Gareth Icke is his loony dad's gob-on-a-stick. You do know John Bowe. He's an actor who went Tonto during covid
Tousi was quoted on the Israel Hamas thread. Tominey and Whelan are QT and Politics Live regulars, Malhotra and Cartland are anti-vax doctors on the lucrative lecture circuit, Embery is a right wing trade unionist, Charlotte Gill a nationalist journalist, Chris Williamson a former Labour Shadow Front bencher and Hamas/Putin supporter and Corcoran is a GB News regular.
Fair enough. I never watch QT because it just winds me up. Gill rings a vague bell now you mention it, but none of the others. I have, however, heard of Morrissey.
I've heard of Corcoran. She's a nasty, young (early 20s?) Woman who's seemingly realised that tweeting consistently vile and illogical things will appeal to a certain minority. I'm convinced she and others like her are paid by some puppeteers to create division with wildly unlikeable opinions
Enough Barstids to form a competition with multiple divisions, promotion and relegation. At this moment, Laurence Fox is something near to Man City.
I know I am probably barking at the moon here because most of the "progressives" will have me on ignore because of my opinions. But listen to yourselves , you lot are dangerous Shutting down the debate because you don't like anti establishment points of view ? How very 1930s Germany !. Paul Emberey for example is accused of being a right wing trade unionist So what ? Should every trade unionist hold the same opinion? No nuance whatsoever ? Groupthink ? How does this work ? I never thought that I would see the "left" as a pro establishment gate keeper in my lifetime . How times have changed WOW
Actually, I agree with you. This light hearted thread poking fun at public figures, many of whom have extremely amplified positions of power from which to push their specific agendas, is very dangerous. The ramifications of calling Julia H-B a **** is terrifying. We know not what with which we meddle.
I knew that Paul Embery would bring you out of the woodwork, because you are basically a less articulate version. A 'working class hero' appealing to the basest instincts of that working class.
You could make a great game of Top Trumps out of this: Lying: Grifting: Racism: Sexual predation: Corruption:
It’s incredibly disappointing that you misrepresent this barrel of ******* as being ‘anti-establishment.’ They are anything but. Some may be irrational, but that’s not the same thing. They have their positions in order to fight working class collective action, such as trade unions and to undermine the administrative and scientific middle classes who may call for state intervention. And it’s not simply about different viewpoints. All of the above are engaged in shouting down different views. Embery, for example, devotes all his time not to the cause of trade unionism or the excesses of the ruling class, but to attacking other sections of the working class who are different to him. To do so, he is paid by GB News, a hedge fund and global investment backed bosses’ propaganda channel. Abhorrent. If you want to suggest your own Barstids, doubtless Owen Jones, Ash Sarkar, go ahead.
NONE of these people have been shut down. They all have a voice, some of them very loud voices – and that's totally fair enough. But it's also absolutely fair enough to criticise them for either lazy, reductive, ill-informed or outright unpleasant thinking. They are also not anti-establishment. Not in the slightest! Some of them actually are the core of the establishment. That's where the grift is at its most effective. Many people have been convinced that these figures are somehow the plucky underdogs speaking up for the common man and woman when (mostly) they are not.
Haven't people at least tried to shut down JK Rowling and Graham Linehan? Not trying to take sides here, I just think that statement needs a bit more nuance.
If you think so, it’s probably better to offer the evidence rather than ask for it. Sure, people have strongly disagreed with them, but they continue to work, voice their opinions, be published and produced. Many of the Barstids get further work on the back of their non-existent ‘cancelling’ like through GB News and its like as well as a growing lecture and conference circuit. An industry of barstiding awaits them.
Linehan doesn't work. He's lost his career and his family. Maybe he deserves it, I'm not making that judgement, but he's lost everything pretty much, because he disagreed with a particular lobby.
What 'evidence' is being provided that all of these people are 'barstids'? It's just opinion. But if you want some, even leaving aside what Moog has said, Linehan had his Edinburgh show cancelled twice; and Rowling has had death threats. And you will note I said 'tried to shut down'.
I think Rowling is the exception rather than the rule. Her body of work is already so established, her wealth so vast, that she's virtually bullet proof. No amount of people burning their Harry Potter books or boycotting new work from the Potterverse seems to make much difference. I guess a non-useful comparison might be Michael Jackson. Although never convicted in his lifetime, his 40 odd years of hits were never in any danger of being struck from playlists, even if he was caught red-handed with a whole bevy of preteen boys in his bed, whilst we lost Gary Glitter's 3 or 4 fine hits almost instantly.
