a patronising tone about some of his rivals on the panel... or was that just my imagination? I found Bonnie Greer sitting with her back to him, very condescending at times. Might just be me. Jack Straw got off to a strong start, and I found myself agreeing with him... but then piled it on a bit too thick.

Some of the best questions and challenges came from ordinary people on the floor, I thought. More practical and down to earth, and less condescending... eg 'where do you want me to go to, Nick?' or 'can you not see what we have contributed to British society, rather than always looking at us in a negative light?' Simple, effective, everyday questions.

Starry Plough 'It is partially because certai...

2009-10-27T18:02:09.747Z

Starry Plough

'It is partially because certain people feel they are not allowed to discuss issues such as immigration etc that they vote BNP.'

I think this takes the bull by the horns. Even here we see a lot of resentment generated by the issue of immigration or government strategies for its application in practice. It is all too easily dismissed as racism and then festers and finds an outlet in nefarious groups or activities.

People should be able to discuss their concerns without some chancer labelling them a racist.

I believe the only way to defeat the growth of the...

2009-10-27T09:18:23.770Z

I believe the only way to defeat the growth of the BNP in England is to expose them for what they are and secondly to address the issues that lead amy white working class people to vote for them.

I agree Griffen looked a fool n Newsnight, but then i think he looks a fool all the time. However, i feel the total lack of balance on the show may lead others to claim he was treated unfairly and feel he was not allowed to express his overall views.

It is partaly because certain people feel they are not allowed to discus issues such as immigration etc that they vote BNP.

The way to defeat teh BNP is to discuss the issues with them, expose there arguments and also to tackle the issues around deprevation/alienation etc that are leading people to vote BNP

Hilarious, lol. Pretty much a human form of bear b...

2009-10-27T00:32:20.546Z

Hilarious, lol. Pretty much a human form of bear bating. A mockery to us all, the bnp and the whole lot of this circus should be ignored. There are much more pressing issues at hand..

‘Anti Racism’ has always been a rallying call for ...

2009-10-26T19:49:14.936Z

‘Anti Racism’ has always been a rallying call for fringe left parties in the UK. It produces a turnout and a hysteria unavailable to other causes like climate change for instance. The fringe left and fringe right have been battling it out on the streets of Britain for decades to no real effect other than excitement and satisfaction for the participants themselves and a couple of pointless fatalities.

Question Time is fairly predictable week after week and draws its panel from a small pool of politicos and BBC approved cultural commentators. Perhaps it is the breeching of this clique by Griffin’s presence that upsets people like Diane Abbot as much as Griffin’s views.

Surely the BBC could have found a less tainted character than Jack Straw to put on the panel that night. This is the man who let Pinochet get away and is slowly eroding civil liberties in Britain, not that the chattering classes have noticed (since it hasn’t reached the view from their drawing room windows yet) He is even accused by a former British ambassador is being complicit in torture. To me he is even more repulsive than Griffin.

Whatever your perspectives may be on the US, its p...

2009-10-26T19:28:24.922Z

Whatever your perspectives may be on the US, its political system and indeed its politics, it does have a constitutionally enshrined right to free speech in the first amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Makes you wonder if the south had had such a constitutional protection how different the reporting of the conflict may have been and ditto for the British with their bizarre concept of the unwritten constitution.

Griffin's appearance is very much a YouTube classic for its comedic content and yes, being able to see, hear and dissect the message and the messenger is a far greater service to a people than censorship could ever be - after all censorship relies on the notion that some people have a far superior idea of what you should see and hear than you do which is a pretty good definition of fascism.

Mick, I don't think it was impartial. Its part...

2009-10-26T19:23:12.896Z

Mick, I don't think it was impartial. Its partiality was evident in the way the presenter defended the consensus and moved against what lay outside of it. The BBC is embedded in the structure of the consensus and helps to reproduce it. On Question Time it ruled certain perspectives in and others out. Those it ruled in there was no interrogation of. Listening to Griffin on the Iraq war you would expect from impartiality that Straw would have had his feet held to the fire.

Mmmm, the BBC being impartial, now there's a n...

2009-10-26T18:15:16.299Z

Mmmm, the BBC being impartial, now there's a novel idea, not completely sure what lay behind this, although I can make a good guess. Whatever lay behind it, the BBC would not have done it without a nod from the big house.

Although I agree, it was a sight to behold to see people who have either spent their lives on the wrong end of censorship, or at the very least opposing it, to suddenly demand the State sensors Griffin.