Spherical objects (Part 2)
"B*llocks to Blair" read the slogan on somebody's t-shirt. He was asked to
remove it by the police. This was taken up as a great curtailment of freedom
of speech by guests, who included former Tory leader Michael Howard, on BBC
Radio4's Broadcasting House on Sunday (30 April).
Freedom of speech, however, can be exercised without being offensive: nobody is going to have their website taken down for using obscene words; they could also be used in a newsletter without a problem; such language can also be used freely in a public bar; but you do not expect to hear a stream of obscenities in the street. Whether you agree with that or not, you would have thought it would form part of Conservative thinking; but all that seems to count for nothing in the feeding frenzy of hatred for Blair.
It was also said that the word was merely an old English one meaning 'stones'. To which only one response seems appropriate:
Bollocks.
Freedom of speech, however, can be exercised without being offensive: nobody is going to have their website taken down for using obscene words; they could also be used in a newsletter without a problem; such language can also be used freely in a public bar; but you do not expect to hear a stream of obscenities in the street. Whether you agree with that or not, you would have thought it would form part of Conservative thinking; but all that seems to count for nothing in the feeding frenzy of hatred for Blair.
It was also said that the word was merely an old English one meaning 'stones'. To which only one response seems appropriate:
Bollocks.
posted by DavidP at 14:47
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