NationStates Jolt Archive

The regular news loop on BBC News 24 today is carrying the 'news' that Jeremy Clarkson has apparently referred to Gordon Brown as a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" (link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7873624.stm)), and now there seems to be some sort of clamour for punishment. It's no more than a mild flame, as far as I can see.

Okay, perhaps 'idiot' might be a little offensive, and I realise that it's a comment that would likely be actionable if it was posted on these forums, but he is Scottish, and he does only have one functioning eye, and I can't help feeling that the only person who really has any right in taking offense is Gordon Brown himself, and I suspect we'll hear nothing from him on this (unless, of course, some worthless sensationalist manages to squeeze a question about it in at a press conference). Do we really need mods for the real world?

The linked article mentions that the comment "provoked anger in Scotland"... who are these people that are offended? Absent the quotes from two Labour politicians who happen to be Scottish, I see nothing.

I see this as being a very different case from the Carol Thatcher thing earlier this week, which involved use of language that may well have offended a huge number of people, and also different from the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand thing, which involved direct contact with a third party and bringing things into the public domain which that third party might well have wanted to keep quiet. This is just one person voicing an opinion and that, as far as I know, is still allowed.

I'm getting pretty sick of people taking offence on other people's behalf... it's getting silly. Are we really this sensitive? Is it really such a slow news week?

Should people not, to borrow a phrase that I see used in the Moderation forum pretty frequently, just "grow some skin"?

Hmm... Ok, we need a commando team to break into the BBC office and broadcast Fris telling the UK to grow some skin.

Clarkson receives a yellow card.

Oh, come on, it's his first post, as it were -- let's just send him a painfully polite TG and the One-Stop Rules Shop link.

I doubt the BBC can afford to do anything to Jeremy Clarkson

Oh, come on, it's his first post, as it were -- let's just send him a painfully polite TG and the One-Stop Rules Shop link.

Not really, he has quite a few points. And as we now know points don't mean prizes.

Oh, come on, it's his first post, as it were -- let's just send him a painfully polite TG and the One-Stop Rules Shop link.

Ah well, no, not really. My moderation analogy kind of falls down a bit if we look at his, shall we say abrasive posting style and past history :tongue:

Good man.

Hmm... Ok, we need a commando team to break into the BBC office and broadcast Fris telling the UK to grow some skin.

This.

That certainly dispels the myth that British Members of Parliament are more civilized than Canadian MPs are whether in the house or not.

That certainly dispels the myth that British Members of Parliament are more civilized than Canadian MPs are whether in the house or not.

Why? Jeremy Clarkson isn't an MP.

Oh, Brown was trolling anyways.

Why? Jeremy Clarkson isn't an MP.

I would love to see him as PM - beards and vegitarianism would be illegal, and caravans would be ritually torched:D

Should people not, to borrow a phrase that I see used in the Moderation forum pretty frequently, just "grow some skin"?

I'm in favor of this stance, personally. People are way too sensitive and whiny these days. Society in general needs to learn to suck it up and quit being such a bunch of pussies.

I hadn't realised that it was against the law to express an opinion about a politician.

I'm in favor of this stance, personally. People are way too sensitive and whiny these days. Society in general needs to learn to suck it up and quit being such a bunch of pussies.

Agreed.

Why? Jeremy Clarkson isn't an MP.

Maybe I should have waited until I was more awake. Boy did I misread that whole article.

Maybe I should have waited until I was more awake. Boy did I misread that whole article.

If he stood as an independent he could probably win almost any parliamentary seat he wanted. Probably waiting for a peerage though.

If he stood as an independent he could probably win almost any parliamentary seat he wanted. Probably waiting for a peerage though.

As if he would receive one. Is there a precedent?

The regular news loop on BBC News 24 today is carrying the 'news' that Jeremy Clarkson has apparently referred to Gordon Brown as a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" (link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7873624.stm)), and now there seems to be some sort of clamour for punishment. It's no more than a mild flame, as far as I can see.


I think that politicians and journalists should keep their politeness standards way higher than what's allowed on internet fora.

By the way, the juxtaposition of an adjective describing an ethnicity and of a insulting noun is a thing to be avoided, because it inherently exploits and encourages negative ethnical stereotyping.

Oh, Brown was trolling anyways.

So is Clarkson.

By the way, the juxtaposition of an adjective describing an ethnicity and of a insulting noun is a thing to be avoided, because it inherently exploits and encourages negative ethnical stereotyping.
Between England and Scotland, it's fairly normal, and it goes both ways. Not that it makes it right, of course.

As if he would receive one. Is there a precedent?

There are precedents, Kenneth Clarke, Melvyn Bragg for instance