"Just relaxing with a pint of double maxim and curry chips"

 

 

Great recommendations from Totti

 

 

 

Edit; Dont forget TheBigSam, spoof Allardyce twitter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turns out she doesn't much like Travellers

Live by the sword die by the sword and all that

I find these Twitter flame wars fascinating if a bit batsh*t

She didn't admit it voluntarily though, she's crisis managing

I think it's fair enough that somebody can be a **** eight years ago or X number of years ago and change their views to be a better person

But it seems to me that that's not really what she's been preaching

Baddiel defo has a history of racism

That doesn't necessarily mean that what he says now about anti-Semitism is wrong - I haven't read his book so I don't know his full views on the subject, or on Islamophobia 

Both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are clearly serious problems in Britain and elsewhere

The subject of anti-Semitism is certainly being covered in a "cancel culture" way though by the British right wing press and that's due to extremely cynical political and culture war motives

But this cancel culture seems to only be targetted at people of a certain political persuasion, ie. if they are pro-Palestinian statehood

If you're pro-Israeli government it appears you can be as anti-Semitic as you like

There was paragraphs from his book going around dismissing comparisons between Islamophobia and antisemitism because Islam isn't a race and the Nazis wouldn't have cared about his atheism. I think that attitude is deliberately dangerous. To even write such a book at all he should be apologising for his past actions in this regard. Blackface in the 90s was no more acceptable than it is now.

He is also happy to play his part in conflating pro-Palestinian sentiment with antisemitism too. He was happy to weaponise the pronunciation of 'Weinstein'  to try and destroy Corbyn, undermining genuine antisemitism there too.

And because he is a cuddly comedian, of some sort, he gets to be promoted by both the liberal wing of the media and the right wing. He is essentially using the culture war that has been created around antisemitism to make money.

It was the pronunciation of Epstein not Weinstein that Corbyn was called anti-Semitic over, not that it matters

He was also called anti-Semitic over saying he liked Dickens' A Christmas Carol

I agree what Baddiel did in the 90s was horrible and he was representative of a horrible "laddish" culture, I suspect he wanted to fit in with whiteness so embraced some of the worst aspects of that culture

I haven't read his book and it seems you haven't either so I would be extremely wary of jumping in and calling it a cynical money making exercise, anti-Semitism as a subject is an entirely valid one

That said from the bit I have seen of his views on Twitter I suspect I would have quite a few disagreements with him

Peter Beinart, who is Jewish himself, is one of the best writers on the subject in my experience, he has a very honest and nuanced take on it

He is the one undermining it and profiting from it and not me.

I haven't read his book and neither have you, the reviews seem universally very good

Sarah Silverman who I think is in a position of some authority as a Jew who is very pro-Palestine hs eulogised it

Is he dismissive of another form of racism currently though?

Genuine question, I don't know is he or not

Yes and he is in the book, sections of which are widely available. The reviews are from the rest of the media luvvies he pals around with. He could have shat on it and it would have got 5 stars in The Guardian.

I didn't find a Guardian review of it

Perhaps you could quote sections you find objectionable

Personally given the tone of your last few posts here I suspect you might do well to read a really good book which deals with anti-Semitism as a topic

I found Deborah Lipstadt's book on it to be excellent and accessible; Antisemitism Here and Now. 

My tone is of disgust at the weaponising if it to sell a book. If you don't like it I have many others. You may not like them either.

I read the sections from screenshots on Twitter that are nearly impossible to find. Should I read the book, out of curiosity,  I will get back to you.

You've jumped to a conclusion that Baddiel is weaponising anti-Semitism for money, without having read the book

I would suggest that reaction more than justifies his decision to write it

I use it for similar. It must be the only place where a Simpsons clip is followed by a racist rant, then Zidane's best touches and someone having a mild mental breakdown. Too much of that would do nobody any good.

Sounds like some of the places I have had a drink in 😀😀

At least you know the person who's saying it if it's in person. Really needs to be some kind of internet id for people so if what's said by an account can be associated with a person. 

Lunatics are far more enjoyable and better for your well-being down the pub.

Exactly that’s the issue with social media. People tend to avoid people they disagree with or if they do interact it’s usually full of vitriol or shade.  Whereas in real life in general if you are a bar and someone is saying something you disagree with, most people either ignore or interact in a respectful way.  

One of the joys and benefits of being a man is that you can go into a bar on your own and end up having a great night and interacting with strangers and lunatics that you would not normally be chatting to.  Unfortunately that is a joy that 99% of women cannot really experience.  

I read it this morning and I did enjoy it and he got his core point across well and backed it up. There's a blind spot on the left that shouldn't be there and we kind of forget Jewish fears based on recent history. No issues there.

The dismissive comments about Islamophobia weren't from the book either, he dealt with the subject very well in fact. I did find a couple of contradictions that irked though. His comparison of the "Y word", as he calls it to P**i and the 'N word'. I think the comparison with the former is fair enough, not with the latter and that isn't because antisemitism is a lesser racism, but just that the history isn't there. From what I can see online there isn't even a consensus amongst Jews about it, which is there about the 'N word'. I wouldn't be using it, I agree Spurs shouldn't be using it, no matter how well meaning, but it isn't the same. In fact, I would think, and so it would seem do a lot of Jews online, that words like the 'K word' are far more vitriolic. 

He also said he was one of the few Jews who were well known for being Jewish, and then listed people who were famous British Jews who didn't make a song and dance about it and included Robert Popper. Popper is best known for writing 'Friday Night Dinner', as Jewish a programme as the title implies and which he discusses later in the book in dealing with 'Jewface', similar to 'Blackface' and of which he is correct too and something I wouldn't have considered before. 

These complaints are minor, there are a couple more of a similar irk, but his points unquestionably hold up over all. He certainly made me think differently about a few things, but his continued inability to apologise for his own past sins while criticising others isn't the 'whataboutery' he claims it is. It may well be used as such, but it often just makes him appear to have a blind spot and the hypocrisy he rightly accuses others of. He talks of the Roald Dahl society and their apology for his vile racism towards Jews being tucked away in a dark corner of their website, but there's still no proper apology from him about his and that is undoing his own good work.

The worst thing about Baddiel is that I want to like him. I grew up with Fantasy Football and he thought a younger me that not all England fans were chair chucking racists. I think if I met him, I would enjoy his company. I don't think he is a great comedian, but he is an intelligent man, broadly progressive, and a decent writer. All that just makes his own stubborn refusal to admit his sins more infuriating.