The BBC must be the only people on the planet who are. Big Mike made sure his loyal wacko fans stuffed the ballot box. That’s fair enough, but the Beeb could at least mention this less than obscure fact. Leave it to one of those money-grubbing American broadcasters to let us know the fuller picture.
Last month Moore posted a letter on his Web site, www.michaelmoore.com, asking fans to vote for the movie, in part to annoy conservative critics of the documentary, which is critical of the Bush administration’s handling of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the Iraq war.
Moore’s win was greeted by catcalls as well as cheers.
I guess things are looking up in Beebdom.
He’s nothing more than a war profiteer. To call him just a solipist is to give the creep too much credit.
No war for film-makers, spanky!
OT: The independent investigation into CBS’s Bush National Guard fiasco finds ‘myopic zeal’ led to its broadcast, and a failure to follow ‘basic journalistic principles’. However they ‘found no evidence that a political agenda by network officials led to the decision to air it’.
Oh no, of course not!!
The MSN opinion poll shows that of nearly ten thousand responders a full 63% think the report doesn’t go far enough. BTW MSN is by no stretch of the imagination a ‘conservative’ media outlet so the poll isn’t likely to be tilted that way because of the readership.
O/T
More UK troops set for Iraq poll
“The Fusiliers have previously completed a tour in Basra, when 19-year-old Private Gordon Gentle was killed by a roadside bomb.
Mr Gentle’s mother, Rose Gentle, said she was sickened by news that more soldiers were being sent to face death.
“They should be sent to assist all those who have suffered terribly from the tsunami disaster, sent to use their skills to help people,” she said.
“Yet again Tony Blair is happy to send our young boys to die to prove he is Bush’s puppet.” ”
As I recall, 4 Black Watch soldiers have unfortunately passed away in Iraq, but why does the BBC insist on the vocal Rose Gentle, who is prepared to voice her opinions to all?
Are the other families unprepared to voice their opinion, or has the BBC just gone for the one whom they’ve read about on Indymedia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4161403.stm
Is she the same woman who said she was proud when her son joined the army. What sort of organisation did she think her son was joining exactly? The Peace Corps?
I have every sympathy for the families of soldiers killed in action, but once people enter the public arena they have to be prepared for robust criticism. Same goes for the rail crash victim who started making pronouncements on transport policy.
Here’s an interesting game I play now. Turn on Radio 4 or Radio 5 live and see how long it takes for the words “muslim” or “racist” to be braodcast. This morning on Today it was 1 second! Of course this could be pure coincidence.
But seriously it is remarkable how these items feature so heavily in BBC news (or should I say editorialising) these days.
To be honest I get a little tired of the BBC a) continually putting over the muslim perspective and b) implicitly accusing all and sundry of some form of racism (or other ism).
And this article about the palestinian elections isn’t so bad.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4163133.stm
Brace yourselves, it repeats the claims of low turnout and intimidation.
Are the BBC feeling ill?
The CBS report led to some dismissals/resignations – but falls short of accusing Mapes the producer and Rather the presenter of political bias. Just like the BBC has never had an anti-US bias, I suppose.
No mention of Mapes’ own father saying that she went into TV with an axe to grind – or Rather’s own involvement in Democrat fund-raising. No, of course there was no bias. Mapes carried on chasing the story for 5 years out of academic interest, and Rather chose to defend the fraudulent documents only because he was misled. Tell that to the Marines !
Eamonn
Al-BBC and those on the left generally don’t realise they’re defeating themselves with their continuous output. I long reached the stage the were I don’t give a damn what they think of me and actually regard insults such as ‘racist’ as confirmation that I’m probably right. The worst thing for them is to see that their slurs have no impact at all apart from a shoulder shrug.
Now we will have several days of leftie bleating about those poor innocent Guantanamo detainees. False accusations and exagerations by leftie campaigners, never challenged or even questioned by the interviewers, and no counterpoint by ordinary UK citizens saying “What the hell were most of those “British” citizens doing over there among the Taliban at a time of conflict with Western forces ? Why on earth should we take the word of these detainees as gospel fact ?”
Pete,
I recently saw a definition of ‘racist’ It’s “a conservative who’s winning an argument with a liberal.”
Sorry, I can’t credit the source as I don’t recall where I stole it.
StinKerr
That quote was either from Peter Brimelow or Thomas Sowell. I think Brimelow.
The biggest story regarding the Palestinian election is the comprehensive defeat of the hardliners, proving that the Israeli tactic of zero tollerance has succeeded in grinding down the Palestinians.
Far from ‘just creating more terrorists’ the hardline approach has undermined the terrorists support with many palestinians, who have grown sick and tired of the intefada, and their deteriating, or at best, stagnating standard of living.
Had the israelis been soft, toned down the assasintions, demolitions and roadblocks, and given concessions, then the millitants would have been empowered.
A government is judged by it’s achievments. As long as the millitants are not allowed to achieve anything, their legitimacy and support will wane.
If the Intifada hadn’t happened would Sharon be unilaterally pulling out of Gaza?
As a matter of fact yes. Had the intifada not happened there would now be a Palestinian state including 90% of the west bank and east Jerusalem for a capital. That – if you may remember – was the deal Arafat turned down in favor of resuming the violence.
Personally I think Sharon is making a mistake in withdrawing from Gaza any concession is read as an indication of weakness and encourages further violence.
Negotiations, concessions all teach that terrorism works and so encourage further acts. On the other hand hammer away long enough and Hamas et-al will break – just as the Nazis and Fascist Japan did. Remember; suicide attacks are the tactics of losers, not winners (see Japan and Germany above)
Rephrased – following the failure of the Camp David talks, if the Intifada hadn’t happened would Sharon be unilaterally pulling out of Gaza?
Sharon should not be pulling out of Gaza precisely because people like you will argue that it is because of infitada – which it might be.
The Palestinians had their chance and blew it they should be given *NOTHING* not Gaza and certainly not a state.
PS: The Camp David talks did not ‘fail’ Arafat rejected the offer because he thought he could get a better one through more violence. Palestinian leaders are going to go on believing this until it is brutally proven otherwise and the Palestinian people will continue to support terrorism until and unless it starts costing them personally.