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In all the years of watching Question Time I have never seen such a one sided panel and hostile audience
Look, we are talking about a party leader who has tried to re-write the history of the Second World War, and whose fellow BNP Member of the European Parliament, Andrew Brons, was an active member of a group which actually called itself the National Socialist Movement, and which celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday. OF COURSE there was going to be a great deal of hostility, that was only to be expected. But my point is how he handled the hostility. Although I am certainly no fan of George Galloway, it's a fact that he wiped the floor with those hostile United States senators. And when Alex Salmond faces a hostile audience, he certainly gives as good as he gets. Nick Griffin, on the other hand, looked like he was longing for the torment to stop.
In all the years of watching Question Time I have never seen such a one sided panel and hostile audience
Look, we are talking about a party leader who has tried to re-write the history of the Second World War.
This, I think, is a very interesting thing for anybody to say because History has been re-written to suit since the first recordings of it and transcriptions thereof. That is an undeniable fact that any Historian worth their salt will tell you. How can it be then that a certain event in history can have such an unequivocal "this is exactly what happened and no-one but no-one is allowed to dispute it" - even warranting a prison sentence in some countries. Was Griffin saying that it never at all happened, or was he disputing the recordings of it - as we all accept now as gospel. I don't know. But people need to be free to ponder these things. No-body would be vilified for dismissing that the immaculate conception didn't happen in the way the bible lays out.
In all the years of watching Question Time I have never seen such a one sided panel and hostile audience
Look, we are talking about a party leader who has tried to re-write the history of the Second World War.
This, I think, is a very interesting thing for anybody to say because History has been re-written to suit since the first recordings of it and transcriptions thereof. That is an undeniable fact that any Historian worth their salt will tell you. How can it be then that a certain event in history can have such an unequivocal "this is exactly what happened and no-one but no-one is allowed to dispute it" - even warranting a prison sentence in some countries. Was Griffin saying that it never at all happened, or was he disputing the recordings of it - as we all accept now as gospel. I don't know. But people need to be free to ponder these things. No-body would be vilified for dismissing that the immaculate conception didn't happen in the way the bible lays out.
And the thing you have to be really careful on is what Griffin or the BNP have said and what they have actually been reported as saying at a later date in the media. He's entitled to his opinion whether you believe it or not. Griffin didn't answer very much on holocaust denying because he could be prosecuted in other EU countries. This is true.
If I didn't see the live interview with Griffin the other day and Question Time too I may well have believed what was being said on the net or in the papers.
I somehow doubt you had members of the audience calling Salmond or Galloway a d!ck on air and it remaining in the programme. This happened last night.
I also doubt very much they received anything like the same level of hatred and anger directed towards Salmond or Galloway and I don't recall any mass demostrations or BBC Centre having a lock down either.
The programme didn't really follow any particular usual Question Time format. You might as well could just have an interview with Griffin playing right into the right wing extremists hands.
I remember him saying something like "I don't have a conviction for denying the holocaust" or something like that. Fair enough. It was a question that should never have been asked in the first place. All just more deflection away from the rest of the nest.
I remember him saying something like "I don't have a conviction for denying the holocaust" or something like that. Fair enough. It was a question that should never have been asked in the first place. All just more deflection away from the rest of the nest.
It's the bit about how Griffin supported the KKK because he shared a stage with one of them on a tour of the US. Or so the media made out.
Griffin actually said the KKK guy called him a sell out and he argued with him on the stage and the KKK don't like them or support them.
Griffin also quoted a far bit about what organized religions think in this country on certain issues like homosexuality.
They should have just treated Griffin like ever other guest and let him dig his own hole...
There are some politicians who can handle hostile treatment, and who can give as good as they get, but in the case of posh private boarding school boy Griffin
I wrote:
Look, we are talking about a party leader who has tried to re-write the history of the Second World War, and whose fellow BNP Member of the European Parliament, Andrew Brons, was an active member of a group which actually called itself the National Socialist Movement, and which celebrated Adolf Hitler's birthday. OF COURSE there was going to be a great deal of hostility, that was only to be expected.
And Fidget decided to ignore the bit about the National Socialist Movement and celebrating Hitler's birthday and talk in much more general terms about history being constantly re-written, which was a bit beside the point. The fact is, whether you think Griffin and the BNP have been unfairly portrayed or not, they are widely perceived as being Nazis, so, like I said
Quote:
OF COURSE there was going to be a great deal of hostility, that was only to be expected. But MY POINT IS how he handled the hostility.
