political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Gordon No Mates
Four times Gordon Brown has invited me be his friend on Facebook, and four times I have rejected his advances. Does he not get the message? I don't want to be his friend! Go away!
Since you seem short of a story Iain, how about a few lines on the Tory PPC who was yesterday ordered by the High Court to pay thousands of pounds and make a grovelling apology to a Labour MP after she libelled him on her blog...?
Come on Iain, you don't seriously believ that Gordon has even heard of Facebook, do you - let alone know he's on it or have any control over who in Number 10 they want him to make friends with!
The phrase "Scat, Gordon!" raises the question of, does he have any pets? The Blairs actively dislike animals. I find this mean-spiritedness about our fellow creatures is confined, except in the case of genuine allergies to cat dander, to Trots.
I don't know any Tories who don't share their space with an animal or two.
On the other hand, Tony Blair, Tessa Jowell's husband and Jacqui Smith's husband do live with dogs, so I may have been unfair.
Fair Deal Phil - Obviously, you're a jerk, but are you really so jerky that you can't do links? Or do you know it wouldn't be worth the trouble given that no one would go to a link recommended in a comment by you?
Nice little fib there Phil - she settled before the case was actually heard. Admittedly it was a close thing, but she wasn't ordered by a court.
And why didn't Stephen Hesford try to sue the Mail, when all Esther McVey did was republish the article on her blog? You'd think someone wanting to clear their name, rather than just wanting to embarrass their political opponent, would do that.
There is absolutely no way Gordon Brown actually knows what Facebook is, by the way. No doubt someone is employed by the taxpayer to maintain Gordy's online presence.
"When last week David Cameron revealed that he hopes his daughter will go to a Church of England school, his aides rushed to say that he attends Sunday worship in Kensington not as a ploy to help her chances but out of genuine religious conviction." -- The Times, 25th Februrary 2007
The Grumbler said... "Nice little fib there Phil - she settled before the case was actually heard. Admittedly it was a close thing, but she wasn't ordered by a court."
She had to sign a Consent Order to avoid appearing in the High Court, where she would undoubtedly have lost the libel case.
Especially when I then get to say that you need to correct your post ;). The case was settled out of court, so there was no order in the high court. So technically you also libelled her, as a settlement is cannot be assumed to be an admission of liability! (Tongue firmly in cheek. Although I think it is a valuable point, I am not trying to argue that she had a good chance of defending her case)
We must all be aware of the what we write, but repeating a misleading newspaper article is hardly an unusual occurrence on blogs of all political persuasions. I think you should accept that this is a cautionary tale with no real party-political relevance.
I don't mean this in a Gordon Brown/party funding way, where the Labour party are caught out in widespread illegality and try to say that it is a general problem not a Labour problem. I have seen many Left and "Liberal" sites repeating misleading comments about people of other political views.
g eagle esq wrote: "Is there not merit generally in following the advice of the Narn ambassador G'Kar :
'Keep your Friends close
Keep your Enemies closer'"
...And of course offer them Breen and fresh Spoo.
This Facebook business - which also seems to be annoying Mike Rouse -- looks like being a real pain. One of the problems I have noticed is that one cannot even view anything without first registering and logging-in.
Other facilities of this general nature do not, by and large, require that, and I would not deal with any that did. So there!
19 comments:
Since you seem short of a story Iain, how about a few lines on the Tory PPC who was yesterday ordered by the High Court to pay thousands of pounds and make a grovelling apology to a Labour MP after she libelled him on her blog...?
http://fairdealphil.blogspot.com/2008/01/blogging-tory-parliamentary-candidate.html#links
I thought we were the "Nice" party now. Go on, throw him a bone.
Come on Iain, you don't seriously believ that Gordon has even heard of Facebook, do you - let alone know he's on it or have any control over who in Number 10 they want him to make friends with!
The phrase "Scat, Gordon!" raises the question of, does he have any pets? The Blairs actively dislike animals. I find this mean-spiritedness about our fellow creatures is confined, except in the case of genuine allergies to cat dander, to Trots.
I don't know any Tories who don't share their space with an animal or two.
On the other hand, Tony Blair, Tessa Jowell's husband and Jacqui Smith's husband do live with dogs, so I may have been unfair.
fairdeal
Have you heard of a site tinyurl.com?
Fair Deal Phil - Obviously, you're a jerk, but are you really so jerky that you can't do links? Or do you know it wouldn't be worth the trouble given that no one would go to a link recommended in a comment by you?
Nice little fib there Phil - she settled before the case was actually heard. Admittedly it was a close thing, but she wasn't ordered by a court.
And why didn't Stephen Hesford try to sue the Mail, when all Esther McVey did was republish the article on her blog? You'd think someone wanting to clear their name, rather than just wanting to embarrass their political opponent, would do that.
There is absolutely no way Gordon Brown actually knows what Facebook is, by the way. No doubt someone is employed by the taxpayer to maintain Gordy's online presence.
richard:
no, but have now...
is this better?
http://tinyurl.com/22xydy
richard:
forgot to say thank you!
You've got to give it to the man - after numerous rejections he just doesn't give up! Much like his political career really.
A Swansea Blog
Fair Deal Phil,
You can do links like this:
<a href="http://iaindale.blogspot.com/">Iain Dale's website</a>
Replace the address - "http://" -with some other website.
Replace the description - "Iain Dale's website" - with something else.
"Does he not get the message?"
Don't knock it ...it's the only thing he's good at!
So David Cameron has regularly been attending church?
Lets hope he has Iain.
Sehr geEhrter Iain
Is there not merit gernally in following the advice of the Narn ambassador G'Kar :
"Keep your Friends close
Keep your Enemies closer"
Yr obedient servant etc
G E
"When last week David Cameron revealed that he hopes his daughter will go to a Church of England school, his aides rushed to say that he attends Sunday worship in Kensington not as a ploy to help her chances but out of genuine religious conviction." -- The Times, 25th Februrary 2007
The Grumbler said...
"Nice little fib there Phil - she settled before the case was actually heard. Admittedly it was a close thing, but she wasn't ordered by a court."
She had to sign a Consent Order to avoid appearing in the High Court, where she would undoubtedly have lost the libel case.
Any time, Phil.
Especially when I then get to say that you need to correct your post ;). The case was settled out of court, so there was no order in the high court. So technically you also libelled her, as a settlement is cannot be assumed to be an admission of liability! (Tongue firmly in cheek. Although I think it is a valuable point, I am not trying to argue that she had a good chance of defending her case)
We must all be aware of the what we write, but repeating a misleading newspaper article is hardly an unusual occurrence on blogs of all political persuasions. I think you should accept that this is a cautionary tale with no real party-political relevance.
I don't mean this in a Gordon Brown/party funding way, where the Labour party are caught out in widespread illegality and try to say that it is a general problem not a Labour problem. I have seen many Left and "Liberal" sites repeating misleading comments about people of other political views.
Iain, this made me laugh out loud!
g eagle esq wrote: "Is there not merit generally in following the advice of the Narn ambassador G'Kar :
'Keep your Friends close
Keep your Enemies closer'"
...And of course offer them Breen and fresh Spoo.
This Facebook business - which also seems to be annoying Mike Rouse -- looks like being a real pain. One of the problems I have noticed is that one cannot even view anything without first registering and logging-in.
Other facilities of this general nature do not, by and large, require that, and I would not deal with any that did. So there!
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