This evening’s CBS Evening News with Dan Blather, sorry, Bob Schieffer, as repeated on Sky News in the UK, covered the meeting of Robert McCartney’s magnificent sisters and partner with George Bush at the White House today, as well as the exclusion of Gerry Adams (the well known member of the IRA’s seven-man ruling Army Council, along with Martin McGuinness). The refreshing thing was that, unlike the BBC, CBS told it straight: Robert McCartney was described as a “Northern Ireland Catholic killed by the IRA” and Gerry Adams was described as “the head of the IRA’s political wing”. Sinn Fein, the IRA’s political pretence, wasn’t mentioned.
While I’m off the topic of the BBC, I take my hat off to Private Johnson Beharry, age 25, of the 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment and to all his brave colleagues. Private Beharry is the first winner of the Victoria Cross, the United Kingdom’s highest military honour, since the Falklands War in 1982, and the first to live to tell the tale since 1965. An inspiring example to us all.
Update: The Times, 21MAR05: I’ll soon be fit enough to serve again – perhaps in Afghanistan, says new VC
Unlike the squeaky clean image of BBC24 and the Worldservice, the BBC’s coverage of events in Northern Ireland has always been biased. Why not? Its their war and they can promote it any they want. As long as they issue a few headlines everyone can read betweem them and guess whats really going on.
The McCarthney sisters will be forgotten when the hang-overs wane on Moday and it will be back to business as usual with the IRA acting as the police in the Irish/Nationalist areas. They aren’t going anywhere.
N.B. The above comment, posted by someone at http://www.stirling.wa.gov.au, has been moved to the correct topic. Please try to post more carefully, if not coherently, next time.
I wonder if that’s an official Australian Government view (from their home page “My neighbour’s dog continually barks. Can anything be done?” – presumably Mr. G. Adams and ‘the boys’ of the ‘Pest Control’ department will deal with that), or just some lazy civil servant thoughtfully demonstrating why we all need less government and less civil servants 🙂
On the Today programme this morning, we have a report about Sinn Fein. The reporter goes out to find opinion about the McCartney sisters in Catholic areas. Those interviewed are critical of the sisters. However, those interviewed are a “community worker” in Short Strand (Sinn Fein-IRA member? But we are not told) and the editor of Andersonstown News, who is likely to be sympathetic to Sinn Fein-IRA, to say the least. However, to the BBC’s credit, they then brought on the deputy leader of the SDLP, who concisely and devastatingly tore apart the thugs of Sinn Fein-IRA. So much so, that James Naughtie was rendered more or less speechless. It just undelines the importance of hearing those of moderate republicanism (and loyalism), something that the BBC does far too little of.
But then it’s back to form for Today. Other highlights on this morning’s programme –
Harold Pinter is interviewed since he has he has won the “Wilfred Owen award for poetry”. Pinter manages to accuse the UK and US of being dictatorships (funny, what’s that I hear about elections?). What is the public good in this man being given tax-subsidised airtime on the radio? What of interest does he have to say? What intelligent insight does he provide into world affairs? We even get treated to some of his silly poetry that deserves to be binned, not rewarded.
Finally we have Ken Loach talking about films, but magically manages to turn it to , you guessed it, Iraq. Apparently the lead news story about the VC winner in Iraq was wrongly reported, since it should have said that the soldier won the award in an illegal war.
Eamonn
Pinter and Loach hold well known, lefty, anti-war views. The BBC knows they can be relied on to deliver the right message.
Andrew
Hear hear re. Private Beharry. It shows our nation can still produce stout bloody minded bulldogs. I’ll be sure to raise a pint or 6 in his name in front of my liberal friends in the pub this weekend. I just hope that Private Beharry realises that the Health & Safety Exec will be after him in swift order. Fancy being reckless like that! Did he fill in the required paperwork before risking life and limb? Were his goggles up to UVA and UVB standard? Does Private Beharry’s Amoured Personnel Carrier meet EU emissions standards?!
On my local radio station Radio Merseyside the lead story was this soldier winning the VC which was good news. However in a brief description of how he had won it it described him as rescuing his ‘colleagues’. What ever happened to comrades or fellow soldiers?
Harold Pinhead is – of course – the dahling of the pseuds and leftists because he writes phoney dialogue in contrived portentious “scenes” which are meant to shed light on the “human condition.” They do not.
