george galloway on celebrity big brother

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
Lichen said:
That's very funny, but do you really think he was about to say the j word?

no, that's what he intended to say, but the realisation that maybe he shouldn't be referring to misfortunes in water dawned on him a little too late for him to stop the sentence.
 

bassnation

the abyss
k-punk said:
there's no doubt about it, he has been hounded by the press who yes have engaged in an unpleasant homophobic witch-hunt-- but it would be hard to argue that cocaine-snorting philanderer and adulterer Barrymore was more sinned agains than sinning. After all, most of the allegations against Barrymore, unlike those against GG, have been substantiated.

i find this point hard to get my head around.

how come barrymores accusations in the tabloid press outweigh georges? barrymore had gay sex and took drugs. big deal, lots of people do that every weekend. as for adultery - well no-ones perfect. it goes on a lot in real life you know. and as for the lubbock incident, does anyone believe, even for a split second, that barrymore drugged and raped him and afterwards drowned him in the pool?

as far as i can see, all of the accusations against barrymore either concern baseless speculation (lot in common with george that regard) or personal problems.

as you rightly point out, the tabloid coverage as been homophobic, prurient and its hardly in the public interest - unlike the allegations levelled against george, smear or no smear.

he might be troubled and a blithering idiot at times but hes human just like the rest of us. sometimes i don't feel that about george galloway.
 

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
I'm frankly stunned that anyone who has watched the show for more than a few minutes (and who isn't a neo-con propagandist) wasn't cheering Galloway to the rafters last night. Tho perhaps the popularity of boring, stupid, conservative, witless, adonyne Maggot/Chantelle/Preston tells you something about why New Labour keep getting elected.

Dignified exit though, unruffled by the cat thing (you'd think he'd sold arms to dictators or bombed children wouldn't you, the way that episode has been reported). Appalling interview by Davina, though. Time for her to retire.
 

bassnation

the abyss
k-punk said:
I'm frankly stunned that anyone who has watched the show for more than a few minutes (and who isn't a neo-con propagandist) wasn't cheering Galloway to the rafters last night. Tho perhaps the popularity of boring, stupid, conservative, witless, adonyne Maggot/Chantelle/Preston tells you something about why New Labour keep getting elected.

i want pete to win.
 
k-punk said:
I'm frankly stunned that anyone who has watched the show for more than a few minutes (and who isn't a neo-con propagandist) wasn't cheering Galloway to the rafters last night.

Because he's an enormous bore with a limited range of verbal tics, a toadlike demeanour, monotonous delivery and a Churchill complex?
 

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
bassnation said:
as you rightly point out, the tabloid coverage as been homophobic, prurient and its hardly in the public interest - unlike the allegations levelled against george, smear or no smear.

I'm having trouble getting my head around this logic. State-sponsored smears, which have been shown time and again to be baseless, are in the public interest? How is that?

Point is, the tabloid stories about Barrymore were denied by him in a pathetic bid to keep his lite entertainment career alive - but they were true. No-one is seriously suggesting that he personally raped and killed Lubbock, but he refused to give evidence about the incident so he could avoid being jailed for drug use.

The accusations against Galloway, on the other hand, have conspicuously failed to produce any supporting evidence, despite the best efforts of the most vicious press in the world, supported by the most powerful government in the world and its lickspittle poodle.
 

bassnation

the abyss
HMGovt said:
I would rather see Pete beaten into a sobbing jelly by the other inmates armed only with soap bars in pillow cases, a la Pile in Full Metal Jacket.

A narcissistic sociopath - nice combination.

wicked entertainment value though.
 

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
HMGovt said:
Because he's an enormous bore with a limited range of verbal tics, a toadlike demeanour, monotonous delivery and a Churchill complex?

verbal tics - way more beautifully wrought off the cuff sentences in the last two weeks than most politicians manage in a scripted lifetime

toadlike demeanour - not worth commenting on

monotonous delivery - he has a beautiful voice; I know I'm not the only one who thinks he could have a second career doing audio books like a shot... :)

Churchill complex - somehow doubt that he aspires to be the man who sent tanks in to break strikes
 

bassnation

the abyss
k-punk said:
I'm having trouble getting my head around this logic. State-sponsored smears, which have been shown time and again to be baseless, are in the public interest? How is that?

