ASBOs for Blair and Blunkett?

[nichomach]

My beloved other half has suggested that given the increase in the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, that a couple might be in order for Tony Blair and David Blunkett on the basis that the grounds for their being invoked are:

"that the person has acted in an anti-social manner, that is to say, in a manner that was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress "

She goes on to say:

....... I'm very distressed by the CJA 2003, and what's going on in Iraq. It also only applies if the person harassed etc is not of the same household. Disco. One ASBO please.

She may be on to something here...

[Stewart]

Or not.

[mr_anderson187]

please explain what you mean

[Rave]

Good plan, although there are efforts afoot to impeach Blair anyway.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4037375.stm

Rich :¬)

[Stewart]

please explain what you mean

Its a joke mate, the idea being that ASBOs (Anti-Social Behavior Orders) that are served to people who smash windows, draw on walls, harass people in the street and generally act like animals, to prevent them from continuing to do so, should be served on Tony Blair and David Blunkett, who are as I'm sure you know, the British Prime Minister and Home Secretary.

Where as a right-minded person might make the joke about, say, Saddam Hussein (crimes including mass murder, torture, etc), the humor of the standard anti-British Guardian reader is to always attack our values and our actions - hence its, I'm sure, hilarious in their circles to attack Blair and Blunkett, who, of course, are guilty of exactly the same level of crime.

I suppose it’s a sort of reverse racism really - but the hatred is directed at their own race, their own people and their own country. Nobody hates their own culture as much as the middle class Left in England, I'm not sure what its like over there in Northern Ireland; I hear you have your own issues.

Either way, you can be excused for not ‘laughing out loud’ or indeed ‘rolling on the floor laughing your arse off’, as its not the greatest of hilarious japes ever told. However I'm sure Nick (thread starter) and the likes of Rave, Blub2K and the other usual suspects for this sort of thing, find it more than funny.

[nichomach]

1. Neither I nor my wife are anti-British. You keep trotting this out; it was a lie when you first stated it and it still is. We just happen to be British people who disagree with you.
2. When did our politicians become excluded from having a bit of fun poked at them? And it's rather odd to see you get your knickers in a bunch defending Labour politicos, Vaul.
3. There's no racial aspect to the joke at all, so I don't know why you're reading one in.
4. Since the joke had absolutely nothing to do with Saddam Hussein, I can hardly be accused of equating him with Blair and Blunkett.
5. The basis of the joke is that the government are drastically increasing the scope of ASBOs (which have been applied to multinational record companies, so why not governments?), and given the vague wording of their scope it's rather fun to turn the idea around and apply it to the government so keen on them.
6. Who exactly DID widdle in your cornflakes this morning, Stewart? Or are you still determined to just crap over every thread you see in your endless hunt for imaginary politically correct oppression, just like you did in the Remembrance thread.

[Stewart]

Well, seeing as you went to the trouble of making 6 points, it'd be rude not to reply.

1) Glad to hear it mate; although I stand by my claim that in general, the middle class Left in this country despises its own culture and customs. As for disagreeing with me, you're right there mate, you do. I can never see myself reading the Guardian to see what aspect of the war effort or our political system I can start sneering at next.

2) Poke away my man; just found it a little silly to be honest. As far as I can tell, your one and only reaction to Blair's decision to go to war, remove a mass-murderer from power and try to bring Democracy to others is to sneer and try to undermine the effort with unfunny observations. Typical, you might say.

3) No, I never said there was. Of course, you wouldn't make the same thread about, say, Robert Mugabe, because he's the black leader of a (largely) black state, and you’d be terrified of being labeled a racist. Much easier to knock our own, and claim Blunkett needs an ASBO; after all, he's a far worse human being than Mugabe.

4) The joke was typical of the humor that I'm sure you thrive on. Attack your own, pretend everything else is rosy.

5) Given the rise and rise of Chav-like behavior, I'm glad to hear it. Most youngsters now-a-days behave like animals. The more powers our government hands out for these people to be dealt with, the better. Of course, that's a positive approach, and therefore not something you'd like to hear - be much better to, oh I don't know, make a thread claiming Blair should be served one?

I suppose it just takes a special sort of mind-set to see the negative in everything and find something to sneer at, and I just don’t have it.

