As realisation sinks in with the climate change denial lobby that the actions of groups like Extinction Rebellion, and individuals like teenager Greta Thunberg, may signal an end to their credibility, and thus a lessening of their status and indeed their bank balance, their collective defence mechanisms have kicked in. The result has been to make the disgraceful actions of Brendan O’Neill and Toby Young look positively restrained.
Greta Thunberg
The panicking pundits - Dan, Dan, the Oratory Man ...
... Julia Hartley Dooda ...
... and Iain Martin
Those prompted to inaction included MEP and occasional Tory Dan, Dan The Oratory Man, who loftily asserted “Britain has gone without burning coal for longer than at any time since the industrial revolution. We are reducing carbon emissions faster than any other big country. Adults should encourage children's enthusiasm, but not applaud their mistakes”.Er, hello Dan. “Gone without burning coal”, according to Gridwatch, has extended to four days. Also, exporting carbon emissions is not a reduction.
Having set the bar low, along came Julia Hartley Dooda to set it yet lower. “Please join me for my @talkRADIO breakfast show from 6.30am-10am. We’ll be talking about … the cult of Greta Thunberg”. Another jealous has-been hurling abuse for Murdoch money (Ms Hartley Dooda has also Retweeted the Spiked Online attack).
It got worse, as allegedly libertarian creep Christopher Snowden decided to endorse Brendan O’Neill’s equally creepy hatchet job on Ms Thunberg. “I only read this because Moonbat was pretending to be offended by it. It’s fine, and correct”. Gosh, and he included the climate change denialists’ dead clever George Monbiot insult too!
Meanwhile, in another desperate yet failed bid to regain some relevance, Ben Pile saw politicians meeting with Ms Thunberg and chipped in “They see this as some kind of progressive victory … I see only a catastrophically degenerate political establishment hiding behind a child”. So he doesn’t get it, either. Except that he remains irrelevant.
Iain Martin was made of sterner stuff: “Campaigner speaking to MPs today: ‘My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 16 years old. I come from Sweden. And I speak on behalf of future generations.’ On what basis can someone claim to speak for future generations? Was there a vote? How? Radical Green religion looks post-democratic”. Religion smear: check! Also, Iain, nobody voted for you to pollute the airwaves with reactionary drivel. Next.
After all that, someone had to get even nastier. And the someone was Helen Dale, who claims to be a “Classical Liberal”. But so does Toby Young. She grinned “Can the Beeb arrange for Andrew Neil to interview this Greta Thunberg character? Because afterwards I guarantee we’ll never hear from her again. She may even have a meltdown on national telly into the bargain”. Tee hee hee! Let’s play kick the greenie!
And by that point, the reactionary climate change denying right wing had lost the plot, lost the argument, and lost all credibility. As Mike Hinde concluded, “Greta Thunberg has destroyed the repellent right, on climate breakdown. They have nothing left but to attack the girl herself. She won”. She did indeed. Only one question remains.
Exactly how do press and broadcasters justify giving a platform to any of those quoted above, now they have demonstrated their intellectual bankruptcy, virulent dishonesty, and moral emptiness in attacking the messenger? I’ll just leave that one there.
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Afraid of girlies?
ReplyDeleteWrite to the Daily Mail Agony Aunt and outline your insecurities.
Excellent article. I was already incensed by Brendan O'Moron's tweet - especially as only that morning I was explaining to my own autistic daughter how fantastic it is that Greta is doing so much DESPITE her condition. I loath and detest these right-wing sociopathic idiots.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Tim.
ReplyDeleteI have so much respect for Greta and Extinction Rebellion, waking up the world to the catastrophy that is Climate Change!
As for those that spit vitriol against her, as you have documented, I wouldn't piss on any of them if they were on fire!
Yeah, but you've got to admit, she can't really speak for future generations because she can't know what they're going to think innit.
ReplyDeleteStands to reason.
Literally.