His appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain before the no-inquisition-at-all of a simpering Piers Morgan was bad enough (the former Screws and Daily Mirror editor had to be saved by long-suffering co-host Susanna Reid), but now the BBC is joining in the disturbing legitimisation of Stateside bigot Steve Bannon. And it is only through the good sense of Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that we know what’s going on.
As The Ferret reported yesterday, “Breaking: First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, pulls out of Edinburgh conference after learning that former Trump strategist, Steve Bannon, has been invited to speak by BBC”. Ms Sturgeon then confirmed the news and explained why.
“I believe passionately in free speech but as @ScotGovFM I have to make balanced judgments - and I will not be part of any process that risks legitimising or normalising far right, racist views. I regret that the BBC has put me and others in this position”. And there was more. “The email the BBC sent to my office justifying Bannon’s inclusion described him as a ‘powerful and influential figure … promoting an anti-elite movement.’ This kind of language to describe views that many would describe as fascist does seem to me to run the risk of normalisation”. It runs the risk of appalling dishonesty, too.
Steve Bannon is not, repeat not, repeat NOT an “Anti-Élite” figure. He is a well-connected member of the US Right, having got himself close enough to people like the Mercers, and indeed secured the élite’s funds for the Breitbart propaganda empire. Bannon has also secured funds for his protégé Milo Yiannopoulos - until the latter sprayed his credibility up the wall as his endorsement of paedophilia was exposed.
Moreover, the behaviour of Bannon’s pals at Breitbart has also come up as a result of Ms Sturgeon’s withdrawal, with Humza Yousaf reminding us “I've been on the receiving end of Bannon and his acolytes' slanderous hatred. The fact that @BBCScotland thinks it is okay to give Bannon a platform and describe him as an influential voice is pretty damn insulting. They should know better than to mainstream hatred”.
Facts Central also had a reminder for the Beeb. “‘Promoting an anti-elite movement?’ The guy who said in France ‘If you're called a racist, wear it as a badge of honour’? Who defended ‘Tommy Robinson's right’ not to respect the law? WTF? Since when did the BBC become the FBC (Fascist Broadcasting Corporation)?” Also, Bannon claimed that Stephen Yaxley Lennon was “the backbone of Britain”.
In any case, Karl Popper’s paradox of tolerance applies here: it is right not to tolerate the intolerant. So Ian Fraser was on the money when he concluded “Attempts by @BBC and @NewsXchange to legitimise and normalise far-right, racist views of Steve Bannon are turning to dust. @NicolaSturgeon was misled and is right to withdraw”.
Why is our broadcast media so blind to what Steve Bannon represents? What is motivating them to give a platform to a white supremacist, a far-right propagandist, someone who wants racists to wear their bigotry “like a badge of honour”?
ITV should not have given Bannon a platform. Nor should LBC. Just because they failed to do their duty does not mean the BBC should follow suit. No platform for the intolerant.
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8 comments:
Whites created the modern world and have allowed people of all races access to it.
Let all voices be heard, from the "intolerant" Far-right to the equally intolerant far-left, only snowflakes cannot face a debate, what are you frightened of? You tolerate the intolerant islam, can't have it just to suit your personal prejudice!
Taking back control means going to accede to US far right?
Don't let those Europeans in but invite the violence propagators from across the pond?
Some priorities for our Government and media. The Old Murdoconian Mutual Aid Society in full swing!
Broadcast media are not "blind" to what Bannon represents. They are the propaganda arm of what he represents. Which is the true face of the Anglo Saxon establishment on both sides of the Atlantic.
And it would take a complete moron or ignoramus not to acknowledge that we live in a far right authoritarian capitalist state. Hence the propaganda and lies.
Example: The other night BBC TV "News" "interviewed" a former head of MI6, "Sir" Somebody-or-other, who was allowed to say unchallenged that Saudi Arabia was "A force for peace in the region". That's the force being used to mass murder tens of thousands of innocent Yemenis, the force that tries to blockade Qatar, the force in permanent "border tension" with Oman, the force that finances and supports various terror gangs in the Middle East, the force whose citizens were most of the mass murderers behind 9/11, and the force which violates almost every human right in its own population. To say nothing of the alleged murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi. The same force the Blair/Brown gang protected when it disbanded the inquiry into British corruption in the Al Yamamah arms deal. All of which tells you everything you need to know about British and US "intelligence" agencies.
Corporate broadcast media and its employees are a tragic laughing stock, tabloid TV and radio every bit as bad - often much worse - than the press equivalents. Nobody of reasonable free thinking intelligence believes a word the culprits vomit into the ether.
Piss off you racist.
@ Anon 13:04
Somewhat contradictory? "Intolerant" left and right surely suggests they don't stand for debate. In fact the horseshoe theory propounds that outside influences i.e. foreign, will seek to use both sides of the political divide to stir up divisions and create chaos within a country they feel they need to weaken e.g. Brexit, Texit, Calexit and the US elections leaving the foreign power feeling stronger as a result. Various troll factories are adept at this using the analytics developed by Cambridge Analytica and others to target the appropriate audience.
Steve Bannon was a founder of Cambridge Analytica.
@Anonymous 13:04
Allowed? The world doesn't belong to you and other white people, cretin. You don't get to 'allow' anything. This planet belongs to everyone, and people can do as they see fit whether you 'allow' them or not.
By the way, whenever you count? You're using symbols created by dark-skinned Islamic people. You couldn't even live without them.
You are pathetic, cretin. What a sad, pathetic, lonely old racist. This world isn't yours and never will be, cretin.
Now, as someone else has said, piss off, racist. Take your worthless life with you- it is the only useful thing you'll ever have done, or ever will do.
Anon 13:04 – So gracious of you to decide that we have allowed all people of every race access to the modern world. Such a shame this is a big freakin’ lie (can’t be bothered to go totally into it at this time of night, although you should look up the first use of electricity and light bulbs, and also rails and railways, for a start), but you did your lousy best, eh?
You call out intolerance but from the height you are talking down at the rest of the world I am surprised you can make anyone out, let alone their political or racial differences. Do you tolerate the tolerant Islam, or just treat them all the same because they ‘all look the same anyway, who cares?’
Let me ask you if, at the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland, you were one of those advocating nuking them all just because you couldn’t tell one Irish man from another, a proddy from a catholic, the North from the South, the violent from the peaceful? If not why not – it is not a million miles away from what you want the rest of us to do with Muslims, unless you take their skin colour into account.
Nicola Sturgeon is an excellent leader. World class. And that’s with both arms tied behind her back.
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