I bet you’ll all be tuning in on Saturday night to BBC Radio 4 to catch Rory Bremner’s farewell to President Bush. Bremner “considers the rhetorical evolution of George W Bush, from gaffe-prone candidate to grandiose war president. He considers whether Bush grew to become an effective orator and who was responsible for writing the words he spoke and examines some of his key speeches and phrases.” The trailer for the programme consists entirely of gaffes made by Bush and I think we can be sure that this programme is designed to produce one big raspberry at the departing Bush. Now then, I accept that Bush DID make gaffes, but then again, who doesn’t? So I hope Rory and the gang will immediately start working on a follow -up programme on Obama – starting with those 57 States of America, examining his Muslim, sorry Christian faith, and how he has a few problems without the teleprompter. Rory’s researchers could have a read here if they want more material on The One. In the interests of balance, of course.
BUSH WHACKED.
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and im Spartacus
Paxman could well be reported for Incitement to Violence – he was egging on an Fatah official to join Hamas in a third intifada. That isn’t clever, its dangerous.
Garden Trash | 07.01.09 – 11:22 pm |
I’m convinced that John Conner is really Al Bowen.
Matt,
Yes, the moderator is on-line. I think that this thread contains many excellent points and is a credit to the site. I don’t like the swearing and the ad hominem and think it does distract from the core issues, all of which are great. On any blog the issue is about balancing freedom of expression against ensuring the space is welcoming to all. I take a liberal line on this as I have better things to do with my time than monitor every comment. At times like this, when the BBC is on-bias overload, many people here feel passionate about it and I welcome their opinion.
today the BBC revealed, exclusively, that the Israelis have told the UN behind the scenes that they were mistaken….. It was on the 10PM news if you happened to tune into that.
John Connor | 07.01.09 – 11:03 pm | #
Wasn’t exclusive at all. ITV News led with the same story.
It was a non-story anyway since we all heard an IDF spokesperson say yesterday that the mortars were fired either from the school or the adjacent street.
The UNRWA guy made up a false “strawman” story and our media fell for it.
Quelle surprise.
Jon,
No John Connors,can only be the Big D himself.Just imagine the QT voice saying JCs words.
John Connor clearly missed QT straight after 9/11.
Mailman
“It was a non-story anyway since we all heard an IDF spokesperson say yesterday that the mortars were fired either from the school or the adjacent street.”
Looks like Hamas is going for anotherQana Massacre,the Corruption of the Media with the assistance of the BBC.
Mailman | 07.01.09 – 11:31 pm |
Maybe he wasn’t old enough to stay up that late.
Mr Connor must have missed the “Why do so many people hate America” on the BBC stunt, with the US ambassador faced by every scum hiding under a rock, who blasted him with pure anti US hatred. This shortly followed 9/11.
BBC was making excuses for Anti Americanism within a few days of 9/11.
John Connor:
“every news agency in the world is reporting that hundreds have died in Gaza.” They do not list them as civilians. Even UN estimates that civilian death toll is 25% i.e, quite close to IDF estimation – 20%. I repeat my question: where you got you figure of “hundreds of innocent civilians killed”. It is also interesting where these “news agencies” took their figures from. May be they are just repeating HAMAS lies?
“John Connor clearly missed QT straight after 9/11.”
Fuelling hatred of Americans is so innate to BBC employees that they don’t even realise when they are doing it. It’s just like breathing to them.
John Connor clearly missed QT straight after 9/11.
Mailman
Mailman | 07.01.09 – 11:31 pm | #
Yes – in fact I think Al Jazeera and the beeb were the only news organisations who covered 911 from the terrorist point of view.
John Reith 11:27
Was the “UNRWA guy” Christopher Gunness, who used to work for… er the BBC ? If so, it’s a small world !
“I don’t like the swearing and the ad hominem and think it does distract from the core issues”
And what about thr Racism & Bigotry?
Muslims are not a race! But that’s probably too complicated for your beebed brain, Matty Boy.
“Muslims are not a race!”
I never said they are.