(And if we are a dictatorship, how come Pinter and his Hampstead gang aren’t residing at Her Madge’s Pleasure on a Hebredian Re-Education camp. I’d vote – at least once – for that.)
While that other “Langans Revolutionary,” Ken Loach, lives in a cosy Anthony Wedgewood Benn leftist timewarp circa 1959. When the British working classes knew their places. And that was being lectured by guilt tripping, rich white middle-class prats. Like him and Pinter.
Private Beharry is a credit to his native Grenada, and his adopted country.
An admirable immigrant!
Most people (apart from the moronic BNP types) aren’t against immigration per se, they are against the low quality of immigration the UK gets.
A low tax and thus wealthy UK will attract the worlds best people, but entitlements like the “free” NHS will attract the worlds ill. For instance this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4323323.stm fails to mention that 40% of the budget goes on treating AIDS, and most of the people with AIDS aren’t British.
The BBC just cannot do journalism any more.
Re my earlier comments about the VC winner. I should have known better, the original citation refers to his ‘comrades’ but our PC BBC translates this as ‘colleagues’.
Whilst waiting for my train this morning, one of my fellow travellers remarked that the VC for Pte Baharry would be good for race relations, the implication being clear. This was immediately before we read the reasons for the award. The fact that such a remark was made shows the degree to which the ‘race industry’ can be perceived by the indigenous population as having (possibly) distorted all measurement of merit, even the process of awards for bravery. Such a remark in its context would not have been made after the Falklands War.
Excellent point Allan, race relations based on multiculturism and its tenets have had far more negative impact than one could ever have predicted. I long for the day of the ‘race blind’ society. The whole race relations industry stands in the way however.
Private Beharry must have given the Beeb’s political correctness enforcer a conniption fit.
On the one hand, he won his honor for protecting his fellow soldiers from being killed by Islamofascists — oops, I mean brave, freedom fighting “insurgents” — (bad).
On the other hand, he’s black (good), and not covering his achievement would be racist.
What to do, what to do?
Oh what a tangled web we weave/
When first we practice to PeeCee
Perhaps John Kampfner will soon claim that Pte Beharry’s heroism was “staged”.
I’m amazed at how our troops maintian their morale in the face of the middle class twits who I wouldn’t lift a finger to defend.
I salute them.
The media does not like stories that show soldiers in a positive light; the BBC and MSM absolutely loved Abu Ghraib, and delighted in twisting Jessica Lynch’s words and humiliating her.
You can bet that Beharry’s heroism is being reported through gritted teeth.
Yes, Zev, but they can’t attack Beharry the way they attacked Lynch, because he’s black. That’s the beauty of it.
Let’s enjoy their discomfiture while we can! A big cyber-toast to Private Beharry!
Also note that as a VC he MUST be saluted by all ranks from private to Field Marshal FIRST. He then salutes officers who then return the salute as normal.
I hope he returns to duty but I fear his injuries and the way the MoD were saying ‘ his decison’ ‘in time’ etc means he might be leaving on medical grounds. I hope not as he is an example and role model for all young people regardless of colour. And his regiment came under more attacks than any unit since about 1815 apparently!
Newsnight Last Night. Piece on why young black boys are not doing so well in the world and why many find rap and gang culture so attractive. Basically a fudge, with no mention of the damage done by left wing idelogies and the race relations industry i.e. never critisize, accept graffiti and rap as legitimate “art” forms, never be so Imperial as to introduce the kids to higher forms of art and culture, permit discipline without crying Racism annd never,ever suggest that they pull up thier trousers, turn thier caps around and get jobs. Liberalism guarantees that there will be zero advancemment for minorities, period.
And never, ever criticise the fact that a lot of the youths they interview speak “pidgen English” and have a machismo attitude – hardly a good way to find employment even in a full-employment society.
And steer clear of questioning the root causes for the relative failure of the caribbean community to integrate into UK life after many decades, in terms of education levels, careers, home ownership. Too many in a lumpen and often violent underclass – with most of the violence directed against their own community. Blame it all on “racism” rather than poor expectations and ambitions and family structures. The court case showed how serious the gun culture has become around Birmingham – had the BBC been reporting this, or the reign of gun terror ?
Culture is the problem.When the first immigrants arrived,they were nice sober,law abiding people.So there is not a gene in anyones race that pre-determines they will take to crime or violence.But allowing a criminal culture to establish itself,in any community,is the problem.