Off Topic Politics Thread

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I can't comment on which tabloid is the worst but I would guess they are all pretty much of a similar pitiful standard. They are though a sad reflection of the British public and what they want to read about. The fact that the Sun feeds an insatiable appetite for brainless tat is depressing, but I'm not sure what they've done is libellous.
This event has all the usual Sun ingredients, a salacious story involving a well known personality with the added bonus of taking a pop at the BBC.
In an attempt to quash any accusations of a cover up the Beeb are overdoing the "look how open and honest we are" and making the story bigger than it is and the rival TV companies are gleefully picking over the bones.
This is not a defence of Huw Edwards but everything about this story is nauseating and I've had enough of it now. Hopefully now his name has been released the media's attention will shift onto something else.
 
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It's Only A Game said:
I can't comment on which tabloid is the worst but I would guess they are all pretty much of a similar pitiful standard. They are though a sad reflection of the British public and what they want to read about. The fact that the Sun feeds an insatiable appetite for brainless tat is depressing, but I'm not sure what they've done is libellous.
This event has all the usual Sun ingredients, a salacious story involving a well known personality with the added bonus of taking a pop at the BBC.
In an attempt to quash any accusations of a cover up the Beeb are overdoing the "look how open and honest we are" and making the story bigger than it is and the rival TV companies are gleefully picking over the bones.
This is not a defence of Huw Edwards but everything about this story is nauseating and I've had enough of it now. Hopefully now his name has been released the media's attention will shift onto something else.
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In the meantime, my thoughts are with his wife and the family on both sides and hope that somehow after some time they will be able to start living again, alone from the press and tv news people.
 
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I have watched PMQT for many weeks now with Cruella Braverman sat on the front bench nodding agreement with the PM before he has said a word and then continuing to nod throughout his "reply" (a word I use loosely). So what I want to know is where can I buy a nodding Cruela Braverman doll so that it can nod in agreement with what I am about to say before I have even said it.
 
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Ian Thumwood said:
I am surprised that no one seems to have any concern for this individual's wife amongst all this fuss.

The other point I feel obliged to make is that, whilst the behaviour may have been ill-judged and the tone of the text messages is suggestive that this person is not a particularly nice individual, I am struggling to see how this is in the public interest. It was pretty much a non-story when everyone was initially assuming it was a bloke pursuing a teenaged girl but I think the fact we are now assuming it is likely to have been a homosexual relationship has seem tje media interest intensify. The age difference must have been unwise and the fact that no one has confirmed at which point the "victim" became of age does make me wonder. If the photos had been shared when they were 18 ( the fact that no criminal act is being reported to have taken place suggests this may be the case), I think the only "issues" are that he cheated on his wife and they he does not consider a 40-year age gap to be an issue. There a plenty of cases of older blokes picking up young "totty" and no one bats an eye-lid. Seeing at the relationship appears to have been gay, I do think there is an issue of double standards.

I am not convinced that this affair is a scandalous as people make out unless the older party had been aware beforehand that the individual had been under-aged. It looks like a massive error of judgment yet I do not feel it is serious enough for him to lose his job. Paying £35k for pictures too just underscores that the presenter's salary has seriously distorted his perception of money.

What I could not help thinking about was the case of David Jones over twenty years ago when it ultimately transpired that the alllegations has been made up by an individual whose credibility should never have been accepted and was ultimately revealed to have had some really serious issues. Whilst not of the same magnitude., this case seems to have originated from a schism in a family prompted by a son's coke habit. The presenter's judgment has clearly been misplaced and he certainly does not come across as pleasant. However, in the light of the war in Ukraine, the migration crisis and all the other issues throughout the world, this news story barely seems worthy and those fellow BBC employees calling for the identity of the presenter to be formally revealed are not more than voyeurs who probably have a work-related axe to grind. For all the protestations about respecting "diversity", at the end of the day the BBC has fallen over this week.
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Dave Jones was thrown under the bus .
 
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Le Tissier's Laces said:
Permission to set aside any moral misgivings I may have when a person is "taken down" through nefarious and unfair means, if that person happens to be Dan Wootton...

I mean, it really would be *such* a shame to see an upstanding, fine member of society like Wootton about to be defenestrated, wouldn't it? :bandit::bandit::bandit:
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I've been thinking about this scenario myself. Not specifically about Dan Wootton but if the person involved was someone I particularly disliked. Would I be more ok with the media frenzy and how uncomfortable it would make one of those on my dislike list feel? Sadly I think my answer would be yes and if people are honest I think many others would be too.
Also the Sun has rightly been called a ****ty rag of a newspaper but what if the Mirror had done an expose on say Piers Morgan? Or in the very unlikely event of a Tory politician doing something equally scandalous, I doubt many on here would be calling the Mirror a rag.
As I said above, I don't think I would be any different. We all like to think we are fair minded but really it depends on who the target is.


