Griffin on Question Time: The Highlights

[d000hg]

I'd love to see Griffin on Have I Got News For You. Would be interesting.

[BrowneIssue]

OK we should all spend our time on TPD posting stuff like

Sorry, old chap. When you said:

I have not watched whatever is on that youtube video

I thought you were being ironic.

but if anyone thinks the show contains anything to highlight for amusement they should give themselves a kick up the arse for treating something so serious as trivial and as comedy.

I disagree. Nick Griffin works very well as a figure of fun. He comes across as a complete spangle; mocking him belittles him, his policies and his arguments. But the comedians cannot attack him unless he is given some publicity first.

the BBC just failed its charter

I'm not so sure about that - the BBC's charter is to "entertain, educate and inform" not "participate in government-led censorship of minority parties".

and 3 elected MPs were made to look like village idiots laughing at the unpopular kid when a serious debate on immigration could have taken place.

That was the fault of the 3 MPs.

[Zippy]

I'd love to see Griffin on Have I Got News For You. Would be interesting.

That would be a hatchet job. Actually, maybe a scalpel job?
I have to disagree on his QT performance. I was keen for him to go on as - despite my feelings about rascists - I thought it was important to get him in to the public eye.
Giggling over the Klu Klux Clan question made him look like a tit. They had him bang to rights there. Also, I would point out that QT is frequently populated by people whose job it is to score political points off each other (nothing to do with the question or issue), so not really different.
My criticism would be that they didn't let Bonnie Greer loose on him as she seemed to be the best of the lot of them.

[minestrone]

I disagree. Nick Griffin works very well as a figure of fun. He comes across as a complete spangle; mocking him belittles him, his policies and his arguments. But the comedians cannot attack him unless he is given some publicity first.

The more you ignore the tip of the iceberg the more danger the stuff under the water poses. But if you keep screaming iceberg then that is worse.

If they just let him come on the program and give his chat without this whole circus made by the left nobody would have cared, nobody would have noticed. The fact that the people there could not take on a reasoned argument with the man just strengthened his position.

[minestrone]

I'm not so sure about that - the BBC's charter is to "entertain, educate and inform" not "participate in government-led censorship of minority parties".

From the charter...

"The BBC shall be independent in all matters concerning the content of its output"

I suppose you think the other night they held that that?

[BrowneIssue]

If they just let him come on the program and give his chat without this whole circus made by the left nobody would have cared, nobody would have noticed. The fact that the people there could not take on a reasoned argument with the man just strengthened his position.

I agree with you.

From the charter...

"The BBC shall be independent in all matters concerning the content of its output"

I suppose you think the other night they held that that?

By having him on the programme, yes. The way it was handles was indeed poor.


I think having him and his ilk on sensible, properly managed news programmes is a good thing because it gives the satirists the ammunition they need to attack him. The price of that is the ignorant who take no interest in dull and worthy current affairs programmes and no grasp of what the satirists are getting that. But I would rather that than allow large parties censorship of small ones.

I despise big party politics and the two-party state we are heading toward; I can see us going the same way as the USA where there are two indistinguishable parties and it is a president calling the shots anyway with all dissent forbidden. If the BNP get the idea into people's heads that they don't have to vote the way their parents voted, they will have done some good.


Edit: it might have been better to have him on Radio 4's Any Questions instead of Question Time.

[NickFitz]

FFS, I post a link to what I think is an amusing (and skilful) edit of the programme intended to satirise all the kerfuffle, and all the kerfuffle comes charging in stamping all over the satire

I have not watched whatever is on that youtube video...

So why are you commenting in this thread? What's next, somebody starts a thread about the price of North Atlantic cod, and people go off on one about Japanese whaling in the Antarctic?

At this rate, General will cease to be the place for civilised, structured and well-informed debate

Oh, and don't forget to put your clocks back

[centurian]

That would be a hatchet job. Actually, maybe a scalpel job?

More like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. However, they would probably get away with it - because that's what they do all the time.

Remember the episode after Angus Deayton was caught with hookers and cocaine. They gave him both barrels. Absolutely hilarious though.

My criticism would be that they didn't let Bonnie Greer loose on him as she seemed to be the best of the lot of them.

Agreed. You saw Nick Griffin laughing and clapping at her put downs. I'd love to know what he was really thinking...

[malvolio]

What everyone is missing (including the BBC) is the difference between controlling immigration, which has a valid objective, and forceful repatriation of any non-white people regardless of where they were born, which I would find abhorrent.

Care to guess which one is in the BNP's charter?

[cojak]

I have not watched whatever is on that youtube video but if anyone thinks the show contains anything to highlight for amusement they should give themselves a kick up the arse for treating something so serious as trivial and as comedy.

I couldn't disagree more on that point - that's exactly what we should do.

These people survive by spreading fear and distorting perception. Comedy works by removing the former and readjusting the latter.

Without comedy we would never have had the classic Hitler has only got one ball...