7 May, 2008...11:45 am
Bolta’s big boo-boo
Guest post by Bridgit Gread
The West Australian has responded to the Buswell chair affair with a little get-even dirt-digging. The West Oz’s journos had to delve back to 2004 to find anything of note: a boozy ALP function where Labor premier Alan Carpenter allegedly lifted the top of MP Jaye Radisich and exposed her bra.
‘Commenting‘ on the story, Andrew Bolt just can’t help himself and engages in the kind of base sexism and personal denigration we’ve come to expect from certain low-brow bloggers. He inserts the above pic as ‘ftgg.bmp‘ (as all sub-editors would know filenames for pictures are rarely random; draw your own conclusions what it might mean) and captions it with:
I suspect that [WA Labor MP Jaye] Radisich would certainly have noticed had [WA premier Alan] Carpenter attempted the job of lifting her top.
The Boltmeister then goes on to suggest that Carpenter’s alleged bra-lifting is actually worse than Buswell’s chair-sniffing because it is more “direct”, whereas Buswell was just “alarmingly inventive”. How cute. And all this moralising is predicated on an event that Carpenter denies, Radisich has never mentioned let alone complained about, and staff at the aforementioned function apparently did not witness. Not that either Bolta or the West Oz are likely to let the facts get in the way of a good smear job.
11 Comments
7 May, 2008 at 12:01 pm
That’s Bolt’s blog exists is one thing; that it’s officially part of a major Australian newspaper is a disgrace.
7 May, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Some of my favourite comments:
1. OldOzzie
Alan Carpenter must have been really drunk to have lifted her blouse, but there seems to be one standard for Labor by the Mainstream Media, that it is all just fun, like Kevin Rudd at Scores, “I might have touched but I did not inhale.”
The Labor Party defends Cretins like Labor MP Milton Orkopoulos.
What a lovely group the Labor Party is.
2.acs
Ok, ok folks. What am I missing here?
I assumed the woman was no longer in the chair. Clearly I may be wrong about that.
If she was in the chair, then, yes of course this is inappropriate. Bra snapping is far far worse, because it is a bodily violation.
Not sure what ideology is supposed to be blinding me. But it is more than obvious that many feminists have not called for sacking of Labor members around the country who have behaved inappropriately towards women, yet they scream when it is a Liberal member.
Do a search of Andrew’s blog. You will find that he has had several posts saying exactly this.
3. Jack
Well Oreskes Rachel, you live in such a narrow world. Are you still a virgin? Or have a henpecked husband afraid to touch you for fear of being threatened with assault?
Thank God, the world is not full of Roundheads like you; you live in such a narrow grey world.
I bet you could go to any number of footy parties and see similar things or rodeos or car or bike races.
Sure it was a gauche act for someone aspiring to be a Premier. But you make out he should apologize for being a man and suprise surprise, a lot of women like manly men, not castrated effeminate fops you give approval to.
Sniffing a chair is not being manly, just oafish humour, but facing up later was, Your mate Carpenter is denying and blaming everyone else and acting like a gutless male feminist.
Buswell harmed no-one except himself, impressed no-one.
So futher stories are forthcoming are they? then let them rip, entertain us. If he is a flawed character then we should know. If not , then your innuendo is an indication of your flawed character.
… the above are from the first page only …
8 May, 2008 at 9:45 am
It really is the dregs of humanity on Bolt’s comments pages…
8 May, 2008 at 12:50 pm
What does “ftgg” mean?
Is this really the best we can do to debate the arguments that Bolt presents.
When do we actually get to address the points he makes?
8 May, 2008 at 1:28 pm
infidel - go for it.
My view is that Andrew is one to hide behind other commentators and use their views as his own or slant others comments to create an opinion. Even when the opinion has been refuted and is down right incorrect.
He works on the “throw enough mud and some of it will stick” angle of commentary (i don’t think he is a journalist as he rarely fact checks)
8 May, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Duuude the guy sniffed a faarking chair. eeewwww. If a guy did that at any place I have worked he would be sacked.
9 May, 2008 at 9:42 am
Funny how they can condemn Rudd for his strip club visit (which is, unfortunately pretty nomal for a bunch of drunk blokes) and Carpenter’s phantom bra snapping in the same breath as justifying Buswell for sniffing a chair (naasty)
Its an example of the schitzophrenia of the Right, and the Boltheads in particular.
They seem to be able to hold two totally contradictory ideas in their heads at the same time AND BELIEVE BOTH OF THEM!
9 May, 2008 at 10:53 am
There was one poster who really put up a good fight in there. i tips my hat to ‘Rachel’ who countered the argument about who was worse between Rudd visiting a strip club for 5 mins vs Buswell repeatedly sniffing the chair and making sexual noises… The Boltites have little comeback aginst some of the reasoned and sensible arguments she has made other than calling her names as per #3 response i listed above.
10 May, 2008 at 11:13 am
What crack is Andrew smoking? I think the words “alarmingly inventive” can be used to describe Bolts blog of ignorance.
10 May, 2008 at 8:04 pm
spot on dam buster. bolt hides behind his conga line of suckhole commentators, and in the process colludes with those who spew forth sexist crap. there’s something blatantly 2-faced about throwing a non-committal backhanded slapdown to the wa libs while at the same time not stepping in to moderate or admonish some of the more outrageously sexist posts on his blog. what i have noticed is he is ruthles with moderating anything remotely homophobic, but lets commentators be as sexist or racist as they can be with women, aboriginals, muslims and so on. one can only wonder why?
10 May, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I didn’t realise columnists did the image-insertion themselves. In that case why is he cluttering the News Ltd servers up with .bmp files? doesn’t anyone train these people?
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