So just a quickie but it sums up why I get pissed off at politicians and particularly UKIP.
Douglas Carswell tweeted the following earlier today (it got RT into my timeline)
The article linked to was this one
When you click on the twitter button this is what actually comes up to RT
So Carswell changes it to state that a Cameron adviser confirms that the UK will join the UK whereas the actual story is that former deputy Michael Hestletine’s personal opinion is that the UK will join the Euro but not in the foreseeable future.
It is shit like this that pisses me off. He has changed the tone of the tweet and actually completely misidentified Hestletine as a Cameron adviser when in fact he is just giving his own opinion and isn’t an adviser to the PM but who wants the truth eh? UKIP make a living on spreading misinformation that the public believe and clearly Douglas Carswell quickly got the memo that you win votes by lies and not trusting the public with the facts and the truth.
Doesn’t it just make you want to vomit and yet no doubt he is busy slapping himself on the back for being so smart as to change a view words to change the tone of a story knowing that many people will believe it and won’t even bother clicking on the link to see the actual facts behind the story.
I despair and have vomit to clean up. Thanks Douglas!
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[…] 7. On UKIP MP Douglas Carswell’s “clever” editing behaviour on Twitter by Neil Monnery on The Ramblings of Neil Monnery. It’s safe to say Neil is unimpressed with Carswell changing the whole meaning of a tweet. […]
You are of course entitled to be sickened by whatever you like. But if the BBC headline is not sickening I fail to see how the tweet is.
If you are not offering you opinions as one of ‘us’ then I suggest you consider if you feel it is right to ask to have your blog included on ‘our’ blogging forum. It is the first port of call by the third party press into ‘our’ opinions. Just a thought.
You could well find yourself reading ‘Leading Liberal Democrats Believe’ headlines quoting your opinions from our aggregated site. It happens, just as it does to blog contributors to con home or Labour list.
This blog meets all the requirements of being on the Lib Dem Blog site and indeed has been shortlisted for Lib Dem Blog of the Year twice.
The whole point of having a personal blog is to have the freedom to write as you see fit. All the blogs on the Lib Dem Blogs site are personal blogs who just happen to be linked due to party membership. I have been critical of the party on many occasions, critical of Clegg too, yet on the other hand I’ve also praised many things. This blog is not a voice of the party but indeed just my voice, just because I’m a Lib Dem doesn’t mean I’ll ever shackle myself in terms of what I write and if I was ever asked to do so by anyone in the party, I’d obviously have to walk away.
As for the article/tweet issue. Someone saying something and someone confirming something to me are two different things. If you don’t then no worries but I do.
Neil, I think that you need to develop a sturdier stomach.
Over fifteen years working on and running in local regional and national campaigns as a Liberal I have seen many many cases of literature that range from a little bit of fun, through mild misrepresentation to outright fabrication. From all sides too it has to be said.
Try as I might I fail to see the problem you have with this tweet. I watched the program. Lord Heseltine is accurately quoted, and, as a Troy grandee in the Lords and chair of several commissions set up by the Prime Minister to report back to him is certainly an adviser.
UKIP do harbour some unpleasant views and we need to work hard to expose them and campaign positively for our liberal internationalist perspective. Crying foul and trying to play the person will not win us votes I fear. There is a reason why Douglas Carswell is well liked in his constituency and largely respected across the the political spectrum. He is not an hysteric ideologue and people will see through us trying to paint him as one over nothing little things.
Charles, my stomach is surprisingly sturdy considering my cooking inadequacies.
My problem is clear, confirming and someone having a personal opinion are two completely different things. I could have the opinion that aliens exist but that is different from me confirming that aliens exist. Opinion and facts are two very different things and politicians – yes from all sides of the spectrum – could do well to remember this. Many of us just hit a twitter button to tweet a piece but we won’t edit the headline to change the tone of the story to fit a personal narrative, he did this. I think that is pretty lame and dishonest. If you think it is all fair then *shrug* we disagree. In my opinion, there is a distinct difference between twisting words to fit an agenda and changing the context in its entirety.
As for the ‘us’ part. I blog in a purely personal capacity. I may be a card carrying Lib Dem but on this blog it is my views and not those of the party – at any level – that are aired.