Monthly Archives: August 2010

Latest BBC Spin on Obama & the Mosque

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The concluding, take-this-away-as-your-final-thought, paragraphs of a BBC article on the reaction to Obama’s support for the Ground Zero mosque:

“It was a bold decision – Obama could have stayed out of what is ostensibly a local matter,” wrote polling analyst Nate Silver on the political website FiveThirtyEight.com.
“But a careful evaluation of the polls reveals it to be less politically risky than it might at first appear.”

That would be the same Nate Silver who admitted recently his participation in Journolist, the controversial exclusive email list for Democrat-supporting hacks:

Almost always, I made exactly the points in these discussions that I made on FiveThirtyEight. Sometimes, I used the phrasing “we” when participating in these discussions, which I would not ordinarily use on the blog. I’ve disclosed from the first day of FiveThirtyEight’s existence that I’m usually a Democratic voter, and Journolist’s membership consisted of mostly Democrats, so this seemed fairly natural.

The anonymous BBC journalist’s description of a “polling analyst” from a “political website” doesn’t really do justice, does it? One of the new intake, perhaps, or just an old BBC hand? Same difference either way, I guess.

Hat tips to commenters David Preiser and Craig, the latter adding this:

That article’s use of polling evidence leaves a lot to be desired too:  
 
“While polling suggests a majority of Americans oppose plans to build the mosque, a Fox News poll released on Friday suggested 61% supported the developer’s right to build the mosque.”  
 
That poll comes in two parts, and the second part (the one the BBC quotes) needs to be seen in context:  
 
36. A group of Muslims plans to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center a few blocks from the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City. Do you think it is appropriate to build a mosque and Islamic center near ground zero, or do you think it would be wrong to do so?  
      30% Appropriate  
      64% Wrong  
 
37. Regardless of whether you think it is appropriate to build a mosque near ground zero, do you think the Muslim group has the right to build a mosque there, or don’t they have that right?  
      61% Yes, they have the right  
      34% No, they don’t have the right  
http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/081310_MosquePoll.pdf

All in all, quite a tendentious piece of Obama back-covering. Still, what’s new?

Update 20.00. I think we have our answer as to which BBC journalist is trying hard to spin this story in Obama’s favour – former Newsweek political correspondent (and Twitter follower of Nate Silver) Katie Connolly.

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ARDENT ROYALISTS?

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The BBC hate the royal family and all that it stands for. Except, of course, when it’s Prince Charles on one of his many loony green missions. Then they choose a very nice smiley picture of him and drone on about greenie nonsense such as that the royal train is running on “sustainable biofuel” and that he’s encouraging that the people of Wales to help the rainforests. Then they become ardent royalists.

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LOVING EU HAS MADE MY LIFE SO BEAUTIFUL….

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With apologies to the late Minne Ripperton! The Boiling Frog spotted an excellent example of the BBC eulogising the wonders of the EU here.

Prominent on BBC News earlier today was a report that Dutch airline KLM is refusing to pay out compensation to its passengers delayed by the volcanic ash cloud earlier this year.

And throughout the report the BBC just couldn’t stop mentioning the EU. It was liberally sprinkled with phrases such as; “protected by EU rules”, “under EU rules passengers are entitled to compensation”, “the EU Commission promises to get tough” and so on. The obligatory ‘financially hit family’ were featured, who were facing poor treatment from the airline. The tone of the report was very clear; nasty airlines, but at least the nice EU is on your side. They even interviewed a European Commission spokesman in front of the Berlaymont which must be a first (The BBC do know where it is then?), but no-one from the airline was interviewed or any hint that the airlines were grounded because of an EU decision in first place.

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BIG OIL…

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The BBC’s coverage of the Gulf oil spill continually shadowed the line taken by Obama, namely that this was the worst ecological disaster ever to hit the region and that the shorelines would take generations to recover. So, when the hated BP managed to successfully cap the Oil spill, and then it emerged that the imagined environmental holocaust had, erm, mostly vanished, what to do for the intrepid BBC? Answer – raise Piper Alpha.  Even though it happened 22 years ago, the BBC actually led the post 7am news section with the allegation that the environmental damage it caused back then is still threatening the environment today and nothing is being done about. Or so Mike Thomson speculates. As far as I can see, this story is little more than his imaginations and certainly does not deserve such prominent placement on the BBC daily news schedule. Then again the demanding narrative showing how evil Big Oil is requires sustenance now that BP is no longer the biggest menace in the world….so back to the 80’s.

