Why is Jeremy Hardy Such a Cunt
JOAN SIMS
Oxymel of Squill
I blame the audience....
One of his jokes was that Gibraltar should be governed by Spain because it's
closer to Spain than it is to "Ethexth". The oddness was that people
laughed at this as if it were some insightful apercu rather than laughing at
the logic which led to such a bizarre statement. It is after all the logic
of Hitler when he decided that Poland was sufficiently close that it ought
to be ruled from Berlin. So it's quite a funny line, but not in the way that
JH meant it nor in the way that the non-paying BBC audience received it.
The man is a retailer of trivial giggles but lacks the depth to deserve air
time on national radio.
"JOAN SIMS" <ryuyu...@hjhsfda.com> wrote in message
news:2qoehgF...@uni-berlin.de...
> Why?
>
>
GMK
"Oxymel of Squill" <j...@quisquis.co.uk> wrote in message
news:2qp7fmF...@uni-berlin.de...
> it's his only talent
>
> I blame the audience....
>
> One of his jokes was that Gibraltar should be governed by Spain because
> it's
> closer to Spain than it is to "Ethexth". The oddness was that people
> laughed at this as if it were some insightful apercu rather than laughing
> at
> the logic which led to such a bizarre statement. It is after all the logic
> of Hitler when he decided that Poland was sufficiently close that it ought
> to be ruled from Berlin. So it's quite a funny line, but not in the way
> that
> JH meant it nor in the way that the non-paying BBC audience received it.
>
> The man is a retailer of trivial giggles but lacks the depth to deserve
> air
> time on national radio.
While I agree on your general point and he is sometimes a tad annoying I
think he is good enough to have his own prog on r4.
It would also be nice to have some comedians who have more of a, non IRA
supporting, right wing bias (NOT DAVIDSON) to even up the balance.,
G
>
> >
>
Charles Hawtrey
His BBC gigs are shurely because he's wanky left incarnate? Did you see his
whining, student union, anti-english diatribes on Grump Old Men?
GMK
> His BBC gigs are shurely because he's wanky left incarnate? Did you see
> his
> whining, student union, anti-english diatribes on Grump Old Men?
>
G
Charles Hawtrey
GMK
"Charles Hawtrey" <p...@k.com> wrote in message
news:2qql06F...@uni-berlin.de...
Charles Hawtrey
hee- you hypocritical twerp.
GMK
Dave xxxxx
> Why?
http://www.catharton.com/jeremyhardy/
Why I hate Jeremy Hardy (a bit)
First of all, this is not:
- an attack on Jeremy Hardy's humour
As a matter of fact, he's one of my favourite comedians. Like Stephen Fry,
Alexei Sayle or Eddie Izzard, he's one of those rare, naturally funny people
who make every interview or feature they appear in worth catching. I think
he's a very very very good funnyman and satirist. I'm only doing this page
because he brings his politics into his humour so directly and so seriously,
so here I am, taking it seriously.
- an attack on socialism, communism or any other political or economic
system
I'm not in any way against anyone having socialist views, and I'm not
writing this because I agree or disagree with them. (If you really want to
know my views on socialism, or indeed communism, it's that they have never
been properly attempted by a competent government with the regular consent
of the people. It's not that the jury is still out on socialism, it's that
they haven't even got up for breakfast on the first day of the trial.)
What upsets me often enough for me to bother with this site is Jeremy
Hardy's use of logic to back up his political and social views, which can
sometimes range from simple-minded idiocy right the way through to what is
verging on the dangerous. It's all the more frustrating because the guy's
really funny and clearly very intelligent and articulate. A similar case is
that of Patrick Moore, the brilliantly eccentric and unpretentious
astronomer who would be by far the best loved scientist in the country were
it not for his lapses into racism and calls to 'first look after your own',
whatever that means.
Anyhow, back to Jeremy.
