Foul-mouthed, summary justice, no-brains anarchists (see credo here) like Old Bastard and friends don’t deserve a mention at this blog, I know. But it’s worth recognising what ‘quality’ of online ‘minds’ we are dealing with as the Iraq Inquiry (not ‘Trial’) proceeds.
IN THE GRIP OF ANGER ANGST. MAYBE.
“Anger”, as an unknown thinker said, “ is one letter short of danger.”
Disregard the probability that these people have never in their lives given a moment’s thought to the fate of those who suffered under Saddam Hussein. Disregard too the likely possibility that none of these anarchism supporters has ever spent an hour of their precious time working for freedom from oppression of millions of people under dictatorships throughout the world. Disregard the fact that we are all, even former prime ministers “innocent until proven guilty”. Disregard the fact that we don’t hang anyone these days, even convicted criminals.
But recognise this: such as these are in the grip of anger angst. Or they would like you to THINK they are. On the coattails of more reasoned and better understood anger as at the Iraq Inquiry’s first meeting with bereaved families, these Old Bastards are being disingenuous in displaying this emotion as justifiably theirs.
THE DANGER
The inevitable result of this unjustified and unjustifiable emotive extreme, highly unlikely ever to be satisfied by an inquiry such as this, spells ‘danger’.
Danger, not just for the object of their anger, but for all of us who hold dear freedom, democracy and the right to free expression.
POOR SIR JOHN CHILCOT
What a job Sir John Chilcot and his committee have, trying to deal in “facts” when opinion is so much more readily available.
It really does not matter how many times he says “this is not a trial”, the no-brains will insist that it is.
And if they don’t get (to drink?) Blair’s blood at the end of it all, or at the very least the hoped-for trial at The Hague, will they be satisfied? Another in my growing list of rhetorical questions.
IS IT ALL ABOUT THE EU PRESIDENCY?
No, of course it isn’t.
But as with their insistence/pretext that it is mainly about Iraq, these Old Bastard followers are concerned about the possibility of Tony Blair becoming EU President because his political skills will be recognised even further afield than at present. And Blair is the ultimate politician. Democratic politics for them is a big no no.
These people have no interest in ANY form of government, democratic or undemocratic.
PUBLIC OPINION – BY WAY OF THE PRESS
I make no bones about it. For me it is clear why some insane onliners have been raised to this level of anger. The press.
Their constant slamming of Blair and his motivation and record in conflicts has resulted in frenzy-whipping of those who fail to realise that they are being used.
As though it is as easy as ordering a pizza, they call at comment pages and blogs for retributive justice for a man whose political decisions have led them to conclude that he is… MUST be, EVIL.
(Or so they would like you to believe.)
And will the collective press be held to account if some whipped-up idiot decides that it is up to him/her to settle scores on behalf of ‘Public Opinion’? I don’t think so. “Natural justice, mate!”‘
As another great British prime minister, Winston Churchill said:
“There is no such thing as public opinion. There is only published opinion.”
More words of wisdom from Churchill
BASTARD COMMENTS FROM A CROWD OF BASTARDS
1.)
The cunt should be taken to a place of execution and hung by the neck until dead. I really do mean that as well.
2.)
@Anon 09:16
“The cunt should be taken to a place of execution and hung by the neck until dead. I really do mean that as well.”
You are going soft on them.
Even my solution is a bit too kind.
ANGER QUOTES
There is nothing more galling to angry people than the coolness of those on whom they wish to vent their spleen. ~Alexandre Dumas
He who angers you conquers you. ~Elizabeth Kenny
For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness. ~Author Unknown
Anger is one letter short of danger. ~Author Unknown
Anger ventilated often hurries toward forgiveness; and concealed often hardens into revenge. ~Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing. ~Will Rogers
Get mad, then get over it. ~Colin Powell
The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn’t angry enough. ~Bede Jarrett
In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer. ~Mark Twain
Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. ~Malachy McCourt
If you kick a stone in anger, you’ll hurt your own foot. ~Korean Proverb
Anger dwells only in the bosom of fools. ~Albert Einstein
No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched. ~George Jean Nathan
Anger is short-lived madness. ~Horace
Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love. ~George Eliot
Anger blows out the lamp of the mind. ~Robert G. Ingersoll
Sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel. ~Author Unknown
Spite is never lonely; envy always tags along. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960
At the core of all anger is a need that is not being fulfilled. ~Marshall B. Rosenberg
Anger and folly walk cheek by jole. ~Benjamin Franklin
I don’t have to attend every argument I’m invited to. ~Author Unknown
Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. ~Buddha
Anger is a killing thing: it kills the man who angers, for each rage leaves him less than he had been before – it takes something from him. ~Louis L’Armour
Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret. ~Ambrose Bierce
Anger is a bad counselor. ~French Proverb
Resentment is an extremely bitter diet, and eventually poisonous. I have no desire to make my own toxins. ~Neil Kinnock
The worst-tempered people I’ve ever met were people who knew they were wrong. ~Wilson Mizner
To carry a grudge is like being stung to death by one bee. ~William H. Walton
Bastard Old Holborn’s anarchist credo:
To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonoured. That is government; that is it’s justice; that is its morality.
