It's been an odd week with talk of sinister dark forces that may be a danger to our way of life.
One unfortunate TD thought the threat was as dangerous as ISIL, but then he had the good sense to withdraw the idea and just blame 'anarchists'.
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This has been the type of commentary proffered since the protests against pretty much everything the government is doing moved up a notch. I do have some sympathy with the idea that people’s justifiable anger is being used by groups that are ambivalent to actual issues and see these turbulent times as a portent of an eternal struggle between ‘them’ and ‘us’. You can add in your own drop down menus for definitions of who is in which camp.
The reality is that class war ain’t happening anywhere here soon. Sorry Joe. Sorry Paul.
At least the people demonstrating are visible. They appear on our screens. Their voices float over the airwaves. I’m sure they appear on thousands of hours of CCTV held by the cops and whoever else is watching them or us.
Derek Mooney and Chris Donoghue. I know one wouldn’t harm a fly and while Derek might dissect one it would be for our own good.
The strange thing is both have had their knuckles well and truly wrapped by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland over how their respective programmes handled the issue of same sex marriage. Both just said they would like to see it happen. But the BAI ruled that there should have been balance. Neither segment was a debate. One was a preview of Pride 2014 while the other was a profile piece on one of Ireland’s favourite newsreaders and his partner. Both would be called colour features. Not hard news but pieces that inform and entertain listeners.
To be fair to the BAI, they were only acting on a complaint by a listener. This is where I become queasy and begin reaching for my own definition of ‘lunatic fringe’.
We all used to laugh at the politician who said there was no sex in Ireland before the Late Late. We hoped we had moved on from the dark days where reactionary forces roamed the country banning books and exiling artists. We seemed to have matured as a society and understand a one size fits all morality causes more trouble than its fixes.
As I write this column and you read it on the Newstalk.com website, neither of us is bound by BAI codes. When I research an item for Lunchtime I am bound by BAI codes. Two simple words can sum that idea up. Common sense. I use it every day. I understand my role. So do my colleagues. We do not foist our own agendas onto listeners. They would see through us.
It’s obvious the BAI failed to use common sense. They interpreted their own codes relating to fairness and objectivity in such a narrow way as to make a mockery of them. There may be need for a debate on how such codes came to be defined so narrowly but, as I pointed out earlier, the BAI would not have made a ruling if it had not received a complaint.
It is obvious that there is a concerted campaign out there to stifle debate on certain ‘moral’ issues. At present it is same sex marriage, but other issues will appear on the chopping shopping list.
Of course, it is anybody’s democratic right to complain, but my mind boggles at the thought that there are people out there with one ear on the radio, one hand flicking through a copy of the BAI codes and one hand on the speed dial button ready to complain.
It’s such a depressing view of life – constantly looking to call on those who oppose you. What is that lyric again?
"It’s a thin line between love and hate."
