First they came for the statues

First, they came for the statues. 

“TAKING A KNEE” TO THE DESTROYERS OF WORLDS

Melanie Phillips has written an excoriating analysis of the current crises. 2020 is the real 1984. Eloquent, forensic and deeply insightful.

There is one aspect that needs closer examination though. The question of whether the ‘thuggish’ and ‘far-right” groups who are planning to defend the status quo (monument-wise) are reprehensible for their principles, or merely for their methods.

After all, Tommy Robinson’s Luton-born compatriot (who cut her documentary teeth on “My Hometown’ ("sorry, episode currently unavailable"!!) is currently one of the BBC’s most esteemed luvvies. 

The weakness of the Conservative government, the police, the media and the powers that be are leaving an opening - a vacuum - into which ‘Tommy Robinson’ and his motley supporters *thuggish groups around the country” are bound to fall. All this is troubling, but it raises another question. 

When highly educated and intellectual voices like Melanie Phillips reflexively condemn Tommy Robinson who, by the way, does an excellent job of discrediting himself, are they aware that he is not exactly the ‘ignorant racist thug’ they dismiss him as?

 Or, is it simply that the ‘mob’ who seem to rule the roost these days, would, in turn, condemn her by association, (even more than they do already) should she or anyone like her be caught expressing the slightest smidgeon of sympathy for T.R.

We can’t all be Oxbridge graduates. Personally, I’m full of admiration for the eloquence and perspicacity of figures such as Melanie and writers like Brendan O’Neill and Douglas Murray, (bended knees!) so I would really like to understand whether they are right to dismiss T.R., or are they fearful of the Twitterati mob……. or merely being snobbish? 

Genuine question.

Robin Aitken on Stacey Dooley

“Don’t knock Stacey Dooley” says Robin Aitken. in a new piece in "Unherd". I agree.   She’s - what can I say? - Let’s try ‘a breath of fresh air’. 

“Stacey’s apotheosis was when she won Strictly Come Dancing in 2018. I thought at the time that that might be the moment her journalistic career fell away beneath her like a spent booster rocket as she continued into the higher reaches of Celebristan. But that didn’t happen, and Stacey has remained true to her calling. Bravo then for Stacey and bravo too for the BBC which spotted, then nurtured and now supports her distinctive brand of citizen journalism.

But this appraisal of her work seems to have omitted her most eye-opening and, for some of us, her most affecting documentary. My Home Town, filmed in 2012. So, for your information, here it is again.

BBC apologises for "Isil salute"

I hardly ever watch TV these days (she says, automatically disqualifying herself from doing what it says on the tin) but, alerted to a bit of a hooha in the press about a scene that had to be judiciously excised from Stacey Dooley’s Panorama about ISIS women, my ears pricked up. 

“BBC apologises after Stacey Dooley wrongly claimed women gave 'Isil salute' in Panorama documentary” screams the Telegraph.

The papers are full of the shocking news that Stacey Dooley had been filmed mistakenly describing the ‘one-finger’ Islamic (Only one God) sign as “the ISIS salute”)  and that the BBC had edited out the offending words in a last-minute attempt to save their Panorama and make it acceptable to one and all.

My immediate thought (and possibly yours too) was that the BBC had caved in under pressure from the vociferous Muslim community, naturally outraged at the very idea that Islamic State (so-called) is Anything To Do With Islam.

So I dutifully turned to iPlayer and watched Panorama. 

Guess what? I thought it was jolly good. For what it was. How could such a short film encompass the whole sad and sorry situation, nuances, irregularities, special cases and all?

Stacey Dooley's Panorama did a far better job than I’d expected. Where she was able, Stacey Dooley asked many of the questions viewers would want her to ask. 

As an irreligious cynic, I noticed that some of the ISIS women themselves got a bit hot under the niqab when Stacey Dooley tried to differentiate between IS and Islam proper. “It’s all Islam”, one irate woman said.

To me, the trappings of all religions seem ridiculous. The more extreme, the more obnoxious yet comical they look. Most religious dogma actually strikes me as kind of babyish, like some play-rules dreamed up by a couple of 5-year-old girls on a wet afternoon. If I had any influence (which you’re relieved to know I haven’t) I would do my utmost to separate these IS widows into smaller groups and not have them cooped up together where they can re-radicalise and re-indoctrinate each other in perpetuity.

As it is, the mothers and children in these godawful camps are kept in line and intimidated by a dim-witted and tyrannical sisterhood. The minute one has an independent thought she’s punished and perhaps her tent is torched.

If we have to spend huge amounts of taxpayers’ money on foreign aid, instead of boosting the grotesque Palestinian  ‘Pay for Slay’ policy or funding UNRWA textbooks full of pro-Hamas propaganda, why not devise a way that some smaller mother and child units could be set up in Syria or perhaps even in their own countries. I guess such ventures would still be looked upon as imperialist rehabilitation units and vilified by western liberals who insist that Jihad and all the unmentionable cultural and religious quirks of Islam must be seen as a credit to the tolerance within liberal western societies, and must not be interfered with by outsiders.

Lam(my)basting Stacey

The boy is saying, "Don't tell David Lammy!"

There's been an almighty spat this week between David Lammy MP and Strictly winner Stacey Dooley. 

The spat followed the (attention-seeking) Labour MP's critical comments about the (virtue-signalling) BBC star.

The latter had posted images of herself doing her bit for the BBC's Comic Relief, including an image of herself holding a sad-looking Ugandan child whilst smiling radiantly - an image she captioned “Obsessed!”.  

"The world doesn't need any more white saviours", tweeted the Mastermind-losing Mr Lammy. 

He also talked about how black people worry about the "poverty porn" side of Comic Relief, especially in regards to modern, up-and-coming Africa. 

My social media feeds have been full of people taking sides, some finding themselves unexpectedly agreeing with people they don't normally agree with. 

I can see the fine points made by Janice Turner in today's Times in defence of Comic Relief and against the race-separating strictures of Mr Lammy. Janice concedes that Miss Dooley's picture was "crass and self-serving" but she defends Comic Relief in terms of the good it's done and the money it's raised against the "purely destructive" attack from the Labour loudmouth, who she characterises as someone who has "switched from being a nuanced, thoughtful progressive politician to a self-contradicting hot-head".

Still the "poverty porn" charge and the undervaluing of a rising Africa are points that have some truth to them.

And (h/t Fraser Nelson of The Spectator) this piece of Norwegian satire still remains spot-on (and funny):

P.S. Has Sir Lenny commented yet?