tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post115386745453927660..comments2024-02-04T09:15:50.839+00:00Comments on Mars Hill: Cally's Kitchen on the Personal Abuse in Politics!Paul Burginhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06718135185726733792noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-1153928618885321862006-07-26T16:43:00.000+01:002006-07-26T16:43:00.000+01:00Does that make it right though!It depends. It's is...<EM>Does that make it right though!</EM><BR/><BR/>It depends. It's is the opposition's democratic duty to point out government abuses and misuses of power and finance, but personal <EM>ad hominem</EM> abuse should of course be avoided.<BR/><BR/>On the question of private life/sexual sleaze, I don't really know. I'm not a moral puritan, but there must surely be a public trust issue if a politician is prepared to betray the trust of his or her spouse. On the other hand, some of the most reknowned politicians in history were known to be serial adulterers.Shaun (editor)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17665336537543006891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-1153914206703313752006-07-26T12:43:00.000+01:002006-07-26T12:43:00.000+01:00No, it doesn't make it right. But when you consid...No, it doesn't make it right. But when you consider how sanctimonious (sp?) particularly Blair and Prescott were about Tory sleaze it's particularly understandable.<BR/><BR/>By the end of the Major government there was such a clamour for sleaze stories from the media, encouraged by certain leading members of the Labour Party it didn't matter who got hurt. And Blair and Prescott lapped it up - remember the 1996 Prescott speech or the pledge to be "whiter than white"? <BR/><BR/>It was the Labour Party who promised that things can only get better - and implicit in that was the behaviour of politicians. When hypocrisy is highlighted the hypocrites have to expect to be criticisedLouisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08040609999717940606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-1153906596241590232006-07-26T10:36:00.000+01:002006-07-26T10:36:00.000+01:00Does that make it right though!Does that make it right though!Paul Burginhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06718135185726733792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-1153904440119659272006-07-26T10:00:00.000+01:002006-07-26T10:00:00.000+01:00I think the schadenfreude that Tory supporters exp...I think the schadenfreude that Tory supporters experience over Labour sleaze arise from the fact that Labour's landslide victory in 1997 was heavily based on an anti-sleaze ticket and the promise to be 'whiter than white' and 'purer than pure'. <BR/>It's a sort of "you used sleaze against us, but you're actually worse, you hypocrites" feeling.Shaun (editor)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17665336537543006891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-1153900636262134912006-07-26T08:57:00.000+01:002006-07-26T08:57:00.000+01:00Fair enough!Fair enough!Paul Burginhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06718135185726733792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13935904.post-1153896250879892872006-07-26T07:44:00.000+01:002006-07-26T07:44:00.000+01:00It doesn't change the meaning of my post, but just...It doesn't change the meaning of my post, but just in case anyone thought you were quoting me inaccurately, I thought I would mention that I have just edited the post. Of the section you quoted, the italicised words have been added, 'how can supporters of the Conservative Party think themselves able <I>to crticise him so freely</I> when...'BCB Webmasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12104810571720682119noreply@blogger.com