Postman Patel is waxing lyrical about what I can only put down to a failure in the call-screening process on the weekly BBC phone in show 'Any Answers' yesterday.
Poor old Jonathan Dimbleby was forced to bluster his way through a call where a well-informed member of the general public raised past examples of MI5 involvement in terrorism in the context of demands for an inquiry into the 7/7 bombings.
Sadly, Lord Patel's vast and hugely-qualified technical staff were unable to find a way to record the exchange for posterity and a plea was made for assistance in this matter.
Unencumbered by huge technical qualifications and encumbered by moderate quantities of alcohol, my solution was to hold a recording mp3 player up to my computer whilst playing the clip off the BBC website. Fired by this success, I then pasted the resulting mp3 into MS Photostory along with a dozen pictures of the aftermath of the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, skillfully left all settings at their default values and slapped the result up onto Youtube.
Well, given that MI5 is doing such a stand-up job of keeping this a free country it would be almost disrespectful not to take advantage of that freedom. Wouldn't it?
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edit: The Any Answers clip is worth listening to as much for how Jonathan Dimbleby deals with the call as for the content of the call itself
Fans of the excellent Thank You for Smoking, and most people who have seen it are, will remember that one of the key lines of the film is...
"That's the beauty of argument. Because if you argue correctly, you're never wrong"
No matter how one-sided an issue; for example, cigarettes are physically bad for you, as long as you can come up with a counter-argument, or pretend that there is a counter argument you can always keep a significant proportion of the general public baffled with bullshit.
Cue Jonathan Dimbleby, challenged by someone who's clearly read the Ballast Report and other documents that pin-down past state involvement in terrorism as well as is ever going to happen...
" ... all these assertions and allegations you are making ... we haven't got time to go into them ... are all fiercely disputed"
"... the context in which you place them is open to question and the particular way you place them is highly disputed as I am sure you will know is ..."
the mealy-mouthed fucker
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4 comments:
Many Thx. persistence pays off I guess - one only has to guess what disgusted in Tunbridge Wells thought of it all.
Perhaps now we should all write to the BBC complaining about them promoting such seditious nonsense and demanding Mr Kelly be ritually hung, drawn and 1/4 rd.
Their defence of free speech would be wonderful to behold.
Small detail, 'twas Jonathan Dimbleby (the most intellectually challenged of the dynasty) who was hosting the show. I don't know he merits any sympathy at all.
And now for a nice cup of Nuala O'Loan.
@sam_m
I don't know what you're talking about. If you read the post again I think you'll find that I said it was Jonathan Dimbleby hosting the show...
hehehe
tbh given the early hour and the high alcohol to food ratio in my system at the time I'm surprised that I didn't say Shirley Bassey was taking the calls
thanks
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