"Not everyone is obsessed with"...Typical but by no means exclusive of right-wingers, this variant of "whataboutery" is the final cop-out used by those too blinkered by ideology, bigotry or religious zealotry to concede that their argument is all over the place.
Look at the way, for instance, it's often deployed by closet homophobes.
When the subject of sexual equality for all is raised and facts are spelt out about past or existing discrimination, the latent homophobe will not say something appalling in return, but will instead cling on to the lame "yeah but, anyway, not everyone is obsessed with gay rights" as their pathetic last resort.
"Not everyone is obsessed with..." can be perused whenever truths are starting to grate or when arguments have run dry over whichever subject doesn't suit your warped ideological worldview.
Low wages, inequality, the environment, human rights, misogyny, cruelty to animals, balooning transport fares, the cost of education, you name it. Not everyone is obsessed with 'it', no matter how wrong 'it' is, which might as well read "let's leave things as they are, because I actually quite agree with 'it', even though I haven't got the cojones to openly say so".
Of course, you'll find the people coming up with the above remark will probably not grasp the irony of them being obsessed with issues as vital as supporting angling or the abolition of speed limits.
Click here to read the Cliches of 2010.
11 comments:
Ha! Hear Hear!
You're wrong. Again...Not everyone who is a cossetted douchebag leftist is interested in bleedin heart causes that real people like me find a waste of time. That's the long and the short of it. You talk grapes and keep mollyranting abt homosexuals and there rights because it's the trend while less and less people back up the rights of white English heterosexuals like myself. You liberal lefties make me want to blow chunks.
patriot, you're one of us, I know, this is quality this is!
Are we talking 'Grapes'? Myself I prefer mangos and I bet Claude likes Bananas, let’s see where we get with this fruit themed conversation initiated by Patriot?
As to the BBC, it would be worth noting that serious criticism of them comes from sources far more authoritative than the Daily Mail. Take for instance Robin Aitken former Beeb journalist who detailed at length the Beeb's left-liberal bias in his excellent book 'can we trust the BBC'. Aitken, himself a former Beeb employee also used testimonies form many other former Beeboids. In essence the Beeb is biased against certain groups of people (UK Military, Ulster Protestants, Israelis and Americans. They are biased overwhelmingly in favour of multiculturalism, the EU and of course St Obama. These issues are also dealt with on David Vance's excellent blog: http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/
To quote Ben Stephenson
BBC Drama Commissioning Controller,
"We need to foster peculiarity, idiosyncrasy, stubborn-mindedness, left-of-centre thinking."
You can get plenty more like that from David Vance's blog. The accusations of racism about that comedy are IMHO hysterical. The show itself seems to have vastly more negative stereotypes of white people and homosexuals. But then again since Blackadder, BBC comedy has been crap.
Paul,
In essence the Beeb is biased against certain groups of people (...Israelis and...).
Yeah. Sure. Presumably you're thinking of this when the BBC was the only TV channel refusing to broadcast the Gaza charity appeal.
And excuse me but linking to David Vance's blog has the same value of a link to Conservative Home to have an unbiased idea of the government.
I think the BBC-related thread should be under another blog post, the one about predictions for 2011.
Anyway. Perhaps, as they get accusations of bias from both left and right, they aren't doing such a bad job after all.
'Anyway. Perhaps, as they get accusations of bias from both left and right, they aren't doing such a bad job after all.'
Actually a good defence of the Beeb that Claude, but besides from sounding clever it hardly addresses the arguments made. You're right though this discussion belongs elsewhere. In fact on your other post concerning the BBC the discussion was all about football for some reason.
Stan and Claude, David Vance's website references its claims made with frequent quotes by former BBC and current BBC employees. For that reason alone it carries weight, it was also the BBC of course where Barbara Plett spoke of her tears at the passing of the dead terrorist Arafat.
"but besides from sounding clever it hardly addresses the arguments made. "
Well then, Paul, I already made my point clear here. The BBC coverage of Elton John's adoption was vile, bigoted and old-school right-wing. They basically handed the commentary to the tiny medieval-sounding hate-group called Christian Voice. Literally, something to recoil in disgust. Where was the fuckin balanced reporting there when the only "commentary" on display on BBC News came from a far-right Christian fundamentlaist grupuscule? You can ignore it if you wish and pretend the reaction is "hysterical", but that just won't do "Great" Britain or yourself any favour, mate.
As for that Walliams and Lucas' "comedy", it comes as no surprise. Little Britain was already a crass public school boys' take of what life may be like for people who can't afford a £4.5K a term "independent" school. Side-splitting indeed. As much as the trite trick of painting your face brown for the sake of a few laughs. Cheap play on stereotype and, "crickey", those Nanako and Asuka...don't they look and sound stupid because they're Japanese... There's absolutely nothing else to it. Nothing at all. It's in hideously bad taste and should never have made it to air
Sorry mate but I dont want my yearly £142.50 to fund that crap. So much for the "lefty" BBC and David "Wince".
Oh and the Jody McIntyre "interview". Soooooo left wing, soooooo left wing I'd love to hear David Wince's take on it.
'Stan and Claude, David Vance's website references its claims made with frequent quotes by former BBC and current BBC employees. For that reason alone it carries weight,'
You have yet to address the point made that numerous former Beeb employees have stated that the corporation has a liberal left bias. Foremost amongst them is Robin Aitken whose book I mentioned. Not many former Beeb employees are calling it right wing however or work for the Tories. Yet many went from the BBC to New Labour directly such as Ben Bradshaw.
Two swallows do not make a summer, yet it seems you're keen on disproving this hypothesis with tiny examples of exceptions to the rule. I mean okay Christian voice was given a small platform and an uncritical hearing. I could go on ad nauseum about the amount of times, environmentalists and lovies such as Shami Chakrabarti are given a completely uncritical hearing as well. However I will instead base my arguments on former Beeb employees such as Aitken, as well as highlighting what other former Beeboids are quoted as saying on David Vance's site which has heaps of such material.
I don't like little Britain either really, but are you saying that we can only have caricatures of white people? If that is the case, then little Britain with Vicki Pollard and camp Irish air stewards etc certainly satisfies that criteria far more, before it can be called out for anti-black racism.
I've no doubt we will cordially disagree, but as a liberal leftie Claude I'm not too surprised you cannot see a liberal left bias Claude. But I'm also a bit confused as to why you seem to imply that only rightists are racist or bigoted or that an example of say homophobia is automatically in some way right wing, a separate issue I know.
You make a good point about Little Britain and its Vicki Pollard-style snobbery against white working class kids. I have the feeling public schoolboys Walliams and Lucas just have knack for preying on the weak. Which is what ultimately makes their comedy crap.
As for the BBC and its political bias, we could list examples to each other all day long. I would insist on the fact that their chief political editor (which, you will acknoweldge, carries enormous weight in the newsroom) is an open fully-fledged ultra-Tory. Or I we can talk about Andrew Neil naybe. And you will no doubt tell me about opposite examples.
I'm not for a second arguing that the BBC is as biased as Fox News. But constant claims that it's a lefty channel are, I'm afraid, hysterical.
We have to agree to disagree.
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