Sanctimonious Morph: Spectator has 'demonstrable history of legitimising the far right'

[Freespeecher]

Owen up to his tricks again, encouraging pile-ons while keeping well clear himself.

Thing is, the Speccie also has a demonstrable history of legitimising the views of GC women. Can the day be far off when this site is accused of being 'far right'?

(Though, to be fair, when you're as far left as the Boy Jones just about everyone looks far right).

order-order.com/2018/08/07/owen-jones-organises-750000-strong-pile-wrong-rob-burley/

This site is already labelled all kinds of hateful stuff. We're already there. Thanks Mumsnet for allowing freedom of speech though, despite all the obstacles.

I've stopped taking the Guardian seriously, Owen Jones actually encapsulates my problems with the whole newspaper. There are a few notable reasonable voices still there, but I've gone from being a regular reader to being very exasperated by their editorial choices... "Comment is free," reads like it's meant as seriously as the slogans in Ingsoc. I am increasingly listening to the journalists who actually value free speech. I have stopped caring as much what outlet they are writing for - as long as it's still a mainstream source and not an actual crazy propaganda website - and I tend to cross-reference my news much more now. OJ is a proselytizer for a particular far-left worldview that I genuinely think has dangerously authoritarian tendencies in its ideology. He strikes me as very opportunistic - e.g. his about-face on Corbyn - always preaching with the zeal of a recent convert. He seems like the kind of columnist who genuinely cannot fathom that there is a legitimate point of view out there that isn't aligned with his own ("you must humble yourself before you can become sane"), and seems to think that bullying everyone else is the best strategy instead of engaging in actual dialogue. A bizarre strategy, when your business is supposed to be using words and thinking about things.

“On the one hand you have the warm-hearted unthinking Socialist, the typical working-class Socialist, who only wants to abolish poverty and does not always grasp what this implies. On the other hand, you have the intellectual, book-trained Socialist, who understands that it is necessary to throw our present civilisation down the sink and is quite willing to do so.”
― George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier

There's a particular tone isn't there?
Its very obvious when read.
I think its predominately a scialised-male speech pattern.

H&W

Agreed, and the Speccie is currently one of the best at offering said range of views.

OJ is fast becoming a parody of himself (if he hasn't reached that stage already). In his recent piece backing up Ash 'literally a Communist' Sarkar he kept referring to regimes which identified as Communist - very careful wording compared to the way he happily paints all and sundry with the 'fascist' brush.

And if we're going with Orwell quotes, he's playing with fire but doesn't know fire is hot (though, as he eggs others on to do his dirty work for him, it'll be they, not he, who get burnt).

LOL
Burnt eggs and OJ makes me think of a terrible breakfast.
I can't help it, I look at OJ and just think Ingsoc. I just don't trust the guy. He genuinely cannot hear the problems with his own ideas, and I increasingly suspect that he espouses them to further his own profile rather than actually intellectually thinking about his position carefully, through curiosity and challenge. It is notable he cannot see the problem with communism - the flaws of which are blatantly obvious to me. Does he know he actually technically is part of the upper class -being a prominent journalist who went to Oxbridge- and after the revolution should likely have all his own wealth taken away if he wants to be fair? Doesn't he have some rather successful books?
I think he's just got a bee in his bonnet because the Spectator pokes fun at him. This has the flavour of a personal attack because his feelings are hurt, couched in the language of a political smear.

The Private Eye "account" of OJ's trip to the seaside was spot on

The Private Eye "account" of OJ's trip to the seaside was spot on

OlennasWimple Are you able to link or share a bit of it?

@VickyEadie here you go

Here you go Vicky

mobile.twitter.com/mrgeoffpeters/status/987326459281801217

Thanks both of you! The jellyfish riff is my favourite bit.

The Spectatur has always had a conservative slant. I rather like it - I vehemently disagree with some of the contributors (cannot stand Toby Young) but there are really valuable insights into issues which are considered sacred cows by the left.

I can abide little OJ. Banging on about theceurking classes when he’s never done a day (or nights) real
Work in his life

Excuse the spelling - I’m terrible st typing on my phone and can’t be arsed to check
It

Jess Bradley tweet,
"you get free food and wine and shit in 1st class this is living the fucking dream. I'm looking forward to luxury communism we can all enjoy" August 2017

From thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3311038-Sky-News-9-30am-today-re-GRA?pg=7&messages=25

H&W

Ingsoc is a good call. Personally, he reminds me of Squealer.

I think it’s entirely fair to criticise the Spectator for palling around with a far-right Hungarian think tank that is itself very pally with Orbán’s government, which is I’m guessing what this is about.

Where I can’t join in with the mob though is where this entirely legitimate criticism turns to this pile-on Twitter war thing where the one right viewpoint is that the Spectator is institutionally evil, and the one right response is to pick out individuals and yell on Twitter until you get them fired/silenced/sent off for re-education.

I’m about as far from the Spectator’s general political position as it’s possible to be, and I’m very worried about the global advance of the far right and about politicians like Orbán. But FFS, the Spectator has a right to exist as a right-wing magazine and to print right-wing stuff. We can’t have a decent political culture in a climate where “wrong” is seen as the same thing as “immoral”, and “immoral” as “unacceptable”, and anyone associated with anything deemed wrong is tarnished beyond redemption and basically a Nazi now.

Amen to that.

He is such a twerp. Andrew Neil is not far right.

The comments under his articles in the Guardian are a joy to behold. His infantile rants get filleted (when they allow comments).