And he handled the hostility very badly. Like I said, he looked pathetic.
The KKK is just a showing of the hysterics of it. It's Britain, it's 2009, and does anybody sound of mind really read anything into that? Whatever next? Demands for apologies for slavery.. oops.. that's already been thwarted - by the labour party.
I just don't see the hysterics over Nick Giffin and the BNP.
And Fidget decided to ignore the bit about the National Socialist Movement and celebrating Hitler's birthday and talk in much more general terms about history being constantly re-written, which was a bit beside the point. The fact is, whether you think Griffin and the BNP have been unfairly portrayed or not, they are widely perceived as being Nazis, so, like I said
Quote:
OF COURSE there was going to be a great deal of hostility, that was only to be expected. But MY POINT IS how he handled the hostility.
And he handled the hostility very badly. Like I said, he looked pathetic.
Well I thought Griffin did quite well seeing as the whole of panel was against him including the host, and so were much of the audience, not to mention the TV viewers. Odds were well and truly stacked against him. That is not democracy in action, and when all is said and done democracy in action is what we all want to see. QT last night wasn't it.
OF COURSE there was going to be a great deal of hostility, that was only to be expected. But MY POINT IS how he handled the hostility. And he handled the hostility very badly.
Fidget wrote:
I thought Griffin did quite well
You are easily impressed. I think that, although it's quite possible some viewers may have felt sympathetic for the "poor man", there will be some amongst the BNP's own membership who were less impressed. They like to have a STRONG leader. Not one who looks a bit pathetic.
Extremely badly. But that's completely beside the point. I wouldn't be in the situation in the first place, because (1) I'm not a politician, (2) I'm not a member of a political party, (3) I'm not a candidate for any kind of office, and (4) I have no desire ever to take part in Question Time. Nick Griffin, on the other hand, did want to be on Question Time, he IS a professional politician, and he is the Leader of a political party. In fact, not only is he the leader of a political party, he is a leader of a Far Right political party, the kind of political party which, more than any other kind, demands that its Leader be a STRONG LEADER. So, while there will have been some viewers who sympathised with the "poor man", there are bound to have been some BNP members who considered his performance weak, and who must have asked themselves if somebody who could make such a pathetic showing is really the best Leader for their party.
Something to ponder maybe about the BNP getting access to Question Time is that in the 1980s Francois Mitterand is believed to have deliberately encouraged mainstream media access for Jean-Marie Le Pen as a ploy to weaken the right wing Gaullists by creating a split in the right wing vote. Would BBC execs have done something this controversial without some sort of informal green light from 10 Downing Street? _________________ No more boom and bust - Gordon Brown
having just watched Question Time, I have to say Nick Griffin was pathetic
Well, apparently the BNP are now complaining that Griffin was "set up" by a "kangaroo court". That just makes him look even more pathetic. Remember when George Galloway was called to face a televised Hearing of the United States Senate? The senators intended that to be something of a kangaroo court. Now, I'm no supporter of GG, or of his party, or of many of his political stances, but, let's face it, the Senators got more than they bargained for, from that political bruiser. He wiped the floor with the lot of them. Can you imagine George being intimidated by a hostile Question Time?
George Galloway has great trouble controlling his callers to his radio show and prefers to cut them off rather than answer any criticism or listening to differing points of view. Political heavy weight indeed Usually found whining on how he is reporting this caller to the police or what abuse he received on email.
I saw Griffin on a live TV news interview this week and he equipped himself very well in dealing with the continually interruptions from the interviewer who continually mentioned how the BNP don't let blacks into their party rather un-constructively.
In all the years of watching Question Time I have never seen such a one sided panel and hostile audience and so many quotes being mentioned about one particular guest. You might as well have had Ali G on the panel asking Griffin 'Is it cos I'm black?'
So this is the democracy we live in these days? Freedom of speech except if you are in the BNP? Decent people now wondering if indeed the BNP have been right about a few things?
Straw couldn't answer a single direct question put to him and all he did was waffle on.
Did you learn anything about the main political parties policies? Naw.