Point is, the tabloid stories about Barrymore were denied by him in a pathetic bid to keep his lite entertainment career alive - but they were true. No-one is seriously suggesting that he personally raped and killed Lubbock, but he refused to give evidence about the incident so he could avoid being jailed for drug use.

i think a lot of people would have avoided incriminating themselves. yeah its cowardly and hes deeply flawed but he doesn't come across like a conniving calculating automaton. george is easily as narcisstic as barrymore - in fact they all are (apart from maggot maybe) - they are celebrities!

proven or disproven (i don't believe them personally), the allegations against galloway by their very nature are in the public interest.
 
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k-punk

Spectres of Mark
HMGovt said:
The defence of Galloway by his fellow travellers has a lot in common with the defence of homophobic dancehall artists by tunnel-visored reggae fanboys.

The attacks on Galloway have a lot in common with kneejerk tabloid witch hunts.

Scratch that, they are PART of kneejerk tabloid witch hunts.

Double standards - Barrymore's bizarre behaviour is to be excused because he's 'only human'. No such latitude for George. I ask again... what are his great sins? So he over-reacted, he was a little petty and testy at times. Big deal. How is that equivalent to homophobia?
 

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
bassnation said:
proven or disproven (i don't believe them personally), the allegations against galloway by their very nature are in the public interest.

(picks jaw up off floor)

are you really sure you want to say that?
 

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
bassnation said:
george is easily as narcisstic as barrymore

I'll accept that if you can cite one conversation Barrymore had which (a) either didn't concern himself or (b) that he didn't treat as an occasion for one of his cringe-inducing time-for-my-close-up Mr DeMille routines.
 

k-punk

Spectres of Mark
Another point: it occurs to me that the reason that Barrymore has public sympathy while Galloway largely doesn't is simply because Barrymore happily and cynically plays the role of the victim when it suits him. Look at what he did to Jodie Marsh - how did he suddenly become the arbiter of what 'bullying' is. (Incidentally, one of the most distressing aspects of this series has been the pathetic trivializing of the term 'bullying'.)
 

bassnation

the abyss
k-punk said:
(picks jaw up off floor)

are you really sure you want to say that?

no, not really - more into defending barrymore over his personal transgressions rather than attacking galloway, to be honest.

i have my doubts about galloway but they are more to do with his personal ambition and a general mistrust of politicians no matter what the creed. i agree that if they had any hard evidence it would have been out by now.
 

PeteUM

It's all grist
bassnation said:
yeah, seconded. hes funny, utterly cynical and sharp.


For sure, which makes his sociopathic behaviour pretty good TV when it's only other flawed B, C and D-list celebs he's bullying. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end, though. Imagine you're in a post-apocalyptic survival scenario, and it's just Bassnation and Burns in the nuclear bunker. Food supplies are down to just two days worth and you've drawn the short straw to go out and forage. You return empty-handed and in despair, and are confronted with Pete snarfing down the last few crumbs, fag in the other hand. He'd be like: "Well you can take that look off your face for a start."

Still, I don't doubt he had a tough upbringing. Kids must have given him a lot of stick for those lips.
 
D

droid

Guest
k-punk said:
I'm frankly stunned that anyone who has watched the show for more than a few minutes (and who isn't a neo-con propagandist) wasn't cheering Galloway to the rafters last night. Tho perhaps the popularity of boring, stupid, conservative, witless, adonyne Maggot/Chantelle/Preston tells you something about why New Labour keep getting elected.

Thats a ridiculous statement. I for one am well aware of the smear campaign against Galloway, and am politically sympathetic to his views, but most of your defense of him seems to rest on the subjective asertions that his opponents are 'witless'/'stupid'/'narcissistic' have 'sneaky eyes' etc.., or based on pre-judgements made about their character based on events prior to them entering the house. These are exactly the kind of attacks you reject when they are are levelled at Galloway.

Ive watched a few hours of this each week, and I agree that theyre all flawed characters. I dont disagree with many of your statements about Barrymore - his performance in the first week or so was disgraceful... But none of this contradicts the evidence that Galloway has, on several occassions, used his orational skills to pompously and sanctimoniusly bully the others on ridiculously petty pretexts in order to right some percieved personal aggrievement, or simply for the pleasure of 'vanquishing his enemies'. His silly display of outrage at Preston the 'plutocrat' just cracked me up... 'I would simply stand in ther middle of the room, protest at being held under duress, and not eat, drink or smoke anything'... unbelieveably pompous and almost certainly bullshit.

This has no bearing on my political perception of him of course, but, I have to say that many of the accusations against his personality and character seem to bear more weight in light of his behaviour on BB.

Yknow - just because someone has been unfairly attacked in the past, it doesnt mean that every attack against them is automatically unfair, or the work of 'neo-con propagandists'... :confused:
 
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