By The Editor
Cross posted at GrodsCorp
In Bolt’s world there’s Left, there’s Right, and then there’s Bolt.
“…I’m not of the Right or even far Right. I’d certainly say so if I were. Try conservative.”
Reminds me of Andy’s famous Left/Right/Anarchy theory.
…there is no arc between Left and Right – the extremes of both tend to huddle together at the collectivist end of a line that has anarchy at the other. I’m somewhere in the middle, moderate as always, trying to balance the claims of individuality and freedom with the ballast of the collective.
Looks a bit like this.
22 Comments
4 July, 2008 at 2:23 pm
That graph is for the ages.
4 July, 2008 at 4:29 pm
[...] Posted by Tobias Ziegler under Australian politics | Tags: Andrew Bolt, Tim Blair | Happy anniversary, moron: …there is no arc between Left and Right – the extremes of both tend to huddle together at the [...]
4 July, 2008 at 7:14 pm
And that brings me to the ultimate lesson I’ve learned over these 10 years: that it’s best to write for your readers, not your peers.
An interesting statement. He obviously believes his peers think differently to his readers. In what way I wonder?
I’d certainly agree with the statement. Not for the reason he made it though, I’ll wager.
4 July, 2008 at 7:21 pm
And after all, what’s not to be proud of when it comes to Bolt’s readers. For example, from:
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/garnaut_goes_for_the_scare/#commentsmore
Garnaut is an idiot.
When are these people going to finish their 5 minutes of fame. Just Like Al BORE, Just Like Tim FLAMMERBY, Just like Richard BRAZEN they live of the scaremongering and tell us to turn off the lights and live like hermits.
Frankly, I find Ross Garnaut himself very scary. Typical scientist.
To all these damned panic merchants…..SHUT UP, will you?
Ah, yes. We see who you’re writing for, Andrew. And we see why they adore you so.
4 July, 2008 at 7:53 pm
“And that brings me to the ultimate lesson I’ve learned over these 10 years: that it’s best to write for your readers, not your peers.”
LOL!! or otherwise known as groupthink.
“Lesson 8: there is no everyone”
and then in the same column, this: “More scientists have publicly rejected man-made global warming than backed it”
LOL!! that damned ‘everyone’. it’s fucking everywhere.
THESE PEOPLE ARE INSANE. lol!!!
4 July, 2008 at 11:08 pm
“I’m somewhere in the middle, moderate as always, trying to balance the claims of individuality and freedom with the ballast of the collective.”
LOL!!
individuality and freedom my arse. only the other day bolt ran a thread on mugabe which was titled something like ‘apartheid was better’. but of course. one black tyrant leader must surely mean they’re ALL despots right? so do we get rid of mugabe the way we got rid of saddam (cause he was a despot too) or do we just sweep it under the carpet with a fresh bout of apartheid and say our prayers at church on sunday?
how moderate.
“the ballast of the collective”
sheep be gone! from this moment forward let the boltites be known as collective ballast!!! for surely there is no better example of the concept.
LOL!!
5 July, 2008 at 11:08 am
In my opinion Bolt has learnt nothing over the period he’s been writing his blog, or only hardened his opinions rightward.
It’s interesting that he writes a column about what he’s “learnt” now, because Ive believed for some time that he is actually stupid, rather than simply ignorant, and therefore incapable of learning anything.
My reason for saying this is that, here is a guy, who for the last 5 or 6 years has attacked Aboriginals, and the Stolen Generations “myth”, all under the guise of “caring” about Aboriginal people. But in all that time he has not picked up that racism against Aboriginals, or any other group, cannot simply be reversed when some wrong is done to whites. Racism involves structural oppression against minorities in society, not simply someone disliking the colour of someones else’s skin. Aboriginals are disadvantaged by a whole series of things which are indemic to our society, such as lack of access to health care, schooling, discrimination in employment etc. Whilst it would perhaps be excusable from a member of the general public to be unaware of this, for Bolt to still lack this insight after all his contact with the issue, shows a quite low level of intelligence. I do not believe he is wilfully refusing to acknowledge this, whilst actually understanding it, I think the truth is it’s gone right over his head.
