Where is my thinking hat?
There is a whole lot of white noise emanating from the rightwing blogosphere at the moment. Something or someone seems to have rattled their collective cage.
Mind you, rather than buckling down and ensuring their lazy attacks have substance, they actually think they’re on the right track: that unsubstantiated attacks - based on poorly researched non-stories - are in fact the right way to go. Guido Fawkes (AKA: Paul DeLaire Staines) certainly thinks so: -
I would have done him over harder.
He is paid from the public purse and is a public servant. If he wants to express political opinions he should change his career.
Didn’t he also get caught posting a sycophantic “Miliband is Brilliant”* comment on the Miliblog. I rest my case.
Simon Walters is right.
He’s a tough guy, our Guido. Very tough.
Simon Walters, you will remember, is a ten-a-penny hack at the Daily Mail, whose laboured attempt to draw a tempest of shit around former Downing Street aide Owen Barder, only served to attract several languid Tory bloggers with nothing better to do. A quick bit research uncovered that the story was in fact manufactured bollocks.
This is the mentality of the right. Led by a slippery shape shifting Blairite clone, they have nothing of consequence to bring to the table, so they go sniffing after any mainstream media scraps that might tickle their rabid readership.
What Iain and Paul do not seem to understand, is that by publishing uncorroborated nonsense, they actually do the rest of the blogosphere a disservice, by fueling the MSM’s claims that we’re nothing more than a bunch of irresponsible parasites. Mind you, they probably do understand this. The point is: do they care?
As we can see over on our sister site, research is inconsequential if it threatens to distort the intended narrative.
Labels: blog cheats, Bullying, iain dale, paul staines, propaganda
8 Comments:
Hi Aaron,
I am a right-leaning blogger, but somehow I fail to recognise myself in this comment you made:
This is the mentality of the right. Led by a slippery shape shifting Blairite clone, they have nothing of consequence to bring to the table, so they go sniffing after any mainstream media scraps that might tickle their rabid readership.
There are many unattractive traits I see in bloggers on the Left, but it would not be right for me to assume that they are all like that.
About the Simon Walters story, not all the people who spoke out in favour of Owen were from the left.
Having said that, I agree with you that the Melissa Kite episode doesn't look good, to put it very mildly.
Hi Bell,
Thanks for reading Guido 2.0!
Maybe I should have included a caveat that distinguishes between fair-minded conservatives (or what used to be described as ‘Classically Liberal’ – a moniker I myself have been known to go by), and the self-promoting, salivating hacks that seem to have floated to the top of the rightwing blogosphere.
Take Dizzy; in fairness, he has the capacity to be a very good blogger, yet he lets himself down by pandering to certain less-capable – yet somehow more successful – rightwing bloggers. This is sad, don’t you think?
There are many informed bloggers on the right that we here at Guido 2.0 admire. There is just this tendency for bullshit and defamation at the very top of this particular tree, which really gets our goat (hence Tim’s family of blogs).
Also, those who know us, also know that we’re not exactly enamoured with the Labour Party, so could hardly be dismissed as partisan (for instance, my leftie credentials are pretty ropey, at best) Call us concerned citizens, if you like.
We are quite happy to engage with Guido, Iain et al, on a more civilised level. Indeed Tim spent an age attempting to get a straight answer out of them both, prior to resorting to setting up these micro-sites. The fact is, Bell, they don’t like being cross-examined when using canards to push their political agenda, and when they are; they resort to childish diversionary tactics.
Also, why not have a quick read through the comments on both Iain and Guido’s site. If you were looking for some ignorant generalisations, I’d say that’s the place to start!
Take care Bell,
Aaron
Hello again Aaron,
About ignorant generalisations in comments, I don't read Guido much these days, and even were I to do so, I would steer clear of the comments. I am not at all keen on the language, abuse etc that is frequently to be found there.
Iain has actually written something today banning bad language etc from his blog, which is a very good thing. Perhaps this is a common problem on the bigger blogs, I don't know. I have certainly never had anyone use such language on my blog, so I haven't felt the need to read the riot act to anyone.
Yes, classical liberal is a good term. I should probably describe myself as that. :)
I agree with you about civility etc, which is one of the reasons I sympathised with Melissa Kite. Whatever one may have thought about her original article, some of the abusive comments I read about her were way, way unacceptable.
"Iain has actually written something today banning bad language etc from his blog..."
Hi Bel.
Recent history teaches us that Iain rarely means this, means it to apply to himself or his resident bullies, or maintains it for long.
Hey Bel,
Sorry I spelt your name incorrectly, there really is no excuse. I have disciplined myself accordingly.
Quite what sort of language Iain tolerates, or doesn't tolerate on his blog is quite his concern. I have been known to use the odd expletive (when suitably outraged), but you're right, abuse is different.
Many commentors, usually anonymous (another of our pet-hates), have been very improper in their attitudes towards Ms. Kite, and they do nothing to aid the Tory cause.
Oh,
And before anyone screams Political Correctness gone mad, I don't think old fashioned chivalry has anything to do with PC.
I thought conservatism was about preserving all that is good in the world...
Hi Aaron,
that's ok about the spelling. An easy enough mistake to make. :)
And before anyone screams Political Correctness gone mad, I don't think old fashioned chivalry has anything to do with PC.
Well said sir!
Bel/Aaron...
My only quibble with anything said here is the suggestion that the tipping point on the right rests on whether a conservative blogger is nominally 'classically liberal'.
The divide is not so much one of politics but of attitude. The bloggers I like and respect all have one thing in common, irrespective of their political opinions, and that's that they're independently minded and honest in their views and about any agenda they may be following.
The difference this makes? Well take an issue like grammar schools - this is something I could happily debate with the likes of Tim W, Mr E, DK (and Bel for that matter) even though we have differing views on the subject, because what we'd be debating are the issues. This wouldn't be possible when it comes to a number of the Tory bloggers who've floated to the top of late because they're broadly incapable of looking past a narrow definition of the left/right divide in order to debate the issues.
It comes down to a matter of whether you support grammar schools because you have a clear idea of why you support them, or whether you just support them because its a Tory thing and that's all that matters. If its former then we can talk. The latter is just a waste of time.
Language is a matter of personal taste - being one who is prone to the occasional potty-mouthed rant - but the thing with swearblogging is that it has its place when done properly and with a purpose.
As a perfect illustration of what I mean, I spotted one of the new breed of uber-partisan Tory bloggers apologising for using strong language the other day by admitting that he was doing it to try and get one of DK's 'Bloody Devil Awards', which just proves that they've missed the point entirely.
For my blogging sins, I actually got one quite a while back on the back of a spontaneous rant - I didn't go looking for DK's approval I just said what I had to say the way I felt it should be said, and the strong language was in there to drive home the point I was making.
Any idiot can post a foul-mouthed rant, what makes one worth reading is if there's a sense of purpose and a point to it, a fact that seems entirely lost on the blogger in question.
What's stinking up the neighbourhood of later is a heady mix of a stupidly partisan and the partisanly stupid.
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