In today's news we hear all about the 'Gaff' made by Jeremy Clarkson during an interview in Australia when he called Gordon Brown "A one-eyed Scottish idiot"!
Together with co-hosts James May and the delightful Richard Hammond, Jeremy has made Top Gear the number one automobile programme in the world which has its off spins in many countries. If you have ever watched Jeremy's programme, you will know he is one of the most irreverent presenters on TV. No-one is immune from his remarks, not his guests, his audience, or his co-presenters. His ready wit has endeared him to millions of faithful followers world-wide - and dropped him in more hot water than a teabag.
Today, oh how quick were the maggots crawling out of the woodwork to denounce him. Anyone who had a hankering to be on the news came out and roundly castigated him for his off-the-cuff remark! An English Labour MP, and a Scottish Labour MP who hardly anyone has ever heard of outside of Scotland, and believe it or not, The Royal National Institute for Blind People.
Some MP's just love an excuse to get themselves in the news, but the RNIBP? Come on people, Jeremy never said a word about blind people, his remark was aimed at the P.M. and no-one else! How do you justify saying that all blind people have been insulted by the remark? It's too ridiculous for words!
Most remarkable was the statement issued by the P.M's Office at No. 10 who said, and I quote: Clarkson "is entitled to his own interpretation of the economic circumstances". For this one-liner I take my hat off to Gordon Brown and his people. They at least have a grown-up attitude. I doubt Gordon Brown will be losing any sleep over the remark, which after all was aimed at him personally. I am sure most people who heard it probably had a good laugh and then promptly forgot about it. Thankfully, the BBC also has common sense, as they will not be taking any further action after the apology made by Clarkson.
But is all this really necessary? Whatever happened to Free Speech, that cherished ideal of enlightened nations who are so quick to condemn other nations for its lack? Have we become so narrow-minded and bitter as a society, that all we can do is search for something to complain about.
Comparisons have been made with the Jonathon Ross affair a short time ago, but to my mind, that was different because it was a deliberate attack over a period of several minutes, which caused mental stress in the receiver by making lewd comments about that person's daughter. If anyone said such things about my daughter I'd give them a knuckle sandwich. So there! Ross, to my mind, got off too lightly. Comparing that to Jeremy's off-the-cuff remark, which was in no way premeditated, is outrageous.
Yes, there is a limit to what you can say in public and in the written word, but the basic ideal of free speech means you can give your opinion on any subject, with the proviso, that you cause no physical or mental harm to a person. This is where Ross overstepped the mark, but calling someone an idiot does not, even a one-eyed one!
It's all a storm in a teacup anyway, but it's starting to happen more often that totally unrelated people get in a huff about something that doesn't concern them. Mostly to blame are the Bleeding Heart Pressure Groups that are crawling out of the woodwork and want to be heard. They complain about everything - even golliwogs on jam pots and nursery rhymes.
Bit by bit, they are eroding the civil liberties we all take for granted, and for whom millions have died in past conflicts. If the dead of two World Wars could see what we have become, they would ask: 'What did we give our lives for?'
God help us all!
Roy
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