Conservatism may still be strugging to regain a meaningful presence in the United Kingdom but boy is it alive and well in Iran! he BBC’s bizarre obsession with the alleged forces of conservatism in Iran reappears today in its coverage of the Iranian parliamentary elections. This time round though it’s not the 13th Iman’s dining pal and holocaust denier President Ahmadinejad that is the “conservative” – no, it turns out that it is his critics – the uber-fascists – that are now designated “conservatives”! It’s as if the BBC staff-writers have set themselves the objective of labelling the biggest Islamofascists around as “conservatives” in some puerile attempt to demonise that very term. The radical Islamist regime that pollutes Iran can be called many things but as I said yesterday, and as I repeat today, it is in no way conservative. The international left of centre MSM of which the BBC is such a central element, may seek to designate the term conservatism to the Khomeini legacy but the truth is that it is a Nazi-like Islamic theocratic tyranny which curiously enough has created close links with favoured LEFTIST regimes such as Venezuela and Cuba. How long before Hugo Chavez is defined as a leading conservative politician?
David Cameron to relocate to Iran?
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AYA said ridiculously:
“Wrong. They used the word ‘conservative’, not ‘Conservative’. The old-school Communists wanted to conserve things. The Perestroika-types wanted reform. What you are doing is vainly trying to apply British political terms to entirely different political system”
Naturally, you miss the whole point of this thread!!!
The argument, is not whether the term “conservative” can be used to describe these groups, but, WHY the BBC CHOOSE to use it, when there are many OTHER ACCURATE alternatives. Such as calling Communists, COMMUNISTS! or hardliners or anti-reformists or whatever.
Like I said, it is subliminal messaging using very deliberate word association to connect the word “conservative” with political nastiness.
The BBC have a very carefully crafted Lexicon.
I’ve been in several meetings with Yentob where he has stopped everything and said ‘Shhh – it’s the Palace’. I always thought he was just showing off, but now thanks to Atlas Shrugged, I realise he was receiving orders…
Atlas Shrugged I think there may be a mysterious institution called ‘The Ivy’ which is part of the same ‘New World Order’ global conspiracy. Can you tell us anything about it?
“Like I said, it is subliminal messaging using very deliberate word association to connect the word “conservative” with political nastiness.”
And like I said, that is pure speculation.
If you can offer something concrete then go right ahead, otherwise we may as well be talking about faries and goblins.
Mr Minit
I don’t know what the BBC’s intentions are but to use the word “conservative” to describe say Lord Howe, Neo-stalinist communists, and the Iranian Council of Guardians, is to make this word carry so much excess baggage as to become virtually meaningless.
I also wonder why, when the word “Fascist” can be used to accurately describe some Middle Eastern regimes, it is so totally absent from BBC commentary?
Context, loyalty and the meaning of complex concepts like “conservative” all have a bearing on this discussion. In the context of British politics, nobody can deny with a straight face that the BBC’s loyalty is firmly in the Labour camp. So when the BBC thinks “conservative” here, whether with a big or small “c”, it associates it with dull, unimaginative, unadventurous, selfish, right-wing and even racist. In short, a negative attitude to the concept.
On the other hand, in the context of Iranian politics, nobody can deny with a straight face that the BBC’s loyalty is firmly in the Mullah’s camp. So when the BBC thinks “conservative” here, it associates it with being resistant to change that would adversely affect the revolution and endanger the Islamic republic by empowering someone like the pro-Western Shah. In short, a positive attitude to the concept.
This bias would be bad enough if the Mullahs and the Tories occupied roughly the same position on a chart ranging from barbarism to the pinnacle of civilisation. They don’t. In fact, the Mullahs are practically falling off the barbaric end of the chart, while BBC hacks, most of whom have their roots in Western civilisation, nevertheless do everything they can to obfuscate and minimise this barbarity.
And the pro-BBC crew here can really tell us with a straight face that they don’t understand why we hold the BBC in contempt?
Bryan:
And the pro-BBC crew here can really tell us with a straight face that they don’t understand why we hold the BBC in contempt?
And that is the key to it. You hold the BBC in contempt and are therefore open to the idiotic suggestion that the BBC is misusing the c-word out of a weird and unexplained devotion to the mullahs.
Sorry to be repetitive on this, but ask yourselves why all of the world’s media, including avowedly conservative organs, also use the word in the same way.
They can’t all be shilling for Teheran. Or can they?
“in the context of Iranian politics, nobody can deny with a straight face that the BBC’s loyalty is firmly in the Mullah’s camp”
I don’t think that’s true at all. I think the Beeb plays Iran pretty much down the middle. Which might be biased if you see the current setup as irredeemably evil but is different from active support of a ‘camp’.
Another way of looking at the BBC’s Middle East coverage is to imagine broadcasts about Crufts which were liberally splattered with “animal”, “mammal”, “four legged friend” etc, but never used the word “dog”!
It’s laughable to use ‘conservative’ when describing a political regime. In the context of western politics, conservatism has less to do with conserving the status quo than supporting the free market. So calling the current Iranian regime is misleading. Since Castro’s regime has ruled Cuba for decades, is it conservative then?
I thought the BBC is here to educate us. If it isn’t biased, it is at least misinforming people.
Congratulations to the Tories for winning big in the recent Iranian elections.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7297923.stm
You hold the BBC in contempt and are therefore open to the idiotic suggestion that the BBC is misusing the c-word out of a weird and unexplained devotion to the mullahs.
You have it arse about face, Hillhunt. The BBC’s long history of minimising and covering up for Iranian evil came well before my contempt. I’m also prepared to be uncontemptuous of the BBC when I feel they have got it right.
Now I could present a mountain of evidence here beginning with the portrayal on CBBC (the BBC loves to get them young) of the Ayatollah Khomeini, that old terrorist thug, almost as a grandfatherly sort of figure, to a talk show where high-ranking Iranian officials spewed hatred against Israelis while the BBC host sat in respectful silence, to the censoring of anti-Iran comments on Have Your Say, to the careful tiptoeing-on-eggshells articles that the BBC dhimmies write about Iran, but I’ll leave you to do your own research, if you really want to find out what’s going on here rather than insisting that the BBC is not allied to evil.
I think the Beeb plays Iran pretty much down the middle.
Cockney | 17.03.08 – 11:47 am.
That’s precisely what the BBC wants us to think. The problem is, there is no middle ground here. You either cover up for evil, or you confront it. Like all good dhimmies, the BBC has chosen to cover up for it.
An Iranian guy used to comment on this site. His contempt for the BBC made my attitude seem benign by comparison.
Bryan:
That’s precisely what the BBC wants us to think. The problem is, there is no middle ground here. You either cover up for evil, or you confront it.
Indeed. Yet, somehow, I can’t see how worrying yourself sick about whether the BBC is entitled to use the c-word (when everyone from the JP to Sky News is already doing so) is enough to see off the mullahs.
Since when was a news report of an election (whose weaknesses are made clear to viewers) an opportunity to cover up for evil?
And if it is, why aren’t you bashing Rupert Murdoch over the head? His outlets have been running rampant with the c-word, too.
Save yourself from future embarrassment: Buy yourself a reliable dictionary.
Lexicophobia: It’s an epidemic
Lapse into your default mode of sarcasm and insult and I wont bother debating with you.