Criticism of a religion is not bigotry – well the BBC don’t think so – Jerry Springer the Opera for example.
Garden Trash | 07.01.09 – 11:34 pm |
“Looks like Hamas is going for anotherQana Massacre,the Corruption of the Media with the assistance of the BBC.”
More like a Jenin blood libel which UNRWA were complicit in. The British press are making the same fundamental ‘mistakes’ yet again. Its hard to blame commentators here for believing many BBC employees don’t want to learn from past slandering of Israel. BBC employees seem happy to continue with their perverse “fake-but-true” narrative.
So where’s the racism then? I detest a pseudo religion that makes killers out of children in the name of their moongod. Islam is the biggest problem facing humanity. But try talking to neanderthals.
Matt:
“I don’t like the swearing and the ad hominem and think it does distract from the core issues”
And what about thr Racism & Bigotry?
Matt | 07.01.09 – 11:47 pm |
never did my career any harm!
Richard Lancaster: So if a Muslim terrorist has a child with them you would allow them to shoot people just in case trying to shoot them dead kills the child?
Are you mad?
The fuckwits here are Hamas who continued to launch rockets into Gaza. Why did they continue to do that even though Israel had left the Gaza strip?
Killing civilians is part of war. It’s always happened and it always will. Professional western armies do not put civilians at risk by placing themselves in areas where it would put civilians at high risk.
Muslim terrorist groups like Hamas don’t follow that. Clearly you have no idea of what war is about.
Again if the people of Gaza want Israel to stop all they have to do is simply agree to stop launching the rockets. Why do you find this difficult to understand?
Why don’t you comment on how these wonderful people of Gaza happily train their beloved children up to be suicide bombers?
Fuck! Wish I’d downed a few tonight to get into the swing of things! Just like the olden days. Great going on.
“I detest a pseudo religion that makes killers out of children in the name of their moongod. Islam is the biggest problem facing humanity.”
You may be surprised to know that I fully agree with you on this. The reason I read (and mostly lurk) on this site is because I believe that the BBC is biased and that this bias needs to be exposed.
I’m sorry, however if I am not rabid enough for some of you.
The biggest problem may well be that liberal western states cave in to strongly opinionated doctrines like the ultra orthodox Muslims.
They sense we are weak and will exploit our democratic systems if they can, using our laws against us.
That is one reason why we need to seperate Church and State- if we get a majority faith other than the one headed by the Queen we could have a problem.
disillusioned_german: The racist slur is always the standard reply from the unwashed lefties.
They are so brainwashed they actually think every Arab is a Muslim. I dislike Islam and its followers because I think they are barking mad.
Who flew planes into the twin towers? Muslims. Who carried out the attack in Bali? Muslims. Who blew up the trains n Madrid and the trains and bus in London? Muslims.
I could go on. What about the pathetic protests over the cartoons?
Muslims are just mad dangerous people who like to kill.
Just a bit of info for John Conner if he’s still out there and wishes to report from Gaza.
“The Palestinian Press Office of former Palestinian minister Hasan Asfur (a Fatah member who was involved in negotiations with Israel) reported that Hamas has recently set up a special security committee to monitor foreign journalists operating in the Gaza Strip. The committee is headed by a senior officer in Hamas’s internal security apparatus, Major Raad Wasim Jaber. The committee has reportedly notified all of the press offices in the Gaza Strip, especially the journalists who work with foreign news agencies and television networks, that they must report every foreign journalist who arrives in Gaza.
In addition, the committee is requiring all foreign journalists who arrive in the Gaza Strip to fill out forms stating the purpose and duration of their visit, the type of work they do and the events they wish to cover. The committee is also preparing personal files on all foreign journalists located in Israel and in Judea and Samaria to facilitate the monitoring of their work.”
http://docstalk.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-hamas-bureau-will-monitor-foreign.html
more on that norweigian doctor
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2009/01/agents-of-influence-and-useful-idiots.html
So he thinks 9/11 was justified –I personally would never get tired kicking the wankers empty head in —
We’ve got Jeremy ‘I’ll never forgive the IDF’ Bowen on here? Super. Hey, Bowen, you slimy little evil-associating turd, grow that moustache you used to have back will you? Better to look like a Ba’athist than a kiddy-fiddler. Plus, it covers more of your like-a-bag-of-spanners face up. Which can only be a good thing. That is all.
