mighty army of spite

I never really agreed with the overall premise of Tim Ireland’s jihad against Guido, Ian Dale and the Dad’s Army version of the rightwing noise machine that they’re trying to install in the UK. Tim thinks it’s an abuse of political blogging. I think it’s an inevitable result of what happens when politics meets blogging, especially with the example of the United States before us. Some of the details of various comments box shenanigans are also a bit beyond my pay grade. That said, it was always fun to watch the Mighty Army of Spite and its crusade against the Main Stream Media fall on its fat collective arse because an agile, mid level British blogger tied its shoelaces together.

And my word, aren’t they spiteful. The gist is that Tim accused Guido of breaking someone else’s copyright, Guido claimed to have agreements in place to use the stuff copyrighted, but instead of producing these decided to get in touch with his lawyer, another one of the rightwing angry brigade and engage in a bout of distinctly creepy legal intimidation, including demands for Tim’s home address.

Some have pointed out that it’s a bit rich for a self-described fearless campaigners for openness and freedom to run squealing for his lawyers, and to use his ability to hire them to smother those not so fortunately situated. I think it precisely confirms to what they believe; that money gives them power and that they have the right to use this power against their political opponents, whom they conceive of as enemies and whom they will treat as enemies if given the opportunity. They don’t seem to be getting anywhere with Tim, which is fortunate because you really don’t want to give this lot more confidence than they already have. Thus modern conservatism.

UPDATE 3/2: Alex and Bartholomew’s Notes have extensive updates on Paul Staines, the cold war libertarian far right and its apartheid era South African connections.

Comments

[Tim Ireland]

"I think it’s an inevitable result of what happens when politics meets blogging"

Curse me and my optimism.

:o)

There's more evidence of creepy intimidation to come. A right-wing blogger who shall - for now - remain nameless has been sending me emails about their intention to track down my (unlisted) number and call me at home.