And on a completely different subject LTL you may be interested in this;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66174677
 
https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-...re-detainees-88b4abf2efbf383272eed9378be13c72

Thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being detained across Russia and the Ukrainian territories it occupies, in centers ranging from brand-new wings in Russian prisons to clammy basements. Most have no status under Russian law.

And Russia is planning to hold possibly thousands more. A Russian government document obtained by The Associated Press dating to January outlined plans to create 25 new prison colonies and six other detention centers in occupied Ukraine by 2026.

In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree in May allowing Russia to send people from territories with martial law, which includes all of occupied Ukraine, to those without, such as Russia. This makes it easier to deport Ukrainians who resist Russian occupation deep into Russia indefinitely, which has happened in multiple cases documented by the AP.

Many civilians are picked up for alleged transgressions as minor as speaking Ukrainian or simply being a young man in an occupied region, and are often held without charge. Others are charged as terrorists, combatants, or people who “resist the special military operation.” Hundreds are used for slave labor by Russia’s military, for digging trenches and other fortifications, as well as mass graves.

Torture is routine, including repeated electrical shocks, beatings that crack skulls and fracture ribs, and simulated suffocation. Many former prisoners told the AP they witnessed deaths. A United Nations report from late June documented 77 summary executions of civilian captives and the death of one man due to torture.
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Russia has not met a war crime it didn't carry out with gusto.
 
It's Only A Game said:
I've been thinking about this scenario myself. Not specifically about Dan Wootton but if the person involved was someone I particularly disliked. Would I be more ok with the media frenzy and how uncomfortable it would make one of those on my dislike list feel? Sadly I think my answer would be yes and if people are honest I think many others would be too.
Also the Sun has rightly been called a ****ty rag of a newspaper but what if the Mirror had done an expose on say Piers Morgan? Or in the very unlikely event of a Tory politician doing something equally scandalous, I doubt many on here would be calling the Mirror a rag.
As I said above, I don't think I would be any different. We all like to think we are fair minded but really it depends on who the target is.


And on a completely different subject LTL you may be interested in this;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66174677
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Grasp…grasp…grasp. It’s deeply annoying (but also likely implies how underfunded our public services are).

With regard to your other point - if you live by the sword etc…
 
It's Only A Game said:
I've been thinking about this scenario myself. Not specifically about Dan Wootton but if the person involved was someone I particularly disliked. Would I be more ok with the media frenzy and how uncomfortable it would make one of those on my dislike list feel? Sadly I think my answer would be yes and if people are honest I think many others would be too.
Also the Sun has rightly been called a ****ty rag of a newspaper but what if the Mirror had done an expose on say Piers Morgan? Or in the very unlikely event of a Tory politician doing something equally scandalous, I doubt many on here would be calling the Mirror a rag.
As I said above, I don't think I would be any different. We all like to think we are fair minded but really it depends on who the target is.


And on a completely different subject LTL you may be interested in this;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66174677
Click to expand...
Acuerdo contigo!!
 
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Le Tissier's Laces said:
Permission to set aside any moral misgivings I may have when a person is "taken down" through nefarious and unfair means, if that person happens to be Dan Wootton...

I mean, it really would be *such* a shame to see an upstanding, fine member of society like Wootton about to be defenestrated, wouldn't it? :bandit::bandit::bandit:
Click to expand...

Watch this space...lots more to come.
 
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Schad said:
The district court judge was appointed by Trump, and has a history of really stupid rulings that get overturned. He's especially fond of issuing national injunctions, despite the fact that district court judges are the lowest level of the federal judiciary (he's on a district court that covers less than 1% of the population of the United States, so shutting things down nationwide isn't really meant to be his business), and national injunctions are meant for only the absolute most pressing of issues...not enjoining anyone, including people who aren't even members of the federal government, from having any contact with social media companies.

But don't take my word for it. Here's Orin Kerr, member of the arch-conservative Federalist Society, mocking this ruling for its ridiculous overreach:

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Trump appointed a bunch of firebrands to district courts for exactly this reason: hard right plaintiffs can jurisdiction-shop their pet issues to ensure that they end up on the docket of these judges, who will then issue rulings that are basically intended just as outrage-bait for the right. They then get overturned by appellate courts, because they are utterly ****ing nuts, but they weren't ever intended to make law, just to make headlines. Mission accomplished.

Here's a primer on the art of judge-shopping, for any curious.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65246823
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In an incredibly predictable outcome, the district court judge's injunction has been stayed by the 5th Circuit appellate court, despite the 5th Circuit being bananapants conservative itself. It turns out that a rando judge from western Louisiana is not in fact Decider of All Laws in the United States.

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