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Monday 16 March 2020

Brendan O’Neill PWNED On Covid-19

At times of national crisis, it becomes more difficult to blame others as a quick way of deflecting from questions about the Government’s handling of the situation. In the world of the Media Establishment, this means not being able to dump on foreigners, and especially those from EU member states, Scary Muslims™, and the Rotten Lefties™. And with the Covid-19 outbreak, some pundits have found their room for manoeuvre constrained.
This has superbly exposed the sheer vacuousness of many in the media class, the total lack of actual knowledge and analytical ability. And for Brendan O’Neill of Spiked, so called because it should have been long ago, this has brought the moment of reckoning closer, so close in fact that it came last night on the Sky Papers review.

O’Neill and the sneering deployment of his all-purpose quote generator came up against a determined and ultimately exasperated Christina Patterson, formerly of the Independent and now a freelance. With today’s Guardian front page up there on the display, its headline “Virus ‘may last a year and put 8m in NHS hospitals’” clearly visible, O’Neill engaged quote generator mode and decided to blame someone from his approved list of villains.
Christina Patterson

It was “Apocalyptic leftists in the media” to blame. On so many other subjects, Bren would have got away with it. Not this time. Ms Patterson had heard enough. “I have to say Brendan, we are going through something that is not unlike a war here, and I am pretty shocked that you’re turning this into a party political issue of left and right … you said it’s leftist people who are wanting to close … where does leftist come in in all of this?

O’Neill confirmed that he had said “Apocalyptic leftists in the media”. That’s the same media of which he is a part. Worse for him, the Guardian story had been lifted by the Daily Brexit, still called the Express, a paper which cannot in any way be described as leftist.
The offending Lefty Guardian story ...

So Ms Patterson was having none of it. “It’s nothing to do with left or right … nobody knows what [is] the right thing to do in this situation. Everybody in this country is worrying about their loved ones. People older than you … in the 55+ age category are worrying about whether they are going to die. Many people are worrying about whether their parents and grandparents are going to die”. And she wasn’t finished yet.

We don’t know what is the right or wrong thing to do. What we do know is that what we’re doing is out of step with what the rest of the world is doing”. Bren spotted an entry. “How do you know that what we are doing is wrong?” But Ms Patterson has not said that. O’Neill was once again playing at politics, trying to shift the goalposts to make him look good.
... is also in the Not Lefty Express

So she called him out once more. “Did you not listen to a word I just said? I said we don’t know what is right”. O’Neill then accused her of shouting and told her to calm down. Sexist, much? But by now the penny had dropped: O’Neill knew that his usual schtick was not going to work. He had been rumbled. But he still pretended that someone out there (leftists, perchance?) was using the Covid-19 crisis to “transform the world forever”.

This was also bullshit. But by now he was horribly exposed, stripped of the comfort blanket offered by his ability to blame Rotten Lefties™ and forced to engage his brain for once.

Covid-19 has had one beneficial effect: Brendan O’Neill is bust. And about time too.
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24 comments:

Arnold said...

He probably assumed that if Bozo can bring politics into it, he can too.

"BORIS Johnson has claimed that Scotland has a particular problem with the resilience of its public services in an announcement on the state of the coronavirus outbreak."

https://www.thenational.scot/news/18302360.watch-pm-says-scots-particular-problem-public-services/

Anonymous said...

Didn't see it. I scarcely bother with TV "'news'paper reviews" these days. They long ago became right wing propaganda bullshit spouted by right wing bullshitters (like O'Neill) repeating what other right wing bullshitters vomited into right wing bullshit propaganda rags.

But if Tim's account is accurate - good on Patterson. More of it please. About time someone rounded on fascist twats like O'Neill and gave them both barrels at point blank range.

Anonymous said...

How long before somebody develops a smart virus which goes after idiots?

It doesn't determine between right or left...just who should be left!

Chezsu said...

It didn't quite play out like that and you know it. Rather disingenuous reporting here.

Unknown said...

Just a personal attack on Brendon here. No more than that. Shallow “journalism.”

John Smith said...

For anyone who actually saw it,it did not play out like that at all.
You may wish to be partisan and support her but at one point she clearly lost it.
Started shouting,ranting and scaremongering
Good try though .

Unknown said...

Yes it did I saw every second of it. Because I recorded it and watched it twice just to see him get that smug grin wiped right off his right-wing face.
Well done loved it.πŸ˜€πŸ˜πŸ˜„πŸ˜†

Patrob said...

All right, what's your version then?
We could all watch it. I doubt that it's inaccurate.

Unknown said...

Yes it did i saw the whole thing twice. Just so I could see that smug grin wiped off his right wing face.loved it he is a total moron.πŸ˜€πŸ˜„πŸ˜πŸ˜Š

Patrob said...

Brendan is hardly a journalist. He is I'll - informed. His pieces are all opinion, with little to no factual basis.

Unknown said...

BRENDAN O'NEILL IS SMARTER AND COOLER THAN ALL OF THEM πŸ‘

Unknown said...

O'neil can outsmart a dumb leftie anytime.

Unknown said...

I think Jezza started it...

Unknown said...

He wasn't wrong though was he

Chezsu said...

Completely unbiased

Spitfireboy said...

Brendan brings a raw honest clarity to us brits without the spin doctoring or forced medicating of the mass media and its orwellian hysteria. I was a leftist for over a decade. It's things like the insulting manner of the doctored news network and plane lies of my former colleagues that forced me to vote differently. Frankly Brendan deserves a knighthood

Spitfireboy said...

Yeah.. Sounds like you have a unbiased and rational mindset for sure!

Spitfireboy said...

Brendan brings common sense to our society when rational factual thinking has been forcibly removed from the media years ago.

Spitfireboy said...

Patterson is openly and unashamedly showing her own bias and using brendan as a launchpad. I don't mind people showing their opinions or political leanings but take a step back and this is a cheap shot based heavily in bias. This didn't actually pan out the was she wants people to believe.

Rog Laker said...

Best comment: don't bother with any TV paper reviews. Just another elite, the media elite, all keeping themselves in usually grossly overpaid jobs running round the hamster wheel.

Unknown said...

He's a total hypocrite. Nothing he says is worth a damn.

Unknown said...

Everything old Brendan says is myopic with zero historical context.

grim northerner said...

BRENDAN O'NEILL IS SMARTER AND COOLER THAN ALL OF THEM πŸ‘

grim northerner said...

BRENDAN O'NEILL IS SMARTER AND COOLER THAN ALL OF THEM πŸ‘