Nelson Mandela - 'murdering Old Terrorist'

[sp1814]

...according to Nick Griffin

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/09/nick-griffin-insults-nelson-mandela_n_3410608.html

Who also charmingly cracked the following witticism:

'No surprise #Mandela’s lungs are shot - all those burning tyres. Smoking necklaces very bad for the health.’

Remember earlier this year after Thatcher died, and those who raised criticisms about her premiership were told that they were being disrespectful? Should the same apply to commentators on the political right, especially when the subject is still alive?

Or is this all fair comment?

[FredPuli43]

Quite, aog. Some things are so predictable ! And it's rarely Stalin who gets cited before Hitler.

[Epona]

AOG wrote
//I decided to leave it up to the intelligence of the reader to make such exceptions, obviously I failed this one time.//

what a highly 'unintelligent' rhetoric AOG. Perhaps I could suggest you should have written '' Apart from the obvious exceptions, respect should be shown no matter what. '' Therefore clarifying, for those subscribers less intelligent and clairvoyant, what exactly you are trying to say.

[chrisgel]

//Should he have carried on protesting peacefully when all it achieved was nothing?//
Ghandi, Martin Luther King.

[ToraToraTora]

Well the Vitriol poured forth when MrsT passed, I'd say you'd have to expect a return of serve. I suppose it must be a surprise to those that think of Mandela as a saint that there are those who have a different view.

[Kromovaracun]

Frankly,I disagree with the principal of obligatory respect upon the death of any public figure. Any criticisms made of them will be no different really from those made throughout the deceased's life. I found the shotgun-sycophancy of the Thatcher funeral disturbing and rather pathetic, and I feel the same towards Nelson Mandela.

These people are public figures, and the fact that they have died or are dying does not change my opinion of them. It's their status as icons or political entities which gets debated - and I don't really see that it's much more damaging to families to do so when they die than to do so when they are alive.

[anotheoldgit]

Epona

Like I said, "I failed this one time".

[jim360]

Yes, chris, I was thinking of Gandhi even as I typed it. On the other hand there was the qualifying phrase "...all it achieved was nothing."

[Epona]

AOG, if it makes you feel better, I feel totally devastated you feel you have failed. If you need to talk I am here for you 'hugs' ......LOL!

[ichkeria]

Depends on the nature of the criticism and the crudeness with which it is expressed. In my view Griffin exposes himself as a bitter little racist with his comments, but it is good that we should be reminded of the nature of the beast.

I don't see that it is hypocritical to disagree with his comments while making outspoken comments about, say, Thatcher, or indeed vice versa. As long as the criticism is not along the lines of "You shouldn't ever make nasty remarks about anyone" in which case plainly it IS hypocritical.

[anotheoldgit]

Kromovaracun

It's called respect for the dead.

If one is invited to a person's funeral, one is not being an hypocrite by attending if they dislike the deceased for some reason, neither would it be correct to stand up and relay to those assembled why one disliked the deceased.

[Kromovaracun]

But we're not talking about going to a private funeral and urinating on the casket or being otherwise disruptive - we're talking about how a person is discussed in the public sphere as a political icon. I don't see that a person's death should alter that.

[anotheoldgit]

Epona

This was the passage I was referring to,

//I decided to leave it up to the intelligence of the reader to make such exceptions, obviously I failed this one time.//

when I put /// Like I said, "I failed this one time" ///.

But it would seem that for the second time you seem unable to reason the obvious.

[jim360]

AOG - if you weren't being so sarky and smug and holier-than-thou all the time I might actually have agreed with you for a change.

[anotheoldgit]

Kromovaracun

Yes, but surely it achieves nothing by continuing to speak ill of a person when they have died, much better to say nothing if one has nothing good to say about them.

[anotheoldgit]

jim360

/// AOG - if you weren't being so sarky and smug and holier-than-thou all the time I might actually have agreed with you for a change. ///

I am sorry if I give you that impression, but that is not my intention, but I do have to retaliate when I am similarly attacked.

[friedgreentomato]

One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter

[ichkeria]

"Yes, but surely it achieves nothing by continuing to speak ill of a person when they have died, much better to say nothing if one has nothing good to say about them. "

Well, I don't agree for one. Bearing in mind also that if you aren't careful your remarks will sometimes say more about you than about the person you are talking about which is certainly the case with Nick Griffin here.

[Kromovaracun]

"Yes, but surely it achieves nothing by continuing to speak ill of a person when they have died, much better to say nothing if one has nothing good to say about them."

I don't really care what it achieves to be honest. In the public sphere, people should have the right to say what they please - including if other people find it distasteful. And personally, I don't think debating the legacy or actions of political figures is a futile or unworthy exercise.

[ichkeria]

"I am guessing that there won't be as many parties in the street when Nelson's dies. I don't know what that means, if anything. "

I guess it means that there are fewer communities in Britain blighted by Mandelaism than by Thatcherism :-)