The main political parties need to come up with a far more intelligent way of dealing with the BNP and Griffin because the whole racist, holocaust denying, not letting blacks in their party doesn't seem to be having much affect any more. The loony left are being shown up as just being as extremist and violent on many occasions too.
george galloway is a shameful parody of himself.as for his perfomance in front of the senate? garrbage, he waffled on and rarely, if at all, answered a direct question, he is a baffoon. the polar opposite of griifin but just as hate filled and dangerous. again highlighting left and right wing extreme and bigotted ideaology.
he waffled on and rarely, if at all, answered a direct question
Or, to put it another way, as a professional politician, Galloway ran rings round the Senators. But I'm no fan of George, so the question of what you think of him is kinda beside the point. The point is how Nick Griffin's pathetic performance will have played with certain members of his own party. Many people will have felt sorry for him, including members of his own party. But there will also be some members of the BNP saying "Hang on a minute........of course he was unfairly treated, and of course we feel sorry for him, but do we want a Leader we have to feel sorry for? What we need is a Strong Leader......."
he waffled on and rarely, if at all, answered a direct question
Or, to put it another way, as a professional politician, Galloway ran rings round the Senators. But I'm no fan of George, so the question of what you think of him is kinda beside the point. The point is how Nick Griffin's pathetic performance will have played with certain members of his own party. Many people will have felt sorry for him, including members of his own party. But there will also be some members of the BNP saying "Hang on a minute........of course he was unfairly treated, and of course we feel sorry for him, but do we want a Leader we have to feel sorry for? What we need is a Strong Leader......."
I think you're wrong. The party faithful will focus on the rounding of him, and quite rightly so.
there will also be some members of the BNP saying "Hang on a minute........of course he was unfairly treated, and of course we feel sorry for him, but do we want a Leader we have to feel sorry for? What we need is a Strong Leader......."
Fidget wrote:
I think you're wrong.
Griffin's grandfather was involved in the British Union of Fascists, the only British organisation to openly use the term "fascist". Griffin's BNP fellow MEP Andrew Brons was a member of the National Socialist Movement, which celebrated Hitler's birthday and openly modeled itself on the German Nazis. Nick Griffin was the National Organiser of the National Front, then he was prominent in the International Third Position faction, then he joined the BNP, and just four years after he joined the BNP he staged a coup against its then Leader. One thing that all of these various different Far Right groupings have in common is that they all believe in the need for having a Strong Leader. Some of them may be beginning to wonder of this Home Counties boarding school and Cambridge toff fits the bill. But there is no way to prove this, one way or the other. Only time will tell.
How somebody who is not a politician would cope is completely irrelevant. Nick Griffin is a professional politician, he very much wanted to be on Question Time, and he is the Leader of a Far Right political party, the kind of political party which, more than any other kind, demands "strong leadership". So, while there will have been sympathy for the "poor man", there will also be some members of the BNP saying "Hang on a minute........of course he was unfairly treated, and of course we feel sorry for him, but do we want a Leader we have to feel sorry for? What we need is a STRONG Leader......." and wondering if this Home Counties boarding school and Cambridge boy fits the bill.
How somebody who is not a politician would cope is completely irrelevant. Nick Griffin is a professional politician, he very much wanted to be on Question Time, and he is the Leader of a Far Right political party, the kind of political party which, more than any other kind, demands "strong leadership". So, while there will have been sympathy for the "poor man", there will also be some members of the BNP saying "Hang on a minute........of course he was unfairly treated, and of course we feel sorry for him, but do we want a Leader we have to feel sorry for? What we need is a STRONG Leader......." and wondering if this Home Counties boarding school and Cambridge boy fits the bill.
Show me these instancies where griffin's competency as leader of the bnp is being undermined by his supporters. Just one example will suffice.
he waffled on and rarely, if at all, answered a direct question
Or, to put it another way, as a professional politician, Galloway ran rings round the Senators. But I'm no fan of George, so the question of what you think of him is kinda beside the point. The point is how Nick Griffin's pathetic performance will have played with certain members of his own party. Many people will have felt sorry for him, including members of his own party. But there will also be some members of the BNP saying "Hang on a minute........of course he was unfairly treated, and of course we feel sorry for him, but do we want a Leader we have to feel sorry for? What we need is a Strong Leader......."
George Galloway said on his radio programme that protestors outside the BBC would not allowed him to share a platform with Griffin. But in terms of debating skills George would run rings arount the fascist and may do in future. As George said the Left may have to look at their strategy again after Griffin's appearance on Question Time. As he said "the horse has bolted the stable" now.
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Usually found whining on how he is reporting this caller to the police or what abuse he received on email.