The best example I can remember gnashing my teeth to is when he was
discussing the war in Afghanistan during late 2001. Once again, I'm not
defending or attacking the bombing, just Jeremy's reasoning. It was on Radio
4, and I think it was the News Quiz. He was remarking that when he
complained about the American bombing, people would say to him 'Well, what's
the alternative?'. He gave an example which for some reason has continued to
keep me spontaneously giggling to this day, about creeping downstairs in the
middle of the night to find a man having sex with the video recorder,
screaming 'What's the alternative?'. Oh heck, I laughed at that until
orangeade started coming out of my nose... oh heck. In fact it's probably
quite disturbing that I found it so funny. Oh well, the point Jeremy was
making was that if he finds something morally repugnant, he doesn't have to
come up with an alternative, the injustice is reason enough for him to
complain. This is pretty much the thread running through a lot of his
criticism of the way the world works.
Seem reasonable?
Well, no, not really. In fact it's a terrible way of approaching politics. I
mean, imagine if you started seeing leaflets like this handed out at
festivals:
Stop the slaughter! Close the hospitals!
Last year the government, in association with the multi-national drug
companies, spent hundreds of billions of pounds of our money on the
state-controlled hospital network.
Hospitals and the NHS:
- have allowed mass murderers like Harold Shipman to kill hundreds of
vulnerable, elderly people.
- cause the unnecessary deaths of thousands of people every year, far
more than many of the diseases they purport to 'treat'.
- pollute the environment with radioactive material from discarded
equipment.
- encourage and infect people with 'superbugs', dangerous diseases
which can kill people in weeks, and which wouldn't exist if the
multinationals and their cronies in the health service hadn't pumped people
full of antibiotics.
- cut people off from their friends and family, sometimes against
their will, and often force their so-called 'treatments' on children without
the consent of their parents.
No one lives forever, let people survive as they have done for
thousands of years. The body has its own natural resistance to disease. We
must stop filling people with expensive chemicals for the benefit of drug
company shareholders!
End the madness! Close the hospitals!
Even though the facts in the leaflet are correct, the whole thing's insane
because it follows Hardy's logic, where you only need to find a single fault
in order to totally condemn something and demand its abolition.
Another thing which I feel is misguided is that his views can be promoted by
attacking a government. To me, this is like attacking the bullets flying
towards you instead of the gun or the person holding it.
As an example, let's take Britain. The voters (assuming you're in favour of
democracy) of the UK elected Margaret Thatcher, the most right wing post-war
Prime Minister, three times in a row, and then elected her chosen successor.
Labour leaders Kinnock, Smith and Blair all went up in the opinion polls as
they moved away from overt socialism and began to flaunt more right-wing
policies. The most right-wing, Blair, won two consecutive landslide
victories. Blair's disgraced mate Peter Mandelson beat distinguished Trade
Unionist Arthur Scargill in a relatively left-wing seat in 2001.
Far-left voters are probably in a minority in the country at the moment.
Socialist parties poll negligible amounts. Even if you toppled one
centre-right or centre-left government, the voters have so far just replaced
it with another, like Pepsi replacing Coke.
This would seem to leave two alternatives if you want to govern a country
under a philosophy not held by the electorate:
- impose a government on an unwilling population by force, i.e. fascism.
- convince the electorate to change their views.
The second option is difficult, and could take a long time, which may be why
a lot of people prefer protests and criticism. It's easy to say what's
wrong, but difficult to say what would be better.
As a personal example, I'm quite pro public transport, I think too many
people rely on the car and I despise the effects of this in terms of
poisoned air, greenhouse gases and the thousands of people killed on the
roads. However, I wouldn't blame Ford or BMW for this mess. Even if I
convinced everyone they were a load of corrupt bastards, and managed to get
them shut down, this wouldn't really advance my cause because people would
just buy more Mercedes, Citroens and Volkswagens. If they all shut down,
Skoda, Honda etc etc would take their place. The companies are not the
problem, the real problem is the demand that creates and sustains them.
