Everybody’s favourite criminal MP and everybody’s favourite MP who was first to claim over £1,000,000 in cumulative expenses are in fact the same person. So what has Eric Joyce done to make an appearance on my humble blog? Has he decided to give drink drinking another turn? Not this time. Has he decided he needed to headbutt a few more MPs? Not today. Has he claimed for more money in expenses the Isle of Wight GOP? Nah. This time he has decided that as a nation the fact we disapproved of Joey Barton elbowing someone, then kneeing someone then attempting to headbutt another before trying to assault yet more people is wrong. Joey Barton is just a footballer who got a bit passionate so we shouldn’t condemn him.
On his own website the disgraced criminal wrote a piece entitled ‘Joey Barton and a nation’s blind hysteria’ where he attacked those who condemned Joey Barton and basically said anyone who condemns him should look at the big picture. So using the same philosophy I assume he things we shouldn’t condemn him for drink driving and assault when there are mass-murderers out there. We should only tut and write bad words about those who do such egregious things that hell might be too comfortable of a place for them to hang out.
Let us quote from the word of Joyce:
I’ll tell you what. If you never want to go and watch a couple of dozen aggressive, supremely talented and justly well-paid athletes fight for your entertainment on a football pitch, then you may have a right to carp. But otherwise, extrapolating moral and ethical significance from a football match looks like your life might be a bit shite (see vicar, above) and your polemic sounds more like an existential cry for help.
I’ll tell you what criminal MP – my life might be a bit shite but I’m also not a convicted criminal so I’m one up on you (yes I know that is an easy lay-up but sometimes even the great ones miss them – see Dwayne Wade last night in the dying moments of the Heat v Pacers). I’ll also tell you another thing. Violence is violence no matter where it is. The only way that violence can be tolerated is if both parties agree to it. I don’t give two hoots if two idiots want to brawl in a back alley but I do not think anyone had asked Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero or Vincent Kompany if they actually wanted a dose of violence. For example in boxing both fighters do so that is fine but in football violence isn’t tolerated. Yes it is a contact sport with aggressive men but heck there are aggressive men on a Friday or Saturday night in any town – is that ok because people know they might be violent? Is it heck.
Eric Joyce has come across as a thug. Oh wait that is because he is one. Is he defending another thug? I think he might just very well be. I imagine most of us would agree that stubbing out a lit cigar in another person’s eye is the behaviour of a thug? Yes. Yes. Yes I think we would. Also anyone with a conviction for assault is a thug so we have safely labelled them both as what they are.
However lets have more from the word of Joyce:
Scotland’s journalists turn a blind-eye to the mess of Rangers FC, then go mental and turn it into the only story which matters here -and then preserve their right to express their own moral superiority through the medium of the excuse that they use to escape their wives/husbands for a few precious moments each week.
Is he mental? Scottish journalists have not turned a blind-eye to Rangers. So that is a lie. As for turning the Joey Barton story into a big deal – well do you know what – it kinda is. It is fair to make that a big story for 24 hours until the news cycle ticks over. I’m guessing Eric Joyce has never worked in the media industry because if he did then he would know how it worked but I’m not done with quoting from the word of Joyce because it is go crazy it deserves more ridicule:
Or, if people want to observe high moral values, they could go and watch the synod of the Church of England, or book a meeting with the Dalai Lama – the latter has some time on his hands these days, I understand. But what’s going on when people want to suspend all their normal value judgements when it comes to football? Politicians are carping about huge salaries but leaving out footballers; council-tax payers are preferring that their money is spent on propping up some crap local football team rather than granny’s care-home.
First of all what a wonderful cheap shot at the church and the Dalai Lama. Stay classy. As for the salaries of footballers – yes they are sky high and yes they do not deserve it but the issue is it is a free market. Philosophically I do not believe that people should not be able to earn as much as they desire. If football clubs are willing to pay stupid salaries then why shouldn’t the players take them? Footballers aren’t being paid by the state. Football Clubs are not in the public sector so I think the MP needs to understand the difference between the public and private sector – it isn’t the trickiest one to get your head around and as an MP you’d hope he’d be smart enough to make that distinction but it seems like he isn’t. Sad times.
His piece has one valid point. There are worse people than Joey Barton. However just because there are worse people than Joey Barton it doesn’t mean we should ignore his flaws.
Lastly he has replied to some of the comments on his blog and this one is a doozy.
Professional football is physical and aggressive; they’re not sitting in an office flicking paper at each other. Things come to the surface occasionally – that isn’t desirable per se but people are only human and that’s part and parcel of the game. There’s always going to be niggle off the ball; everyone knows that. As far as the flick of the head is concerned, Victor Company is clearly the aggressor (check the video).
Anyone who thinks that at any point you can defend assault because they are playing a physical and aggressive game is an idiot. Straight and to the point. Eric Joyce is an idiot or maybe a moron. I use moron a lot but maybe I should give it one more turn. Ok I will. Eric Joyce MP is a moron.
He ends that quote with a lie putting the blame at Victor Company who wasn’t even on the pitch. I don’t even know who he is. I know of a Vincent Kompany who plays for Manchester City but the guy he is talking about. I have no idea. When he can’t even get a name right – either the first or surname you have to wonder as to his IQ level but maybe we shouldn’t – he’s just a common criminal who happens to be an MP. As for saying ‘Company’ is clearly the aggressor then we get what Joyce thinks – bad words deserve a physical act of violence in retaliation. If that is what he thinks (which it clearly is) then I feel for the people of Falkirk. I know the old adage of you can put a red rosette on a monkey and get them elected in certain areas but in that constituency it seems like as long as you say you are Labour you can be a despicable low-life criminal and they’ll still vote for you as long as you have that rosette.
It makes me cry it really does.
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[…] This article was originally posted on Neil Monnery’s blog here. […]