5 July, 2008 at 5:38 pm
great post arnold ziffle. i once wondered if he was deliberately misrepresenting the stolen generations Aboriginals for the sake of being notorious. kind of like christopher hitchens going waterboarding. yet the number of times he misrepresents news cannot possibly be calculated. just the other day he totally got the BCA wrong on climate change and wound up inciting the sheep to whinge about the BCA when they had been supportive of them in the past! biggest laugh i’ve had since he had a rant against sth africa’s leadership linking to a story that happened 5 years ago! no, these are not deliberate mistakes to appear “different”. i think you are right, he is quite simply just dumb. and it says a lot about our media print and tv that they would have someone like him offer commentary. i don’t like his politics but at least gerard henderson has a brain.
5 July, 2008 at 5:52 pm
only the other day bolt ran a thread on mugabe which was titled something like ‘apartheid was better’. but of course. one black tyrant leader must surely mean they’re ALL despots right?
That was a quote from black Zimbabweans. It showed how dire the situation must be in Zimbabwe at present. The inference you make, that Bolt thinks Apartheid should be reinstated, is a gross and mischievous misrepresentation.
5 July, 2008 at 6:04 pm
“The inference you make, that Bolt thinks Apartheid should be reinstated, is a gross and mischievous misrepresentation.”
which of course is why he never bothered to correct or admonish some of the appalling comments from his sheep. it’s why he would pick up on such a comment in the first place. it’s why he used the thread title he did. face it abu, this is his bullshit smoke and mirrors style. it’s no different from how he works the words “steal them” into any story about aboriginal children (and his stories are always negative). it’s why he works the words “alarmist” or “zealot” into anything to do with the environment or climate change. he may not believe what he writes, but he does an excellent job of implying a very dark meaning and sentiment behind his words. surely the sheep responses give THAT much away!
LOL
5 July, 2008 at 8:27 pm
He allows some pretty “frothing at the mouth” comments from all sides – Left and Right and in-between. You can’t seriously believe he supports all of those comments? If you make an inference that allowing dickhead comments means he supports them, then you must conclude he supports the views expressed by Barry Bones and Reco, surely. Or are you being selective?
5 July, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Garnaut – “typical scientist”.
How very illustrative of the intellectual level of Bolt-boosters.
6 July, 2008 at 9:35 am
“If you make an inference that allowing dickhead comments means he supports them…”
yes but: “And that brings me to the ultimate lesson I’ve learned over these 10 years: that it’s best to write for your readers…”
i rest my case.
6 July, 2008 at 9:51 am
“If you make an inference that allowing dickhead comments means he supports them…”
yes but: “And that brings me to the ultimate lesson I’ve learned over these 10 years: that it’s best to write for your readers…”
i rest my case.
Do you seriously think he views Reco and Bones as his “readers”? You need to get up on your hind legs and argue the case some more.
I think the correct analysis would be that there are any number of people who post comments on his site that he wouldn’t feed. But they get the reader posts up and therefore they are tolerated as good for business.
6 July, 2008 at 10:17 am
“Do you seriously think he views Reco and Bones as his “readers”? ”
are you seriously asking me this?
take a look at today’s offering “stealing them again at last”. bolt says “Surely by now Macklin can see she is doing just what her Prime Minister apologised for in his sorry to the “stolen generations” – taking Aboriginal children away from toxic communities to give them an education.” this is untrue. we said sorry for removing children without parent consent and keeping them from having any further contact with family. the boarding school issue is being done WITH parent consent, blessing and at parents instigation.
bolt also says “And surely she can see that what she is doing now, and what was done then, is something that should be praised, not vilified. Or is she truly blind to the fact she’s become this Government’s AO Neville?” macklin trying to breed out the black? is this man for real?
so abu does bolt ‘believe’ this crap about aboriginals being stolen WITH their parent consent? does he ‘believe’ that macklin is operating under some mistaken virtue of social darwinism? or is he simply writing for his readers again?