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MI5 KNOW NOTHING…

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At the weekend, Irish Republican terrorists tried to kill police officers in the nearby town of Lurgan. On “Today”, this morning, (7.32 no link yet) the BBC covered the issue. Naturally there was no one from the majority Unionist community on to express an opinion.

Instead we had a Police Chief Inspector and Margaret Ritchie – the staccato-speaking Dalek sound-a-like leader of the nationalist SDLP. The Inspector gave a pretty accurate view of what actually happened, Ritchie was then allowed to explain why in her view MI5 don’t have the necessary skills to gather intelligence on terrorists here! This surprised Humphyrs (as it would any sentient human being apart from SDLP supporters!) and he enquired how this could be. Ritchie explained that the absence of the name of one of the many “I can’t believe it’s not the IRA” groups from the MI5 website was proof testament that they were not up to the job. She then alleged M15 did not share intelligence with the Police. Humphyrs rightly asked the Chief Inspector if this was the case and he advised that the Police were happy with the sharing of intelligence. So Ritchie was thoroughly exposed. Yet, amazingly, she was allowed to continue to waffle, there was no attempt to press her on her ludicrous statements, and indeed Humphyrs tone was remarkably sympathetic. Why do Nationalist politicians get SUCH an easy ride from the BBC? Do you think, and this is just a wild guess, it is because there is a large degree of sympathy for their cause amongst BBC staff? And if there is latent sympathy for Nationalism, do you think that might extend to the more militant breed in IRA/Sinn Fein? And if that is the case, isn’t it ironic that the British Broadcasting Corporation is little more than a mouthpiece for those who hate Britain? And isn’t THAT  a total disgrace?

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MOAZZEM BEGG, ME AND THE BBC

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Just off air! Did you see my fleeting appearance on Sunday Live? I had to laugh at the composition of the panel in the studio – two Muslims and Bruce Anderson. Then up pops Moazzem Begg, Gitmo poster boy par excellence to tell us how AWFUL those evil Americans are in how they treated 15 yr old Omar. (No mention of Sgt Speers murdered by this piece of vermin and his widow and two young girls, natch) Then another guy pops up to tell us how awful those Israelis in! They had the box-set on! I tried to come back on the lies told about Guanatanamo but did not get the chance. Allah be praised!

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BBBC ON BBC ALERT

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Just to remind you that myself and my Biased BBC colleague Hippiepooter will be live via videolink on the BBC1 Sunday Morning Live programme starting at 10am (I think). They want to talk about “torture” and whether it is ever justified? I want to talk about how the media is the Jihadists greatest asset. We shall see how we get on.

The allegation of “torture” from captured Islamic Jihadists is simply that – an unproven allegation right out of the Al Queda guidebook for gaining the interest of gullible media outlets. If we want to discuss torture, let’s talk about the unbelievable torture carried out by Islamic killers. Of course robust and lawful interrogation of any terrorist is something of which I fully appprove if it can save innocent lives. It is insulting to insinuate that our professionals in the military would use unlawful practises and of course the very discussion diverts attention away from those who throw grenades into vehicles containing defenceless women, those who decapitate and video their savagery. The essence of the discusson is to distract attention from a broader issue – why do we not focus on the torturers and killers who do so in the name of Islam.

Here’s the image the BBC to set up the interviews in the morning.s

“As trials at the infamous Guantanamo Bay resume we ask were its brutal methods really the wrong response to terrorism? Or is torture – sometimes – justified?” Note the use of infamous and brutal. It’s an ambush folks…

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GLOBAL CULTURE UNDER TORY ATTACK!

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I don’t mean to be disrespectful to Scotland but I notice the BBC states as a matter of fact that “The Edinburgh International Festival is a pinnacle of global culture.” Is this true? Really? BBC then goes on to point out that this “pinnacle of global culture” may be under threat because of the evil Coalition cuts. Say it ain’t so and only put one point of view.

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