Link to vote for the best Uk blog – unfortunately BBCBias is not on the list but Melanie Philips is leading just now.
http://2008.weblogawards.org/polls/best-uk-blog/
The Hamas rockets did not kill hundreds of innocent civilians in the way that the Israeli campaign has. If the Hamas rockets had killed lots of innocent people, I can assure you it would have been on the BBC News.
But the fact is while the BBC has always reported every Israeli action they have not reported most incidents involving Palestinian rocket fire against Israel, thus giving Joe Public the false impression that Israel is the agressor.
Just how many of the 6,000+ missiles fired at Israel has the BBC reported on, and how many dead Jews does it take for the BBC to sit up and take notice?
Yes I know, you can’t report all of them can you?
Trust me, I work for the Beeb.
John Connor | 07.01.09 – 9:40 pm
That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time 😆
Trust me, I work for the Beeb.
John Connor | 07.01.09 – 9:40 pm
That reminds me of one of Ronald Reagan quotes
“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.'”
“Just how many of the 6,000+ missiles fired at Israel has the BBC reported on, and how many dead Jews does it take for the BBC to sit up and take notice?”
There is probably a sliding scale somewhere in Bush House that editors consult.
There is probably a sliding scale somewhere in Bush House that editors consult.
Garden Trash | 08.01.09 – 12:48 am
Probably included in the secret guidelines we’ll never see, along with the Balen report.
The same guidelines that tell editors to make sure they write about Palestinians killed by Israelis while Israelis merely die.
Someone who dislikes Israeli policy is not an anti semitic, get over yourself… I damn well do hold it to higher account than Hamas. If you (I forget your name, but you know who) think that is anti-semitic then good for you, but no one else agrees with you, and you just sound like an idiot. Like the sort of person who uses race/religion to hide behind.
Now you carry on and blurt out your far-right bullshit…
Bill Buchanan | 07.01.09 – 9:49 pm
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/ldhansrd/text/70612-0011.htm
“I do not forget that my late father, a Member of this House, used to say: we cannot always see anti-Semitism but we can usually smell it.”
Lord Janner of Braunstone (Labour)
“Richard Lancaster must be the only person here who talks any sense. And why? because he seems to see both sides of the arguement”
What aspect of Israel’s outright annihilation do you want us to see, Mr Buchanan?
The Hamas rockets did not kill hundreds of innocent civilians in the way that the Israeli campaign has. If the Hamas rockets had killed lots of innocent people, I can assure you it would have been on the BBC News. Trust me, I work for the Beeb
LOL. An organisation riddled with antisemitism – and that’s a recommendation?
The Hamas rockets killed – and were intended to kill – Israeli civilians. Israel is defending itself. The fact that your vile organisation is acting illegally and promoting hate for the victim here, is something you should be ashamed of, not trumpetting.
as i explained, Israel are the ones who must be held to higher account for their actions
You didn’t explain, wanker – you posted an antisemitic rant.
Who is the little fucker saying I am that antisemitic shit Bowen? Care to say this to my face?
Anyone remember the Rory Bremner show just after the 1997 election? I’m hoping one day someone will post on youtube the eulogy read out by James Fleet on how wonderful life will be under Labour.
Perhaps this would be Bremner’s funniest moment – albeit unintentionally.
Wow! I think people here need to calm down. This is a site for BBC bias, not whether Israel or Hamas are to blame for the current fighting. For what it’s worth, I think Israel has every right to do what is necessary to stop indiscriminate rockets being fired into its country, because no-one else will. Whether it was wise to do so is beyond my knowledge to comment on.