6 July, 2008 at 10:49 am
Andrew Bolt can tart up his stance with as many loquacious claims as he likes, but he is such a by the numbers conservative his response to any topic is quite predictable. It must be the easiest job in the world, spin the wheel of the conservative playbook and just follow the rules…which of course is where a conservative excels. If only we all just did what we were told.
8 July, 2008 at 12:47 am
I had to post this, it’s illustrative of a few things.
I replied to one of his pack yesterday, and here is the result. First off, the typical Bolt follower comment:
“Feel the vibe, notice the earth tremors, hear the distant rumble getting louder? It’s the sound of the biggest political train wreck in world history and its coming to a business and town near your , and the screams that are echoing as it travels are the careers of rat bag “scientists” , green proselytes ,parasitic hangers on and politicians facing their nadir. The green fraudsters, carpetbaggers , grants fuelled bootlicking scientists, mad media toadies, and countless other bottom feeders are facing a truncated future they had better be prepared for , cause it ain’t going to be a tea and biscuits green wankfest that I’ll be attending. I CAN ASSURE YOU WITH EVERY BIT OF CONVICTION I CAN MUSTER,MY BASEBALL BAT HAS BEEN LOADED WITH NAILS.NOW ALL I NEED IS A CLOSE HANDY TARGET.
frankly fed up of melbourne (Reply)
Mon 07 Jul 08 (08:19am)”
Now my comment
“Arnold Ziffle replied to frankly fed up
Mon 07 Jul 08 (02:58pm)
snip
If you must troll, at least mind your language and manage your anger. ”
my comment which was snipped?
“Dont I remember you from somewhere? Didnt you also say “You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talking… you talking to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the **** do you think you’re talking to?”
8 July, 2008 at 1:17 am
If Bolt really was a centrist like he claims, he would bang on derisorily as much about “the right” ‘the right” as he so juvenilely and uselessly does about “the left” “the left” each and every other day. Infact in all the time I have been aware of Bolt’s blog, I have only seen him mention “the right” once or twice, and only then in response to someone saying he was right-wing, whereas every day he utilises the term “the left”, to describe pretty much everything evil and wrong with the world.
Bolt has as welded on and predictable political allegiances of anyone that I have ever seen. But he is kind of like the poster boy for the new right movement, trying to shrug off the tag of being right-wing, whilst clearly identifying himself in opposition to the ‘other’,
slavishly decrying the evils of left wing politics in a prime example of someone describing what they are not, in forging a self-identity. All the while possessing pre-determined views on individual issues, through welded on adherence to political allegiances of which, the vast majority of people would see as right wing. He is not a conservative, he is a right-wing ideologue, in terms of the general description of the term, and because of what he slavishely positions himself against.
I
8 July, 2008 at 10:09 am
“… you talking to me? Well I’m the only one here. Who the **** do you think you’re talking to?”
Its a shame your Taxi Driver quote got SNIPPED.
I love that movie.
‘A small, angry and poorly educated man seeks an outlet for the seething bile and rage within him. Finds a way to be lauded for his deranged behaviour by rescuing a ’stripped’ adolecent girl from abuse’
Sounds familiar…
8 July, 2008 at 11:29 pm
“In Bolt’s world there’s Left, there’s Right, and then there’s Bolt.”
No that’s not what he said. He said there’s Left and Right and then “Conservative.”
The difference?
Leftists: want to progress and implement new systems.
Conservatives: want to maintain current systems.
Right- wingers: want to go back to older systems.
9 July, 2008 at 12:12 am
‘A small, angry and poorly educated man seeks an outlet for the seething bile and rage within him. Finds a way to be lauded for his deranged behaviour by rescuing a ’stripped’ adolecent girl from abuse’
LOL. Such an accurate description for the man!
9 July, 2008 at 10:14 am
I don’t think that’s an accurate description. Bolt isn’t poorly educated. After all, he has worked for the Labor Party twice. Wouldn’t that require some credibility?…
Oh wait, no! Sorry, that’s the LIBERAL party I’m thinking of!
Haha sorry for the cheap shot guys
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