Just so you know.
RELATED
Andrew Sparrow at The Guardian
Excerpt:
“Anyone worried about the Iraq inquiry being a whitewash will be mildly encouraged by the appointment this week of two expert advisers to the committee.
When Gordon Brown announced the members of the inquiry – former civil servant Sir John Chilcot (chairman), historian Sir Martin Gilbert, academic Sir Lawrence Freedman, former diplomat Sir Roderic Lyne and Baroness Prashar, the chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission – there were complaints that none of them had a background in the military or international law.
Chilcot has now addressed that by taking on two advisers who will brief the inquiry and, crucially, prepare “detailed lines of questioning” ahead of the evidence sessions. They are General Sir Roger Wheeler, who was chief of the general staff (head of the army) from 1997 to 2000, and Dame Rosalyn Higgins, a former professor of international law at the University of London, who has recently stepped down as president of the international court of justice.
[…]
Yesterday the inquiry met relatives of those killed in the Iraq war and today Chilcot issued a statement saying his team “got a clear sense of what those families would like us to focus on once we start the public hearings”. This is bad news for the man who wants to become president of Europe. As Caroline Davies reported in the Guardian, many of the relatives only seem to be interested in whether or not the inquiry will condemn Tony Blair.”
Another from The Guardian:
Caroline Davies on applause at the “blame Blair” trial inquiry
“As relatives of those killed in the Iraq conflict met members of the Iraq inquiry committee, it was the anger that was immediately palpable.
But as first one then another spoke, it became clear that most, if not all, fingers were pointing to one man – the former prime minister Tony Blair. And the clapping erupted. They had found a common voice – and it was demanding “accountability”.
The applause came, said one grieving mother, Deirdre Gover, “because we all agreed. Blair had to be held responsible for what he’s done, to our children, and to our husbands. We want him to appear, and I really hope something will come of it.”
Innocent Until Proven Guilty, anyone?
This is an inquiry, inquiry, inquiry, inquiry ….
Not a trial, trial, trial, trial.
See my compilation of posts on ‘The Trial of Tony Blair’
Tags: anger angst, ban blair baiting, bastard old holborn, blair should be hung by the neck until dead, EU President, Iraq inquiry, picture of Tony Blair with noose, Sir John Chilcot, summary justice for Blair, Tony Blair, Trial of Tony Blair
Tony Blair 
October 14, 2009 at 6:30 pm |
hate only messes those who hate not those who they are hating so don’t do it
November 29, 2009 at 3:37 am |
[…] Hang Blair, say angry bastards in the court of public opinion […]
December 12, 2009 at 11:48 pm |
Blair is still blinded by his own pious dogma, he considers himself as some sort of modern day messiah, in his latest defense on the war he still justifies his actions even pontificating that Saddam killed his own people. Saddam was no saint, but Blair and Bush rained terror on the innocent and there screams and tears can still be heard, when will this bastard wake from his slumber and face his demons, for the innocent they will never wake up they were buried in the “shock and awe” and silenced for ever.
December 13, 2009 at 1:02 am |
TACHFINE –
You said:
I say –
This good man has prevented many, many thousands, even millions from being “silenced forever” like the innocents that Saddam killed for THIRTY LONG YEARS.
At least NOW this 30 year reign of terror is over in Iraq, apart from the car-bombing insurgents – Iraqis and other Middle Easterners with a grudge.
Grow up and think rationally.
December 15, 2009 at 4:27 pm |
[…] “Hang Blair”, say Angry Bastards in the ‘Court of Public Opinion’ RELATED […]
December 30, 2009 at 3:40 pm |
let him who is without sin cast the first stone in the case of tony make it a twenty ton boulder
December 30, 2009 at 7:18 pm |
I assume you mean that Blair will be doing the throwing?
January 30, 2010 at 11:35 am |
The writer is as bad if not worse than those he condemns.
Did it ever occur to the writer; that many members of the UK public at large are perfectly capable of using logic and critical analysis and can come to their own rational conclusions regarding the motives of Tony Blair and members of the Government at the time?
Did it also ever occur to the writer; that many of these same people are not influenced by MSM sources in any shape or form, but perfectly capable of carrying out their own detailed research using many different sources and from both sides of the ‘coin’.
