I've Let Myself Down with my Liberal Views

It's been almost six months since I updated my Rubbish Blog. This has been for many reasons, including that it's a very busy period at work for me, plus I've been focusing more on my football blog, and my real life.

Plus I havn't really had much to say, so didn't want to bother you lovely people with a load of old tripe.

However, I've been motivated to write a new entry by a shameful revelation about myself that I've been alerted to by an astute member of the public on an internet forum -

I have let myself down big time with my liberal views.

Now I have been publically shamed, in an effort to cleanse myself of this horrid liberalism and tolerance, I wish to replicate here for all to see my shameful comments extolling the virtues of free speech, and the resultant chastising I got for daring to air them.



Now, to give you some background, this revelation came on a football forum (Don't worry you non-football people, there is nothing about football itself in this entry).

The basic jist is that there is this one guy on the forum that is often on the wind-up - let's call him 'NaughtyMan'.

For reasons known only to himself, NaughtyMan decided to have Osama bin Laden as his forum avatar with RIP written beneath it. Yeah, I know - what an idiot. I wasn't defending his actions, just his right to do so. Clearly NaughtyMan was just on the wind-up and it's not even very funny, for all it's controversial nature*.

This annoyed someone - let's call him 'OffendedMan' - enough to post a thread demanding NaughtyMan be banned from the site. I said he was over-reacting and backed up my liberal views with the old 'it's a free country' chestnut (I know, what a cliché!).

This really got up the nostrils of a third fellow - who we'll call 'VeryOffendedMan' - and leads to the resultant exchange below.

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« Thread Started Yesterday at 08:07am by OffendedMan »
Title: "NaughtyMan, get the twat off here"
As there is no nob head section, Im posting this here.

NaughtyMan is a prat at the best of times, but having his picture of Osama Bin Laden, with r.i.p written underneath, is bang out if order. NaughtyMan may think Bin Laden was some sort of circus, but he was responsible for thousands of deaths, including 52 in our own capital city.

Get him off here, this is a step to far.
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« Reply Yesterday at 08:16am by FantasticMrOx » Calm down dear. He can put whatever he likes as his avatar. That's what living in a free country is all about.
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« Reply Yesterday at 08:29am by OffendedMan » Yeah its a free country, but where do you draw the line. Personally I don't think saying Bin Laden should rest in peace is acceptable. I think its disgusting
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« Reply Yesterday at 08:41am by FantasticMrOx » I think you are entitled to be disgusted. No more than that.
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« Reply Yesterday at 5:17pm by VeryOffendedMan »
FMO – whilst your blog is a good ‘un, I fear that you have let yourself down big time with your liberal views.

Having a view is one thing – to this extent and claiming free speech - quite another.
Whilst one would never renounce the right of free speech, “that's what living in a free country is all about” your post takes this meaning to a whole new dimension.

Ultimately, this is an OUFC forum. If someone has extreme sympathy or extreme anger – fine. It is just that here is not the place. Doing a blog does not make you almighty.

All you are doing in making such crass statements is that you reserve the right of free speech wherever.

Well pal, so do I. But I take a great fucking deal of umbrage for the reason that I knew at least two killed in 9/11 – colleagues, no less.

And for right or for wrong, before you spout some more diatribe, your views – whatever they are – let them rest – or at least leave them off a football forum.

All this does is place you into the same bracket as NaughtyMan, an ignoramus whose view is always right, 100% of the time, no exceptions.
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« Reply Today at 8:14am by FantasticMrOx »

I'm sorry that I've let myself down with my liberal views. I'll try to be a bit more conservative and reactionary in future. It's my own fault I know - I'm clearly not reading the daily mail enough.

I'll try a little harder from now on to be disgusted and outraged by people having different views than me, and wherever possible i'll censure people for their liberal views.

VeryOffendedMan, pal (I'm glad we are pals, by the way) - seriously though, I know you told me this wasn't the place to air an opinion in answer to a non-football post because it's a football forum - I just want a right of reply, liberal ignoramus that I am.

I am not always right, 100% of the time, and nor do I think I am. Your comment that I am an ignoramus who believes otherwise is, ironically, rather a crass one (And I might be wrong on this point).

I do actually reserve the right to change an opinion based on new evidence, and I reserve the right to admit being wrong about something and retracting a previously-held view without giving my reasons.

