Several months ago Huw Lewis took exception to an article on the Cambria Politico site in which he was called Screwloose, and his staff wrote emails threatening the website with legal action. I picked up on that story in this post on 19 November and myself encountered a foul-mouthed temper tantrum from a person who identified himself as "Guffington Pist". This is what he wrote:
I must admit that I'm not such a great fan of the style of some posts that appear on the Syniadau blog, but in comparison to many blogs I have read it usually contains nothing of any interest to anybody. There are many blogs that I would take exception to, but this is certainly one of the worst.
At present, the blog has decided to throw its way behind the unproven and offensive crap about Huw Lewis on the Cambria Politico bog (correct). The crux of this support is:
Leaving the entirely simpering and pandering tone to one side, Syniadau is one of those also-ran blogs that is totally blinded by the belief that Labour are nothing but a bunch of insidious fascists all too ready to remove the few powers that Wales has, and probably chuck those uppity bastards into concentration camps into the bargain.
Syniadau is in no position to know what the original post said, but hey, why not comment ignorantly upon its supposed comment, without stopping for one moment to check a single damn fact and then return to the mirror to admire its own cleverness in quoting from the Lewis team letter? Bet those fascists never saw that coming.
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I find this a very sad development. Politicians, by virtue of putting themselves in the public eye, are obvious targets to be lampooned for what they say and think, and that obviously includes labelling (and libelling) them mad, no matter whether it's true or not, and whether it stigmatises those with mental health issues. Next week - a round-up of Chubby Brown's best jokes.
In fact I would go so far as to say that the media has a moral duty to report lies - instead they perpetuate them every day ... about Labour. Thanks to ill-informed bedroom wank monkeys like Syniadau, that established part of our political tradition for centuries has returned.
Wales needs lively political debate. Lampooning our politicians has just as important a part to play in that as more serious stories, articles ... and even what we post on blogs. Tomorrow - why have they let women and blacks in the Assembly? A humourous sideways look.
I thought it was one of the better examples of the depths to which Labour Party activists will stoop—or at least evidence of what passes for humour in the circle that produced Annoyingly Dour—and of course left it on Syniadau for all to see. But I kept the details of the IP address from which it had been sent. Our friend has made a few other visits from the same address, but today it became more apparent who was responsible.
As regular readers will know, Adam Higgitt and I enjoy a healthy rivalry ... well I enjoy it, though I will leave it to others to decide which of us gets the better of the other in our exchanges. I left a comment today on the WalesHome blog, prompted by what Daran Hill had said in this post about those opposed to constitutional progress being prepared to:
... peddle any lie they can to scare people into resisting change.
John Tyler—a member of True Wales and one of their most active participants on the web—took exception to this, saying:
Mr Hill, your expression “Firstly, because those opposed to constitutional progress will peddle any lie they can to scare people into resisting change” is disingenuous at the very least.
I was appalled when I read the expression … “peddle any lie”, in three very small words you tell your readers that any opposition to your published position, the “Yes” vote, is unworthy of debate, it has no value, therefore any opposing view is a lie. This is patently untrue.
Actually I agree. Daran had made too sweeping a generalization. But I thought it would be a timely moment to remind people of two of the lies John Tyler has himself peddled. However, as people who've left comments on WalesHome will know, comments are moderated before they appear. The links to both of the examples I gave were visited by "Guffington Pist" immediately before my comment appeared. This means that "Guffington Pist" must be one of the moderators at WalesHome.
This was followed only minutes later by a comment by Adam Higgitt. In it he described what I had said as "unnecessary and unedifying" and "blowing raspberries". A rather misdirected attack, since Daran Hill been the one to talk about peddling any lie, and I was (though with some pleasure, I admit) providing two pieces of evidence to back up that claim in so far as it related to someone who was actively responsible for peddling such lies. But isn't it remarkable how duplicitous some people will be when they invent names like "Guffington Pist" in order to engage in foul-mouthed abuse, but present a supposedly more reasonable face when they post under their usual identity?
