Okay, so Bristow is a pillock. An obnoxious pillock even. And Twitter is a medium for both the obnoxious and pillocks – although when it is a leftist twatterstorm, the usual suspects are remarkably silent.
That’s why Eric Bristow’s disturbing tweets matter. They are extreme but indicative of a mindset shared by all too many. “Might be a looney but if some football coach was touching me when I was a kid as I got older I would have went back and sorted that poof out,” he tweeted. “Dart players tough guys footballers wimps,” continued his tirade. “U got to sought him out when u get older or don’t look in the mirror glad I am a dart player proper men.” An apology did eventually come: “Sorry meant paedo not poof.”
I have to say that I wasn’t disturbed. It seemed perfectly in character to me. Besides, it’s only words. Yes, yes, I understand; child abuse and all that. However, this one has been blown out of all proportion. While it happens and did happen in the past, among the real cases there are there fantasists hoping to cash in and I suspect the same will apply here. Meanwhile, the accused will be dragged through the media and deemed guilty until the CPS decides that a fantasist making up a tissue of lies doesn’t amount to evidence. If all the Jimmy Savile accusations were true, the bloke wouldn’t have had any time to Fix it.
I don’t know the truth of the latest allegations and don’t much care. Long after the events, the evidence is hard to determine; making a safe conviction difficult if not impossible – unless the accused confesses, which has happened in previous historic cases. However, Bristow’s comments, while crass, are just that; comments made on a platform devised specifically for someone of his advanced intellect. Best ignored rather than get into a fit of the vapours.
Where to even begin. Crude homophobia mixed with shaming survivors of child abuse as “wimps”.
Yeah, it’s called freedom of speech. That’s how freedom of speech works – people get to say horrible things that you call phobias. Get over it.
If the ignorant raving of the likes of Bristow are left unchallenged, then other survivors will be deterred from coming forward.
Fine, challenge them. Again, that’s how it works.
Predictably, Bristow relied on the “you can’t say anything any more”-type defence, claiming: “Everybody that works on TV is frightened to say the truth because they are frightened to lose their job.” Well, Bristow has lost his role at Sky Sports: Sky has, quite correctly, dropped him
Proving him correct. Mind you, I’d have sacked him too. The bloke’s a liability as his comments will reflect on his employer and the employer has every right to sack him if they so wish. So, er, what’s the problem here? Moron makes moronic comments and his employer, embarrassed by those comments, sacks him. Job done.
And so you end up with a society where violence against women and children is rampant on the one hand, and the biggest killer of men under 50 – partly because they’re unable to open up because it’s “unmanly” – is suicide.
That’s one hell of a fucking leap.
It’s certainly an excellent example of the chasm that exists between Labour’s working class voter base and the primped up, sneering, millionaire Guardianistas that write in The Guardian…
I pretty much agree with all that you say.
But what about the messenger? If I said rude things about you in the pub then I would be mindful of who the audience was, especially being careful that you weren’t there! But what do we thing about the ‘gossip’ that runs of and tells you? Do they take no responsibility for any hurt that might be caused?
Personally I never use/read Twitter, (I don’t know how and I don’t think I’m missing anything of value), yet thanks to the BBC, I and, more importantly, the ‘victims’ get the megaphone treatment. I recall that after the Soham murders a senior police officer made comments in a private seminar that a so-called journalist thought might upset the girls’ families. Knock, knock, “Did you hear what this policeman said?”. Bristow didn’t think; the media bastards did.
He was on ITV this morning being ‘interviewed’ by Piers Morgan. Needless to say he hardly got a word in edgeways. Then he was faced by some patronising old bag who runs a charity for abused children after three of her own were abused. I wondered what the fuck she was doing as a mother while all three were being abused.
Bristow’s point was that you don’t wait 30 years to report this sort of crap and if you were a man, you’d sort the bugger out when you grew up. He was, of course, not allowed to make this point without being continually harassed and shouted down
Not sure who was the biggest pillock – Bristow or Morgan.
This is the crux of the matter. Decades after the events, it is difficult if not impossible to ensure a fair trial and safe conviction.