I was perhaps too quick to jump on OffendedMan for requesting someone's banning. I have this natural aversion to the idea of banning people's right to be in a debate you see - must be that liberalness that so afflicts me.

But I see now that he did have a right to be upset about it - and to tell people he was upset about it. Then again, I had a right to tell him he was over-reacting too. It's a never-ending circle or agreeableness and acceptance, this liberalism, innit? I can see why it's so terribly annoying to the illiberal!

On this point, I believe (and hey - I might be wrong you know!) you are letting your own sensitivities to the particular issue cloud your judgement by the tone of your response.

It's my contention that NaughtyMan can write what the hell he likes on this forum, and if you don't like it you have the right to either ignore it or respond - or even complain about it like OffendedMan did, or even complain about the percieved pettiness of his complaining, like I did. Or even call me an ignoramus and tell me I have no right to air my own views, like you did.

And although you also have a right to tell me I shouldn't respond to your views, I have a right to take umbridge to your comment that, to paraphrase, went like this:

"Hey pal, I'm allowed to call you an ignoramus, but don't you dare come back at me and call me one because this should be the end of the debate now because it's a football forum."

And by the way, what does me having a blog have to do with this, anyway? Do you think I wouldn't be prone to let myself down with my liberal views if I didn't have a blog?

Oh by the way, please don't respond to this. It's a football forum.

Plus I am ALMIGHTY. ;o)
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Ha ha, do you see what I did there? I'm not really ashamed of my liberal views, I'm using this guy's ammunition against him! I'm very clever. And almighty!

For what it's worth, I should point out that I'm publishing this on my blog because it was an interesting and funny exchange more than anything else - I do actually think this guy had a point and it often takes someone to say "Hey, hang on a minute, I know someone who died/was affected by x or y and that's out of order" before you realise how insensitive liberal views of freedom of speech can actually be.

Would I have told OffendedMan to calm down if he'd said his mum had died at the hands al-Qaeda?

Probably not - and there lies a shameful inconsistency.

In the interest of fair play - this is VeryOffendedMan's subsequent response to mine above, which I think is brilliant:
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« Reply Today at 10:17pm by VeryOffendedMan »
Dear Almighty FMO

 Thank you for your reply and for reminding me of your right to it. I stand forcibly reprimanded.
 My rant was perhaps unfairly directed at you, whereas perhaps it should have been more a rant at NaughtyMan directly and his gross insensitivity. I do think, however, that you have slightly misinterpreted my post.

 My point to you was that your calling this “an over-reaction and that some people need to learn not to get offended so easily” places you into the same bracket as NaughtyMan. Upon reflection, this is perhaps rather unfair as from your blog and posts that I have read to date, you do not tick the boxes required to reach the esteemed and consistent levels of being a tosser that NaughtyMan has made into a unique and extraordinary art form. My post could have been better worded in this respect, so my apologies nevertheless if this was not clear.
 The gist of my post was that by effectively endorsing rather than denouncing NaughtyMan’s avatar is crass in the extreme. Free speech is one thing sure, but anyone who cannot see the gross insensitivity of having Osama Bin Laden as their avatar will need to learn pretty damn quickly that abuse is going to come their way.

 You probably have a valid point when you say that I am letting my own sensitivities to the particular issue cloud my judgement by the tone of my response. But the problem, pal, is that when individuals have been directly affected by such an incident, then these individuals are going to get upset, which I think you’ll agree, it pretty much fair dinkum.
 Sure, nobody was to know of this link, but does that make it any less insensitive? I think not.
 Please forward me your address and I’ll sign you up for a subscription to the Daily Mail ;o)
 Your pal, VeryOffendedMan
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Great response, wasn't it?

Must admit, I'd probably have been a tad more sarcastic back myself, so perhaps he's a better man than me. Although clearly not as ALMIGHTY!

We'll probably become great pals, now, you know.

*For what it's worth, I wonder if it would have been deemed acceptable to those offended if NaughtyMan had instead put up a picture of bin Laden's dead body and written "USA! USA!" underneath it? Because that would have offended me. I'm not a fan of gloating, even if it is at the death of a murderer.

The fact was though, NaughtyMan didn't wish to parody the unpleasant (to these liberal eyes at least) scenes in Washington of people celebrating the death of a man - he just wanted to be a controversial cock.


There is a moral in there somewhere.