Bear with me on this. If you’re reading this blog it means you’re either someone who knows me personally and suffers my output on the off chance I ask the hated, “Hey, did you see that post I wrote about…” question.
The other kind of person is actually pretty special, and it’s you I want to write about as a vaguely long-winded way of arriving at the following conclusion: Andrew Neil is a dinosaur.
Dick Puddlecote says I’m wrong about that, that Andrew Neil is the cutting edge. Needless to say this cannot stand… oh yes, it’s an ARGUMENT! Woo! I’m already starting to get high on the buzz of an new argument – that beautiful first few moments where ideas and arguments explode, then the joy and satisfaction as the dross is whittled away, then what remains is organised, tested then sculpted into some sort of pleasing arrangement of words, then finally subjecting those words to the scrutiny of wiser, cleverer, less excitable minds.
See, I’m hopelessly hooked on this. But then what are you, you who finds yourself reading this? Just what brought you to a stage in your life where you amuse yourself by reading non-linear, unending pamphlets by online nutters?
Okay so, look: The good news is you’re not alone. There’s bloody loads of you, although you’re a very, very special niche of the overall ‘loads’ that read the collected work of online political nuttery. Good for you! But together, whether we’re awesome libertarians, not quite so awesome but still vaguely okay liberals and conservatives we’re a sort of gang, you see.
There’s only a handful of bloggers, but, and I say this again, there’s bloody loads of you. Hundreds of thousands of you, and you’re all getting your politics uncensored, unregulated and written by real human beings.
This gang of ours is a whole new emerging subculture… we’re the “People Who Are Into Politics.” We spontaneously emerged without anyone actually noticing.
So are we going to the BBC and their Daily Politics Show and their This Week and their Question Time to discover the latest in the ongoing battle between Labour and the Tories?
Nope: the BBC’s political output is aimed at people who aren’t interested in politics, and in apologising for itself and trying to make itself understandable it becomes even more tedious until eventually the only people left watching are.. well… us… and we’re tearing our hair out at the sheer cringingly artificial awfulness of it.
At least I am.
Which, I think, is why Andrew Neil is a dinosaur. You young hip kids have discovered rock and roll while the BBC has a strict ‘jazz only’ policy, and the God of embarrassed, apologetic, patronising, dumbed down, sanitised, simplified to the point of cretinism political television is Andrew “I’m a flipping Dinosaur” Neil.
It’s just no-one’s noticed yet, that’s all. Like no-one’s really noticed how you and the rest of the gang would actually be terrifyingly powerful if anyone could figure out a way of brainwashing you into going out knocking on doors and delivering leaflets and telling all your friends about this site or this book they MUST read, you know?
Lucky for us all, I say. I hate delivering leaflets. Sure I’m into politics but, strewth, there’s limits.
The Filthy Engineer said...
14 Apr 10 at 9:24 pm
I watched the interview by chance with Brillo and DK (Chris Mounsey) and was rather appalled at the way Brillo conducted the interview. It seemed to me that he just wanted to denigrate small parties. He didn’t want to allow the audience to know what the Libertarian movement was about. All he could do was slam DK’s language on his site.
I do think that the libertarians are the next generation and feel proud to be one. I am a lapsed true blue conservative, who realises that the conservative party has lost it’s way.
Dick Puddlecote said...
14 Apr 10 at 9:32 pm
Hey! I’ll give you that he’s a dinosaur if it means you get the name right. Puddlecote. You speak as if it’s an unusual name or something! T’chah.
Love your call for impetus though. It’s a perfect storm if the will was there, but it’s too slow in arriving. Many readers, not much action.
In the meantime Brillo gets a platform to close down debate and dull our politics. And it’s exactly what politicians wish to see.
He may be a dinosaur, but a connected, influential one, and that’s the problem.
Charlotte Gore said...
14 Apr 10 at 9:33 pm
Damn. If only that wasn’t the second time I’d done that
JohnRS said...
14 Apr 10 at 9:38 pm
He’s definitly part of the journo-establishment so you get “safe” views on quite a lot of things. But his position also gets him good access to senior politicians etc. Possibly a fair exchange.
Because his position/career is established he’s safe from petty BBC management revenge so he’s also the only senior BBC talking head that dares to raise with folk like eco-Millibland the awful possibility that warble gloaming might actually not be entirely true. In my view he’s well worth keeping an eye on for that if nothing else.
Tim Carpenter (LPUK) said...
14 Apr 10 at 9:59 pm
What is so disappointing is that Brillo does do the unusual at times ( but not uniquely – Paxo) and he is basically unassailable, so why does he pull such a stunt, which smacks of insecurity?
He is paid from money taken under threat of imprisonment, however, so one would think that the mention of a swearblog should be enough, and a move on to policies to allow people to make up their own mind instead of making sure that people take away one though and one thought alone.
Gandhi said...
14 Apr 10 at 11:27 pm
They’ve talked about those “angry right-wing bloggers” a fair bit on This Week, they seem to mean DK. AN has probably won himself a major Chocolate Hobnobnobbing with that performance: the Hobnob hates DK with a passion (methinks).
Boudicca said...
15 Apr 10 at 6:35 am
If only ‘those who aren’t interested in Politics’ would look a bit further than the mainstream media’s regular news output they might start to understand the debate which is underway. Sadly, in bit to interest the huge numbers who are completely switched off by the election, they have resorted to reporting on the wives, the ‘leaders’ schedules and mode of transport – anything to try and make it sound ‘fun.’
