What is the BBC/Gary Lineker scandal really all about?
Lineker works for the BBC and is a soccer analyst....probably one of the top three in England.
About ten days ago....Lineker had a tweet that he 'published'.
More or less, he left the sports analysis world, and got into political dialog....while the country is in the middle of an election. He chose to talk about one of the top three topics of the election.
His comment value? He said that the language used by the conservative-leaning British government to promote its controversial asylum legislation was not dissimilar to that of Germany in the 1930s .
Yeah, this wasn't a full-page of commentary. Remember....Twitter gives you 140 characters.
In a simple chat....he compared the Tory folks to Nazis. Plus he put himself into a corner....hinting he was pro-asylum.
Right now, just about everyone in the UK has an opinion on the subject, I'd say around two-thirds of the country wants the asylum door shut, and problem migrants to be removed.
In this election period....there's some belief that whatever the top two parties promise....neither will deliver, and the asylum issue will just proceed on....unresolved.
For a couple of days.....the BBC had to think over what was said, and how to deal with Lineker. Eventually, they told him to take some time off. If you were to chat with folks in pubs...a fair number (maybe not a majority)....think that Lineker needs to be dismissed entirely.
Then....we turn back to the BBC. A majority of British have a hatred of the BBC....saying they are biased or acting in a capacity as a propaganda unit. Some hate the national TV business, and want it abolished.
Oh, and I should state for the BBC discussion with Lineker....they want some type of deal or agreement...that says what he can or can't say via his social media business. You would think....well....he ought to be able to say anything about soccer, without the BBC jumping into his crap. Politics? If he's not a political analyst....then the comment might be limited.
My view? We seem to have a lot of 'Nazi-this' and 'Nazi-that' going on in society. If I asked someone to define the Nazi political standing of 1932, or the party-platform for the 1932 election....maybe one person out of 25,000 could sit and talk over that.
Adding to this issue....when you engage on a harsh topic like asylum.....in the middle of an election period....you are opening up a door to a Pandoras Box. There's just a lot of frustration going on, with a list of accomplishments over the past five years that seem to be worthless in nature.
What'll happen to Lineker? I suspect he'll do a month of quiet activity....then attempt to go back to work. His respect with the audience? Half of it is probably permanently gone. By the end of 2023, while I hate to suggest it....I think he'll retire and write a book to explain his political slant.
My advice? It's just not worth using Hitler-chatter or Nazi-talk....unless you are actually talking about 1932 to 1945, the war, or the Holocaust. You don't want to reach a level where nine-year-old kids describe their teacher as a 'Hitler-figure'.
7 comments:
I think you're possibly getting the wrong media spin on this story. A couple of points, the next general election hasn't been announced, and doesn't actually need to take place until 2025. So it's hardly in an election cycle.
There's a news media that spends it's time either distracting from the failings of the government (Look - Meghan wore an unreasonable dress!!!), or completely lying and rewriting the history.
The only ground the Tories are comfortable on is shrieking about asylum seekers, but the reality is they've been in power for over a decade and they clearly don't want to fix the issue, as then they'll have no issues to frighten the public into voting for them. They've reneged on all promises (40 new hospitals - leveling up) etc. The only hope they have is to frighten the public about small boats.
So Lineker is correct, they're labelling these boats as an invasion, yet when tasked to present a legal route for asylum they can't. And you should listen to James O'Brien's commentary on the matter if you want a more realistic view of how the actual Brits think about it. The mouth breathing daily mail readers aren't representative of the realistic view of the public on the issue.
I will say this....looking at the BBC, Sky, GBN, Times, DM, the Sun, and the Independent...in the past month or two, they've all hyped up campaign-type chatter (resembling the BREXIT period build-up).
Renting out the hotels for asylum accommodations was probably one of the least smart decisions of the past forty years. But I say the same for NYC and LA doing the gimmick as well.
The M/H 'thriller' probably helped to keep people focused off the failures of the Tory crowd. If I were the Tories, I'd slip 'Harold' 100,000 Pounds a week to just Tik-Tok-act their way through 'troubles'.
As for Lineker, his reputation for interpreting things...is about 98-percent on soccer/soccer finance/soccer business. I wouldn't ask him stuff on car advice, credit cards, or best hotels to stay in the Rillington area. But he has the right to speak...like any other Brit.
This election, whether anyone wants to acknowledge it....is revolving around around 20-percent of the UK society who are not tied down to one party, and shift to central new themes in each election. Same story for German society in each election. The chief topic ought to be either the economy, the failures of BREXIT, or crime. Asylum and the handling of the incoming crowd has slipped into the top three topics and is not really something that the Tories or the Labour Party want to engage upon.
On the invasion chatter....either it is or it isn't. If the boats/rafts were 50-percent women (or even Trans-women)...people might not say as much, but that's clearly not the case.
Finally, just an odd note, as much propaganda that was dumped into the landscape for BREXIT....you just feel the same adventure starting up again....with two themes being dumped on people each week. It's like some KGB thought process, how can I get Brits disturbed and unable to rationalize something.
(extra note: I've come to the point that I'd prefer to watch basketball, football or soccer, with 'mute' mostly turned on and no play-by-play moderation. All too often, it's like 10-year old kids talking after drinking 3 Monster-energy drinks.)
None of the folks on those networks shrieked and clutched at their pearls when Alan Sugar or Andrew Marr were ranting on social media whilst employed by the BBC. But the right wing have never been one's for consistency when it comes to rights and freedom of thought or speech.
Let's face it, Gammon Brexit News is purely an export product, with less than a hundred thousand viewers. Even the BBC is at the point where it's become a conservative mouthpiece with the situation with the current chairman. It's gotten almost as bad as the Australian media landscape, where they frantically shriek about anything a progressive politician does, but ignore conservative politicians lining up to attend the funeral of a pedophile enabler.
Anyone who doesn't see the Harry Meghan scenario as the Royal's brand management to cover for the conduct of Prince Andrew just doesn't want to see it. They'll be allowed to divorce in about 5-8 years time, and Harry will be quietly let back into the fold after his 'service'.
Correction: I meant Andrew Neill.
Some better perspectives on Lineker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHeJ74Y4Hfw&list=TLPQMTIwMzIwMjMJ1GME3--YJw&index=4
Another point (I promise it's the last) - he never mentioned Nazi at all. Here's the best analysis of the whole affair:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bywTSNQVl2c&list=TLPQMTIwMzIwMjMJ1GME3--YJw&index=6
His short (blunt) comment was spoken that it sounded like Germany in 1930s. I guess you could take it ten ways, but around older Brits...it came across like sand-paper. If he hadn't been a BBC employee...half of this criticism would have been avoided.
Presently, I think he'll decline to talk further on anything other than soccer. That was Trump's biggest issue....he'd turn to Twitter and just write a 2-liner....that would flip people (either intentionally or accidentally).
But I'll say this...campaign-chatter is hyping up and there are outside influences in the midst of this (FSB from Russia will be fully employed).
And the winner is..... Gary Lineker. Surprise, surprise. First tweet back criticises the gov again, the man will not be cowed.
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