please empty your brain below
i blame the parents

steve | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 8:15 a.m. | #

And Global Warming.

Jag | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 8:43 a.m. | #

I'm offended, DG. Not because you attacked me, see, but because what you say may well offend others. And others may not be able to speak for themselves or, heaven forbid, actually take offence at what you say. So someone has to do it. Don't they...?

THC

THC | 07.02.09 - 8:50 a.m. | #

Sorry.

Debster | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 9:07 a.m. | #

Keep Calm and Carry On

Bina | 07.02.09 - 9:08 a.m. | #

Brilliant, must pass this on.

jerym | 07.02.09 - 9:20 a.m. | #

Golly, DG, what's all this about? :D

Katisha | 07.02.09 - 9:41 a.m. | #

"You know how Sister Berte makes me kiss the floor after we've had a disagreement? Well lately I've taken to kissing the floor whenever I see her coming, just to save time."

I know just how Maria and DiamondGeezer feel.

Exit, pursued by a bear | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 10:32 a.m. | #

I think it's getting to the stage where people will be scared to say anything at all, lest it offends someone. The problem is that too many people nowadays seem not to be able to distinguish jest from spite. Before long, you won't even be able to tell a joke down the pub before someone points the finger at you for being 'racist' or 'offensive'.

I think this politically correct mentality must stop. I know we all have feelings, and that no-one wants to be singled out, but creating a world where nobody can possibly be insulted would be dull indeed - the whole concept of comedy would cease to exist, for example.

I feel for Carol Thatcher. She's guilty of ill judgement on her part, yes, but surely it would have been more sensible for the director of the BBC's One Show to just remind her, for the sake of discretion, that she'd be better off not saying these things? It was said in private after all. In addition, Jonathan Ross did something far more offensive on air IMHO and he ultimately didn't lose his job.

Alarmingly, this may well be a reflection of the sort of society we've now become...

Andrewh | 07.02.09 - 11:05 a.m. | #

My understanding is that the Carole Thatcher thing is that the staff (ie the other presenters) were offended at the time and immediately complained. In any other workplace a freelancer saying the same thing would be seriously jeopardising her chances of getting more work, and rightfully so I think.

Which contrasts with the Ross/Brand incident, in which Andrew Sachs was notably not personally offended, and no one who heard the broadcast complained either.

Graham | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 11:37 a.m. | #

This is the sort of internal paranoid conversation I have with myself every hour of every day.

So I sympathise.

An Unreliable Witness | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 12:15 p.m. | #

Looking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tory I see that 'Tory' is often used as a term of abuse. I don't think it likely that anyone will be apologising soon for it's use. Now 'fascist' on the other hand...

Fremsley | 07.02.09 - 1:19 p.m. | #

I'm not sorry - should I be?

zed | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 1:22 p.m. | #

I apologise for the behaviour of my country during the war.

klaus | 07.02.09 - 2:09 p.m. | #

amen! with so many difficulties facing us, the media chooses the easy way out--celebrity watching/crucifying (there doesn't seem to be much difference anymore).

petoskystone | 07.02.09 - 2:35 p.m. | #

If you REALLY want to insult someone, call them an Investment Banker. Criticises their politics, morality amd attitude towards others all in one go. And has the advantage of rhyming as well. Four insults for the price of one.

Exit, pursued by a bear | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 3:52 p.m. | #

Many thanks for the apology l have "borrowed it"

Vetnurse | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 4:19 p.m. | #

Absolutely, DG. Brilliant post.

Anonymous | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 6:12 p.m. | #

Hmmm. No. There is nothing wrong with causing 'offensive' per se, and plenty of people are very lazy in their language when it comes to this. If you're criticising a belief, an idea, a policy - and in doing so cause offence - it's not a problem.

But to use racist language in Thatcher's context isn't attempting to make a *point*, it just shows an astonishing disregard for what is acceptable and what isn't. If you long for the days when casual racism was part of oh-so-funny office banter, then may I suggest you resign and seek paid employment in the 1950s.

Yeah, she was unlucky that it came out. Yeah, the media milk these silly stories for all they're worth. Tough. A world where people didn't care about the human rights of minority groups is a far worse alternative.

(Here endeth pious rant.)

Dominic Self | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 6:32 p.m. | #

Spot on post. Things are getting bloody ridiculous.

SSS | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 9:42 p.m. | #

Oh, and danke schon, Klaus. I would also like to apologise for the fact that you clearly meet plenty of people who hold you personally responsible for the historical actions of your country. As an Englishwoman in Australia I understand completely.

SSS | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 9:44 p.m. | #

When I was a small child I had a golliwog. I thought he was lovely. I called him Golly. What a little racist.

Great Aunt Annie | 07.02.09 - 10:01 p.m. | #

I had a golliwog too. I adored him and took him everywhere with me. It didnt turn me into a racist though.

Its the white bleeding heart liberals who get offended on behalf of other people who are to blame for this. I imagine that if they heard one black person address another black person as "nigger" (which they do), then they might very well have a coronary.

Exit, pursued by a bear | Homepage | 07.02.09 - 10:42 p.m. | #

I thought DG is talking about a lying Scottish one-eyed idiot, not a golliwog. In any case, I apologise.

The Cartoonist | Homepage | 08.02.09 - 4:00 p.m. | #











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