It isn’t supposed to be ‘fun’ (I think it is, but I’m a politics-obsessive). It IS supposed to be about the future of the country – and if people living here, paying their taxes, using public services and MOANING about the errors of the last 13 years can’t get enthusiastic about that, then the mainstream media has failed.
Neil my be a dinosaur – but Newsnight yesterday resorted to a 20 minute slot devoted to making up a campaign song for the 3 main parties to try and appear interesting. How desperate and sad is that!
I’m not sure there is ‘loads’ of us out here. I read and contribute to a range of blogs and comments pages. I see the same names crop up all the time. People like me who have given up on trying to ‘talk politics’ or current affairs with their friends – so go on line to have the discussion instead.
Antisthenes said...
15 Apr 10 at 7:16 am
Long since has any of the news channels or news presenters presented news in a balanced way, that does not sell air time or justify the high salaries of presenters. It is more lucrative to appeal to viewers baser instincts by sensationalising news and belittling stories and people and being generally nasty to one and all especially in the political arena. If at the same time you can score points for your own favoured ideoligy even better. No Brillo was doing what all presenters do these days mocking, bating and hamming it up for his audience. Better that he was a dinosaur rather than a modern day creep at least they were honest and non partisan.
Scott said...
15 Apr 10 at 8:37 am
I’m special!
Very happy indeed now!
prm said...
15 Apr 10 at 12:30 pm
Boudicca said it – how many of ‘us’ are there? I too see the same names. If I mentioned, say, this blog, DK, LegIron, Longrider, Timmy, OH etc etc I suggest y’all’d know several.
It’s been on my mind recently as to how one actually does something. Merely venting doesn’t interest me (and I relly think DK dropping the faily unpleasant imagary is a wholly good thing here), and I’m with CG on the leaflets.
If I may wax lyrical, when I listen to Historical podcasts, I often double-take when I realise whtever momntous event is being described, feeling as though it appeared out of the blue. Yet I’ve been listening as, step after step, events unfolded. Do-able, conceivable events. It’s this disparity between little ol’ me and Big Changey Stuff (not the Obama type, natch) that bemuses me.
The psychologist Maslow pointed out something similar; he asked his students who would be the next great psychologists, and they shuffled and looked around blankly. Then he said ‘If not you, who then?’
Surely we can use this internet thingy to do a little more than backslapping and confirming we’re not the only ones…
Charlotte Gore said...
15 Apr 10 at 12:33 pm
Only a tiny tiny tiny fraction of people who read blogs actually leave comments, that’s why you see the same names over and over. The huge majority read in silence and are completely anonymous and unknown.
Just saying
Antisthenes said...
15 Apr 10 at 1:22 pm
“Only a tiny tiny tiny fraction of people who read blogs actually leave comments, that’s why you see the same names over and over. The huge majority read in silence and are completely anonymous and unknown”.
I wish I had known that before maybe I would not be so keen to make a complete prat of myself by leaving a comment. Then maybe not, nobody knows who I am or where I live except perhaps MI5, CGHQ and million other snooping government departments any way if they are reading this then “up yours”.
Charlotte Gore said...
15 Apr 10 at 1:27 pm
Yeah, it’s a bit unsettling for me too. Tis why I sometimes spell things out in blogposts that I know all the people who leave comments will already know. I actually have no clue about the mystery silent audience. They might be lost knitting fans for all I know.
Beyond the valley of the blogs | Anonymong said...
16 Apr 10 at 4:33 pm
[...] at Charlotte Gore’s blog there’s a rather good article on political geekery, which makes two very good points. The first being that if you’re reading this blog (or hers [...]
Because We're Young said...
19 Apr 10 at 1:15 pm
Hi Charlotte,
Was pondering your comment about the silent majority, of which I am trying to break out. I would say one thing, and believe me this is NOT a “country club” style dig by any means, I love your blog and many others (Obo, OH, Anna, Penguin etc.). Also, this isn’t really “for” you as I have never commented on one of your posts before, more of a general observation since yoou brought up the topic. Longwinded this, sorry.
I find when I do comment, or ask the odd question, I tend to get ignored or perhaps lost amongst a conversation between the regular commenters. I also write a blog (fairly new) but have no idea how to get it to a wider audience? Any advice? And I won’t be offended if you say my blog is rubbish/boring/repetitive, but since you clearly have a talent for this sort of thing, a bit of feedback would be great and might haul me out of the silent majority for good!
Charlotte Gore said...
19 Apr 10 at 1:46 pm
Funnily enough another reason why you see the ‘same old faces’ is because commenting and engaging with other blogs is the ‘standard’ way to get noticed. As is linking to other people’s blog posts. Most bloggers have systems that try to pick up every single link they get, and if there’s one thing guaranteed to attract the attention of another blogger, it’s a link to one of their posts.
Sad but true.
I guess there’s probably more to it than that. I’ve never really done anything to consciously promote my blog other than muck around on Twitter. These things always just seem to take care of themselves somehow.
The usual advice is to blog often, keep it snappy and that’s really it. Funny’s always good, but failing funny there’s always honest. People like honest.
Because We're Young said...
19 Apr 10 at 1:50 pm
Thank you Charlotte, much appreciated. Will keep at it and do a bit more linking!