The Political Thread

[Colin MacNeil]

Political bias at the BBC? Surely not?

I hope this linky thing works!

http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-politics/4911-questions-over-bbc-scotlands-election-figure-claims#comment-152910

If it can happen in Scotland, it can happen in the rest of the UK. The implications affect us all.

Pacific Quay might as well have a red star and minaret on the roof, but Salmond's shown he's more than capable of doing whatever's necessary to secure favourable media coverage from equally influential quarters.

Don't you have Dark Judges to draw, MacNeil?

So, your quip about red star and minarets means you do agree with me that the BBC in Scotland IS biased then? So, you don't give a damn for honesty and integrity then? That's nice to know.

You however choose to drag up the same old Unionist smears against the First Minister of Scotland. This post was not about the discussion over Scotland, it was about the people who WE pay to provide US with with unbiased factual news from which we can make considered decisions  that affect our lives.

If you don't want to live in a free and democratic land where freeborn men and women share in the fruits of our labours, where they are told the truth about what happens in their world and in their name, then by all means continue voting the way you do. I however have better dreams for my life and the land which I love.


For those interested.

http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/4874-the-salmond-smear-campaign-and-the-unknown-email

[Frank]

So, your quip about red star and minarets means you do agree with me that the BBC in Scotland IS biased then? So, you don't give a damn for honesty and integrity then? That's nice to know.

You however choose to drag up the same old Unionist smears against the First Minister of Scotland. This post was not about the discussion over Scotland, it was about the people who WE pay to provide US with with unbiased factual news from which we can make considered decisions  that affect our lives.

If you don't want to live in a free and democratic land where freeborn men and women share in the fruits of our labours, where they are told the truth about what happens in their world and in their name, then by all means continue voting the way you do. I however have better dreams for my life and the land which I love.

For those interested.

http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/4874-the-salmond-smear-campaign-and-the-unknown-email

Fuck me, I've pissed off a legend. The Political Compass test put me square in the centre of the libertarian left, so let's assume my ballot choice was an expression of discontent, and that I'm not a Tory.

The point of both the posts you refer to was my exasperation with party politics and I wasn't contradicting the point you or the article you linked to made. It's clear there was bias- conscious or unconscious- in the choices the BBC made, but the explicit backing given to the SNP by the Sun (just as it endorsed Labour for a decade) is no less pernicious just because it's a bias that seems to go unchallenged.

The BBC is held to different standards of accountability than the rest of the media and, while it would be naive to think that no political horse trading occurs around Charter Renewal time, it's (rightly) watched like a hawk for evidence of bias ... chiefly by the same privately owned media outlets that freely endorse whichever political party best reflects their own agenda and interests.

Just to use the example of the second news article you linked to: why is an attempt to determine whether there was any transaction between Salmond and Murdoch characterised as an "attack"? To use the example of the report I linked to (the first that google returned): why would Salmond being found not to have behaved improperly constitute an "escape" (implying guilt)? Each author enjoys unlimited freedom to present events in the light which best suits their purposes and supports their own assumptions.

As a state-funded broadcaster, the BBC's in a unique position and deserves to be upbraided for any failure to adhere to the standards of impartiality demanded of it, so I completely agree with the point you were making. But I see that as no less important than the work of the Leveson Inquiry in holding politicians like Salmond, Cameron, Blair and Brown to account for the contemptible toadying to an unaccountable, manipulative, oligarch wanker like Murdoch that led us into an illegal war and utter financial ruin, without a word of complaint from the most powerful organ of the British media.

The enquiry into precisely how that unprecedented degree of media aquiessence was secured, and what Murdoch did with the freedom from scrutiny that bought him, will provide damning headlines for all hues of the political spectrum, without painting any of them in a particularly flattering light. If you want to hear the truth about the bastards you disagree with, you're obliged to treat the ugly truth about the bastards you agree with in the same manner.

Justice has a price, Colin; thankfully Lord Justice Leveson doesn't.

[Roger Godpleton]

I think we should have a haggis-baking contest to see who wins this argument. If it's a tie you will dance me a jig.

[JOE SOAP]

Crivvens, it's a 20 stretch on Titan for you Sauchieboy Bikini Kill.

[Roger Godpleton]

There is a moose, loose aboot this hoose.

It is the moose of discord.

[Trout]

There is a moose, loose aboot this hoose.

It is the moose of discord.

I love it when the southern people get all het up. Soon we will snigger at you from behind our wall, while Call Me Dave feasts upon the flesh of your children.

[Dandontdare]

There is a moose, loose aboot this hoose.

It is the moose of discord.

I love it when the southern people get all het up. Soon we will snigger at you from behind our wall, while Call Me Dave feasts upon the flesh of your children.

no you won't cos the wall will be 20 years late and cost ninety three billion poonds by then.

[Roger Godpleton]

You will look at your feet, bloody from walking 500 miles and bruised from walking 500 more. You will be rained on, leading you to wonder why it always rains on you. You will have to chase a bunch of cars. You will look at your cities, built on rock and roll.

And you will see that it was not worth it.

[Trout]

We're going to do terrible, terrible things to Jimmy Hill.

[JOE SOAP]

I think he's done that all ready.

[Frank]

I love it when the southern people get all het up. Soon we will snigger at you from behind our wall, while Call Me Dave feasts upon the flesh of your children.

No you won't cos the wall will be 20 years late and cost ninety three billion poonds by then.

Ooh! That hurt because it's true. The examples you allude to are all based around Edinburgh, though: the Scottish Parliament, the tram project, and they still haven't finished painting the Forth Bridge yet.

[Trout]

I love it when the southern people get all het up. Soon we will snigger at you from behind our wall, while Call Me Dave feasts upon the flesh of your children.

No you won't cos the wall will be 20 years late and cost ninety three billion poonds by then.

Ooh! That hurt because it's true. The examples you allude to are all based around Edinburgh, though: the Scottish Parliament, the tram project, and they still haven't finished painting the Forth Bridge yet.

Actually, they have finished that.

Another great moment in the life of a left-of-centre Tory. Yay!

[Frank]

they still haven't finished painting the Forth Bridge yet.

Actually, they have finished that.

Another great moment in the life of a left-of-centre Tory. Yay!

That shameful admission was my equivalent of Dan Clowse's 'sock-huffing' scene.

[Roger Godpleton]

More like Joe Matt getting a handjob from a disgusting hooker in a porno theater.

[JayzusB.Christ]

Colin McNeil will paint all your death scenes, and I won't be a bit sorry for you.