andy steel 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Great read, heartfelt and cogent. Your analysis of the obsessives who have been using the Rangers saga to work out their anxieties in public is spot on. I would disagree with you on two points, though: firstly, that our society is bowing to anything or anyone, and that the government makes legislation ignoring statistics. Outside a small circle of loons like PhilPhilPhil and myself, this is a marginal issue. Scots society is a very different place than the cyberworld we messageboard/blogger types inhabit. I did a wee trip some weeks ago where I didn't log on, didn't read any papers and didn't listen to any TV or radio about the fitba. Not one word about sectarianism or discrimination did I hear. While the story of our collapse and subsequent feeble minded threats by what must be unhinged fans make for great copy, we've got to keep it in perspective. Most football fans don't even use a fans website, let alone know there's a campaign going on. Glance at other clubs' boards - there's usually about 7 members and a dozen guests viewing. The howling of these people seems loud to us but compared to dealing with the chronic economic issues we face, with Syria, with Russia trying to screw the whole middle east, with energy issues, with murders of police officers, with child killing even in what seemed strong, contained communities, it's a long way down the list of priorities of most people. That doesn't mean they don't sometimes get what they want, but it likewise does not mean that they are taking over the place. It might sound like this reinforces my second issue, that the government introduced legislation based on nothing more than satisfying some minority grievance and would have been better looking at other issues. That it has brought in legislation based on nothing approaching a basis on fact or quantifiable statistical data. But...that's how government works. Not just against us, but on a daily basis. The highest profile announcement which got past my anti-Cameron filter and into my bonce last week was some quasi-fascistic drivel about being allowed to go this far but not further when kicking the shit out of burglars, should you stumble over them during a theft. Talk about your minority interests! There can't have been more than a dozen people involved in any sort of police activity on this subject, and of those you have to include that dude who ambushed the burglars and shot 'em. While I don't have any sympathy for the crooks, sanity suggests you discourage people from tooling up and taking on lawbreakers. The point I'm struggling to make is that the legislation is not needed, not proportionate (to go from what's been trailed) and not based on any sort of sound, factual base. We could talk about laws concerning immigration, too, which ignore your actual economic pointers and play on the feea of being outnumbered by people who look a bit different, or speak a funny language. The USA did the same with it's Patriot Act and Homeland Security bills; this is not a Scotland or UK only issue. It's just how government works. It was not the propaganda machine that forced through legislation, it was Lennon being attacked in the West End and then (I'll choose my words carefully) some strange kind of possibly non-lethal but still pretty fucking creepy devices being sent to some celtc fans. Add to that our refusal to stop singing songs society - not some bloggers, but the wider society - now find unacceptable and there was, in hindsight, nothing else going to happen but some law being passed. Having said all that, I still think the whiners are a bunch of twats. The Twatonista. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elephants Stoned Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Good blog D'Art and a very good term 'antagonista' sums up phil 3 names, spiers and their ilk very well. I read a little of thompsons blog before getting pretty cheesed off with it and it was an absolutly laughable piece of anti-Rangers propaganda not worth the paper its not written on. I applaud the efforts of all those who fight against such extremist views and bring a bit of truth into a debate littered with lies and hatred. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDGE 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Well instead of having a pop at the only guys to highlight what is going on, come down of that pedestal of yours and tell us your ideas to fight the propaganda against the club and its support. Then again you don't do Sunday afternoon debate if I remember right. I never had a pop either. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Good read Andy, although I would point out that if your not interested in football then it is easy to avoid all this, point is though if your a Rangers fan your interested in football it's what you read about its what you listen to so how are you going to avoid it. What does the average Rangers fan care about Syria? Very little until it affects his daily life and Syria is a long way from affecting his daily life if it ever will, but Rangers are his daily life and these articles affect it on a daily basis. Lennon had been in bother long before the two guys got done for giving him a kicking, the man is a right royal piss artist and its a miracle he hasn't got more abuse in the pubs of Glasgow, just like any other piss artist in a pub. I never noticed a clamour for this legislation when Rangers players home and cars where being vandalised and their personal safety threatened to the extent that they needed 24hr security. So why the need when Lennon gets a kicking in a pub for being a wanker? Because the Anti-Rangers propaganda machine saw a chance to get involved, then RC church gets involved falsely claiming it was because he's a high profile Catholic, Bishops start getting private meeting with first ministers and what do we get legislation aimed at just one set of supporters, oh they will tell you it's for all football fans and you will get the occasional Tim lifted for shouting about the Queen or Orange Bastards, but we know it was set up to hammer the Rangers fans and nothing about the way it is being operated has changed my mind on this. Just look at the banner fiasco, then ask the BO/UB if they would get a banner like that into Ibrox or any other ground in Scotland. Look at the song sheet of the different supporters, unlike some on here would have you believe the Rangers fans have cleaned up their act almost beyond recognition, can that be compared to any other set of Fans I think not. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 I never had a pop either. " If half of these bloggers spent as much time making money as they did researching and fighting a phoney war, they'd be millionaires by now." Sounds like a pop to me. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDGE 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 It's called an observation or perhaps, some sound advice. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovanAllan 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 It's called an observation or perhaps, some sound advice. LoL ok, I'll remember that the next time I have a pop at someone. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Brilliant read D'Artagnan, thanks! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D'Artagnan 173 Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 (edited) Thanks for the quality of the replies. Rather than go through each individually, as a number overlap I'll try and respond as best I can. Its easy to dismiss some of these bloggers as being marginalised on the net - I would point out that some of them have a considerable number of readers. Furthermore the 3 individuals I referred to in the article are all members of the NUJ - 2 of them regularly appear in the mainstream media. 3 names would have appeared in the Sun had there not been such a dramatic turnaround by that newspaper. Furthermore Alan Rennie editor at the Daily Record has been desperate to recruit the authors of The Rangers Tax case for a regular column. Andy I understand what you are saying regarding government and the passing through of legislation which is "popular" amongst voters - your example about the Tory vote winner "bash the burglar" is probably the perfect example. But I would argue that the sectarian bill is different - its being passed on the assertion that Scotland has a serious problem with it (Our Secret Shame) - if it was just the passing of additional legislation then I wouldn't be so outspoken on it. But its not just legislation - I see recently they have pledged £9 million towards anti-sectarian initiatives. For a country who has 1 in 4 children living in poverty - quite simply that is shameful. PS I now see that due to heavy criticism from all quarters Thomson is now trying to pass off his article as a joke or a bit of humour. What a horrible individual. Edited October 14, 2012 by D'Artagnan 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
amms 0 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Good piece, good replies, well done all involved. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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