Instead, I give money to groups that try to convince the public not to use
cars as often, to promote congestion charging and speed cameras, and lobby
for the diversion of traffic and petrol taxes into funding of trains, buses
and trams. There are countries where this has worked.
If Jeremy really does believe in the views he expresses so often, why isn't
he trying to promote them as a viable alternative to how things are now?
He's a bright, likeable and charismatic (sort of!) guy with ready access to
all kinds of media. He's on the radio, the TV, in the papers. He's got
websites devoted to him. It's all there, set up for him. When people say
'What's the alternative?', that isn't necessarily a criticism, they might
actually be wanting to be told what is an alternative. If you can't come up
with one, you have to ask if one exists at all.
comments - pat...@catharton.com
--
Dave xxxx
www.davewhitter.myby.co.uk
Music is Art - Audio is Engineering
Steam is Fun
dave blacker
I wonder how long you'd have to wait for a R4 comedy show from someone
who's as far to the Right as Jeremy Hardy is to the left? In
centuries?
Jim Watt
>
> I blame the audience....
>
> One of his jokes was that Gibraltar should be governed by Spain because it's
> closer to Spain than it is to "Ethexth".
To dispel any doubt Gibraltar could not, in practice, be governed by
Spain.
In view of that absurd statement the title accorded in the message
subject is over generous.
--
Jim Watt
www.gibnet.com
Sam Nelson
dbl4...@hotmail.com says...
> "Oxymel of Squill" <j...@quisquis.co.uk> wrote in message news:<2qp7fmF...@uni-berlin.de>...
> > it's his only talent
> >
> > I blame the audience....
> >
> > One of his jokes was that Gibraltar should be governed by Spain because it's
> > closer to Spain than it is to "Ethexth". The oddness was that people
> > laughed at this as if it were some insightful apercu rather than laughing at
> > the logic which led to such a bizarre statement. It is after all the logic
> > of Hitler when he decided that Poland was sufficiently close that it ought
> > to be ruled from Berlin.
Godwin!
> I wonder how long you'd have to wait for a R4 comedy show from someone
> who's as far to the Right as Jeremy Hardy is to the left? In
> centuries?
As they applied, you'd have to filter for any vestige of a sense of
humour, then for capability to communicate coherently. I can see that
taking quite a while, so I can only agree with you.
--
SAm.
Jim Dale
"Sam Nelson" <s...@ssrl.org.uk> wrote in message
news:MPG.1bb29131a...@news.zen.co.uk...
>
>
> As they applied, you'd have to filter for any vestige of a sense of
> humour, then for capability to communicate coherently. I can see that
> taking quite a while, so I can only agree with you.
> --
> SAm.
Here's a good example of one of the big, smug self-delusions of the average
wanky lefter (Sam is a textbook case): 'oh you see only lefties are funny.'
I make honourable example mention of: Waugh, Amis Snr, Wodehouse, Dr
Johnson, Saki, Peter Sellers; all of whom were philosophically conservative
if not in some cases downright reactionary. And Peter Cook, it should be
noted, made no secret of voting Tory, at least in the 90s. So shut up. I'm
sure there are many. The BBC only puts the vile Jim Davidson on to make
people like Jeremy Hardy look good.
ROBBIE
Jim Dale
"Dave xxxxx" <davew...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:7o_1d.1036$Tt6.12...@news-text.cableinet.net...
Yeah so in other words he's s cunt.
Clive G
JOAN SIMS <ryuyu...@hjhsfda.com> writes
> Why?
Maybe he was bullied at school for having a soppy accent and now seeks
revenge on all things english: his way of soothing the angry child within -
just a guess.
Clive G
Oxymel of Squill <j...@quisquis.co.uk> writes
> it's his only talent
>
> I blame the audience....
>
>
> The man is a retailer of trivial giggles but lacks the depth to
> deserve air time on national radio.
>
Yes, strip out his sarcasm and hyperbole and you're only left with the
politics - and Tony Benn does a better job there.
