It's really gonna kick off (well​….maybe)

close
more_vert
sanshee S
sanshee Oct 22, 2009 22:10:44
Replying to Jim Tones

Thing is, some of those who are complaining about his appearance will (even though they may balk at it)automatically defend his 'democratic right' to stand for election.

I'm confused at that.

Ban the fucker altogether (screw his democratic rights I say) or don't, really.

He's been interviewed on R4's 'Today' shebang quite a few times already for one!
IMO, a far more serious platfrom than 'Question Time', altrhough it won't reach as many people I imagine.

I think there's too much burying heads in sand around this issue.
What, do we pretend he don't exist and hope he goes away?

They have 'been elected' proper here and there. It has to be dealt with.
Simply barring him from 'Question Time' seriously diverts our attention from the real menace here.
x

G grufty jim
grufty jim Oct 22, 2009 22:55:18
Replying to sanshee

sanshee wrote:
Thing is, some of those who are complaining about his appearance will (even though they may balk at it)automatically defend his 'democratic right' to stand for election.

I'm confused at that.

Why? I accept the right of bigots to vote and to stand for election, but I try to avoid inviting them into my home. I also don't like seeing them taking part in mainstream political debates. Why is that confusing?

sanshee wrote:
Ban the fucker altogether (screw his democratic rights I say) or don't, really.
I want to see a world where the hateful racism of the BNP is constantly opposed so that it withers and dies. Sitting down and discussing the issues of the day with them does not seem to be a step in that direction.

But I don't want to see that world so much that I'm willing to become a fascist myself. This is why we don't ban them altogether. I think everyone acknowledges that such bans run the risk of being counterproductive; driving these views underground, portraying the fascists as victims of state oppression.

sanshee wrote:
He's been interviewed on R4's 'Today' shebang quite a few times already for one!
Exactly. He's not being censored. And nor should he be.

Don't you see any difference between interviewing the BNP, scrutinising them and forcing them to justify their warped beliefs; and inviting them onto a mainstream show with high ratings to give their views on the postal strike and Afghanistan?

I believe the change in context is extremely important. It surprises me that most others don't.

H Hob
Hob Oct 22, 2009 23:29:54
Replying to sanshee

Just been watching the BBC news coverage of the demo, and a thing that stuck in my mind was the presumably deliberate and considered insertion of a sentence about how television programmes don't give politicians power, but voters do. Could that be part of what this current BNP question time thing is about? Is it some attempt to use the BBC to frighten people to get out and voting? Or is that just a bit of a cop out for the beeb to be able to say 'Well you viewers are the ones who voted him in, not us...'.

Personally, I'd have liked to have been able to ask him if, as the leader of a party whose campaign literature in my neck of the woods included plans to effect the removal of funding and consideration for disabled children, he recognises that the holocaust he likes to deny was heralded by the removal of the right to life from the same set of children his party wishes to marginalise.

Next time the twisted cowardly shits stand here, I'd love to think I could get out there and find ways to discredit them in the eyes of their target voters. I mean really, targetting disabled kids as a scapegoats. How low is that?

So if nothing else, thanks BBC for reminding me how much I despise the BNP.