No, as a site for BBC bias, we should be commenting on the BBC reporting of the conflict (and preferably on a Palestinian thread, not one about George Bush!). I do not expect the BBC to take sides, merely to report sufficient information to allow us to come to our own conclusion on matters. It should explain fully the context of the current conflict, namely the repeated rocket attacks, rather than simply mentioning them almost as an aside. It should challenge all stories from Palestinian sources in the same way it challenges stories from Israeli sources. It should question whether Palestinian “civilians” are actually members of Hamas feeding them propaganda, not swallow the story whole. The previous record of providing false stories and videos of massacres, and of firing from schools and civilian areas, should be clearly pointed out as an integral part of reporting to enable us to form a view as to the validity of the reports. If restrictions mean that only a local Palestinian reporter can report from Gaza, then by all means use him but do not assume that he is reporting as impartially as a reporter from outside would. If a foreigner living in Gaza is found to tell us how awful the situation is, tell us his political history where that will impact on whether he has an agenda. Anyone who says the action is indiscriminate should be asked what would constitute discriminate action and how it would stop the rocket attacks. And don’t give credence to the opinions of 1980s pop stars and alleged comedians whose opinions have no more worth than mine, or Martin’s, or Richard Lancaster’s.
Roland Deschain – please start an alternative B-BBC site; this place is now a nut-house.
Mr Vance, please share with us the evidence that Obama is a believing muslim. If you don’t have any, and given the fact that Obama attends a nominally Christian church (however revolting I find its message) and defines himself as a Christian, then I hope you won’t mind me referring to you from now on as a died-in-the-wool Orange Lodge bigot who takes his secret orders from a shadowy conspiracy of Freemasons plotting to destroy Christianity and dominate the world.
You might object that this is untrue, but I know better, I know what you’re hiding, whatever you may claim you believe.
Nearly Oxfordian – as someone who supports Israel entirely and loathes anti-Semitism, can I just say that you really might benefit from calming down and moderating your language somewhat? I’m on your side, but you’re sounding quite hysterical right now.
If your argument is sound then you have no need to resort to this level of personal insult.
Anyone else attending on Sunday morning? 11am, Trafalgar Square.
Read the book “Can we trust the BBC” a very important read by Robin Aitken, it tells you all you need to know.
I was going to post a serious comment about the way the BBC is,as usual, wriggling off the hook over criticisms of its pro-Hamas stance, but the level of comment and insult has descended into the pits. Most of the material above is not even about the BBC’s coverage (the purpose of this blog as I understood it) but about the rights and wrongs of the war itself. All very sad, and I don’t feel it’s worth commenting in such a bear-pit.
Could any left-wingers here (Billy Boy?) accusing Israel of genocidal intent / general wickedness explain to me why it is that Palestinian children are being treated in Israeli hospitals?
Billy Boy
Could you please tell everyone what YOU would want done if it was YOUR area/home/family being targeted by rocket attacks.
Cheers
“Most of the material above is not even about the BBC’s coverage (the purpose of this blog as I understood it) but about the rights and wrongs of the war itself.”
Yeah, but that just shows the level of emotion that this particular conflict stirs, given that it seems to have been adopted as some sort of distillation of left v right wing politics. Personally I think it’s ridiculous but in such a context its surely even more important that the national broadcaster doesn’t inflame things by broadcasting ridiculously emotive fluff pieces and by favouring one side. I remember them being pretty scrupulous about not inflaming passions against muslims pust the london bombings but somehow this doesn’t seem to apply here…
“Anyone else attending on Sunday morning? 11am, Trafalgar Square.”
…Resulting in the whole of London being clogged up by flag waving “protestors” every f***ing weekend. If you have direct links to Israel or Palestine, fine, but please do it outside an embassy somewhere. If you’re from Croydon just playing paint by number politics then go to the pub for Soccer Saturday like every normal citizen and get out of my f***ing way.
I suspect that “John Connor” finished his one-day shift yesterday, so no point in directing any more comments to him.
If I were the Israeli government, I would be tempted to ban the BBC from Israel totally.
There are pros and cons. Of course, many people would then liken Israel to Zimbabwe. I wonder what other readers of this website think ?
( In an attempt to cool things down a bit ! )
PS Sorry, I meant my comment is an attempt to cool things down a bit on this thread !