I always felt that the other panelists on ISIHAC treated him as a bit of a
bad smell.
Sam Nelson
te...@terryconnywaggoner.com says...
>
> "Sam Nelson" <s...@ssrl.org.uk> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1bb29131a...@news.zen.co.uk...
> > As they applied, you'd have to filter for any vestige of a sense of
> > humour, then for capability to communicate coherently. I can see that
> > taking quite a while, so I can only agree with you.
>
> wanky lefter (Sam is a textbook case): 'oh you see only lefties are funny.'
No. I did not write that. What you've quoted proves that.
> I make honourable example mention of: Waugh, Amis Snr, Wodehouse, Dr
> Johnson, Saki, Peter Sellers;
There's nothing at all remotely funny about Johnson: his writing is
riddled with prejudice and pomposity and the quite-possibly deliberate
giving of offence. Wodehouse and Sellers I'll give you: I didn't say
there aren't any funny right-wingers, just that you have to wait.
--
SAm.
Jim Dale
yeah yeah yeah
Don't find Waugh funny? Jesus you're a fucking alien.
George Cox
>
> "Sam Nelson" <s...@ssrl.org.uk> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1bb29131a...@news.zen.co.uk...
> >
> >
> > As they applied, you'd have to filter for any vestige of a sense of
> > humour, then for capability to communicate coherently. I can see that
> > taking quite a while, so I can only agree with you.
> > --
> > SAm.
>
> Here's a good example of one of the big, smug self-delusions of the average
> wanky lefter (Sam is a textbook case): 'oh you see only lefties are funny.'
>
> I make honourable example mention of: Waugh,
Father or son?
Jim Dale
"August West" <aug...@kororaa.co.uk> wrote in message
news:m3d60n....@news2.kororaa.com...
> The entity currently known as Jim Dale wrote:
>
> > Don't find Waugh funny? Jesus you're a fucking alien.
>
that's who i meant.
Jim Dale
"George Cox" <george_...@spambtinternet.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:4148B697...@spambtinternet.com.invalid...
> Jim Dale wrote:
> >
> > "Sam Nelson" <s...@ssrl.org.uk> wrote in message
> > news:MPG.1bb29131a...@news.zen.co.uk...
> > >
> > >
> > > As they applied, you'd have to filter for any vestige of a sense of
> > > humour, then for capability to communicate coherently. I can see that
> > > taking quite a while, so I can only agree with you.
> > > --
> > > SAm.
> >
> > Here's a good example of one of the big, smug self-delusions of the
average
> > wanky lefter (Sam is a textbook case): 'oh you see only lefties are
funny.'
> >
> > I make honourable example mention of: Waugh,
> ^^^^^
> Father or son?
>
Evelyn of COURSE!!
Jim Dale
> In article <2qrgt3F...@uni-berlin.de>,
> te...@terryconnywaggoner.com says...
> >
> > "Sam Nelson" <s...@ssrl.org.uk> wrote in message
> > news:MPG.1bb29131a...@news.zen.co.uk...
> > > As they applied, you'd have to filter for any vestige of a sense of
> > > humour, then for capability to communicate coherently. I can see that
> > > taking quite a while, so I can only agree with you.
> >
> > Here's a good example of one of the big, smug self-delusions of the
average
> > wanky lefter (Sam is a textbook case): 'oh you see only lefties are
funny.'
>
> No. I did not write that. What you've quoted proves that.
>
> > I make honourable example mention of: Waugh, Amis Snr, Wodehouse, Dr
> > Johnson, Saki, Peter Sellers;
>
> There's nothing at all remotely funny about Johnson: his writing is
> riddled with prejudice and pomposity
I find him very funny and full of sturdy common sense.
mik...@gmail.com
Strangled by a Dipole
> Bumping up
>
Trotsky tried to shove a dildo up his arse and missed...
And due to the BBC's 'shove a skirt' policy, his only way of getting on
was to show his cunt to the audience.