Did it also ever occur to the writer; that by default, he/she is no better than the ‘idiots’ he/she describes; mainly for making vast assumptions regarding the ‘thinking’ processes displayed by those (and there are many), who do not ‘think’ as you do?
Your own broad generalisations regarding the (lack of) cognitive capabilities of the public at large, place you in much the same category as those you ridicule.
‘But for all of us who hold dear freedom, democracy and the right to free expression’ powerful words indeed.
January 30, 2010 at 1:06 pm |
So, biblar – let me get this straight.
You say that I (the writer) am ‘as bad if not worse’ than those I condemn. You seem to base this accusation on my not understanding these three:
1. … that ‘many members of the UK public at large are perfectly capable of using logic and critical analysis and can come to their own rational conclusions regarding the motives of Tony Blair and members of the Government at the time?’
And this:
2. … that many of these same people are not influenced by MSM sources in any shape or form, but perfectly capable of carrying out their own detailed research using many different sources and from both sides of the ‘coin’.
And –
3. … that by default, he/she is no better than the ‘idiots’ he/she describes; mainly for making vast assumptions regarding the ‘thinking’ processes displayed by those (and there are many), who do not ‘think’ as you do?
To answer 1 – yes I do realise that “many” are capable of separating fact from fiction (which, due to press/MSM bias – and thus “default”) leaves many unable.
To answer 2 – yes, I do realise that many carry out their own research, (and that many don’t.)
To answer 3 – to ignore the influence of the press on “many” is to fail to understand the impact of the pithy headline and the impression it leaves. Most people only scan headlines and one or two paragraphs. I witnessed this several times last night in London on the Tube after attending the Iraq Inquiry. Most people are not all that interested in the deep questions, and thus soak up the broad principles, as stated in headlines. Dwell on this for a second to see if you understand my point any better:
In the London Evening Standard last night (a free paper now), after the Inquiry it said “Blair in the dock”. Spread across the first two pages inside it said, “Blair: I acted to protect our alliance with US”. On the same page Anne McElvoy’s opinion is headlined: “Slippery as a jellyfish, just like he always was”.
On pages 4 & 5, from bereaved mothers – “‘Disgusted’ by back-door Blair.” On another page Andrew Neather writes – “A political genius who lost us our moral authority.”
It can hardly be argued that this kind of INSTANT verdict is not influential to “many” people’s thinking processes. The press is all-pervasive, soaking in slowly but surely certain impressions, and we know what the impression many in the press would like to soak in.
Apologies to anyone whose thinking processes I seem to be questioning. But those I criticise in general question mine too. Fair’s fair, eh, in love and war.
January 31, 2010 at 1:30 pm |
You are doing exactly the same thing again in your response; when you ‘cannot’ possibly demonstrate that the majority of people read one or two lines, or the pithy headlines you mention within the MSM and base their conclusions on this alone.
Your own personal belief system dictates that Blair and Cabinet behaved in an exemplary manner regarding taking the country to war and the ongoing, far from satisfactory aftermath; this belief system also dictates that Blair is the ultimate politician.
Blair is the ‘ultimate’ politician, you are correct, but your observation does not mean he is, or was a ‘good’ or just politician; this observation also does not automatically lead to the given that his decisions were morally, or legally correct.
Lets go back to your own anger, regarding the influence of MSM for a moment; lets just say for arguments sake the majority of people in the UK do base their opinions on the pithy headlines you describe, this is only a ‘danger’ if the thrust of the headlines are wrong. Can you demonstrate, without personal bias that this is the case?
It was the paragraph you alluded to regarding ‘danger’ and ‘anger’ that interested me the most you see; I quote..
‘Danger, not just for the object of their anger, but for all of us who hold dear freedom, democracy and the right to free expression’
Being induced to support the emotional rhetoric and sophistry of the ultimate politician if that support ultimately takes us into an illegal war is no less dangerous than being induced by pithy headlines is it not?
There are many legally qualified UK citizens, highly respected in their field who disagree with your personal sentiments regarding Blair and Cabinets decision making.
Could not being induced to support and follow blithely a government whose decisions, if wrong; have now set a precedent that could ultimately threaten the freedom, democracy and the right to free expression not only in the UK, but worldwide, be no less dangerous?
Your own personal anger directed toward the MSM and the contemptible site you described is no less dangerous one feels; as does not the censure you covertly wish for and the personal opinion you indicate is ‘right’ equally threaten the freedom, democracy and the right to free expression you hold dear?
April 21, 2010 at 6:09 pm |
[…] citizens arrest and charge the guy, then drag him to The Hague, after which formalities we’ll hang him or show some compassion and let him off with a touch of everyday liberal torture (as he clearly […]
May 19, 2010 at 3:33 pm |
[…] we do know that Tony Blair was figuratively hanged, drawn and quartered over and over for telling us what HE thought (watch 2006 conference video […]