6) No, I do not hunt the forums for threads to get annoyed at, I do however, if I find one, say what I think needs to be said. Maybe it’s predictable, but then, no more predictable than Rave jumping into the thread to endorse it and add some of his own hilarious comments. If Blub2K was still about, I'm sure he'd be here as well, adding something. Maybe that's the problem Nick, I can count on you to be you, and you can count on me to be me.

It’s a game, isn't it?

Have a nice day, Nick, mate.

[Rave]

the idea being that ASBOs (Anti-Social Behavior Orders) that are served to people who smash windows, draw on walls, harass people in the street and generally act like animals, to prevent them from continuing to do so,

Well, that's who they're meant to be served on. In practice they can be used in arbitrary and often completely counterproductive ways. Example one: a drug addicted hooker was banned from carrying condoms in a certain area. That, obviously, is a great idea, because a lack of contraception is going to be a deal breaker for most punters, and it's not as if drug addicted prossies are very likely to have STDs.

Or how about the teeneager who was banned from associating with more than one other person at a time? The police turned up and arrested him while he attended a youth club that was well know for it's positive work with disaffected young people.

Asbos are a poor solution to the problems of anti-social behavior. A better strategy would be to try and prevent it from occuring in the first place, but when have politicians in this country ever taken a pro-active approach?

I suppose it’s a sort of reverse racism really - but the hatred is directed at their own race, their own people and their own country. Nobody hates their own culture as much as the middle class Left in England, I'm not sure what its like over there in Northern Ireland; I hear you have your own issues.

Either way, you can be excused for not ‘laughing out loud’ or indeed ‘rolling on the floor laughing your arse off’, as its not the greatest of hilarious japes ever told. However I'm sure Nick (thread starter) and the likes of Rave

Since you're so convinced that I'm a member of the 'middle class Left' that you so deride, may I ask a) what work you do and b) what qualifies you as a member of the 'working class'?

FWIW I'm a liberal, with a job that pays less than 2/3rds of the national average. My wife's unemployed, and we live in a borough with a population of more than 50% 'ethnic minorities'. So, it's easy for me to sit in my ivory tower and pour scorn on the values of the ordinary working man.

Rich :¬)

[TiG]

now that reply is rather amusing Vaul

TiG

[Stewart]

Before I answer Rave, a quote from Charles Kennedy, Liberal Leader, in the article he linked to - ""By using the populist rhetoric of the right wing tabloids he has encouraged a climate of fear which provides an alarming backdrop as he has attempted to force through some extremely repressive measures."

Of course Charlie boy! 9/11? 9/11? Don't talk to me about 9/11, it was nothing really, just the Sun being sensationalist as per usual! Typical.

And those bombings in Madrid? When many hundreds of innocent men, women and children, commiting the heinous crime of going to work \ school that morning were torn limb from limb as they sat on the train? Don't believe a word of it mate - News of the World set-up.

Two western countries, both hit with massive terrorist attacks, causing sickening loss of life, both carried out by Islamic Extremists, who's only goal is to establish a world wide Islamic state, and are prepared to kill in cold blood and in massive numbers, both relatively recently, and Charles says its simply scare-mongering.

I wonder if the Liberal fop was bleating this message the day after the Madrid bombings? He seems pretty sure he can now.

Kennedy can rant on all he likes about civil liberties being removed; the people whose lives were taken in Madrid and New York, would, if given the choice, choose their lives over some (imagined) infringement of their civil liberties.

Believe me, if a massive bombs tears the heart out of London, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester (God forbid), you'll not be sitting their thinking 'well, that's annoying, but thank the Lord we don't have to carry and ID card, huh?'

Everyone knows this to be the case, but it doesn't stop the likes of Kennedy coming out with this nonsense, in a transparent attempt to fool a few limp-wristed types into ticking the 'right' box at the next election.

Let’s just hope this cretin does not fool too many people; there are far more dangerous people out there than Kennedy, he is simply a stooge who for the continued health of this nation, needs to be ignored.

I'll carry a card if it means I can feel safe walking the streets, which with Blunketts new measures, such as Id cards, a national database of bio-metric identification information and ASBOs served on the animals who make our streets unsafe and a miserable place to live, is a lot closer to being the case than it would be under the likes of Kennedy.

Vote Liberal Democrat? I'd rather vote for Al Quieda.

[Stewart]

now that reply is rather amusing Vaul

TiG

I try Tiggy, I try.

Rave, a few hand-picked examples of when ASBOs were counter-productive does not mean the system does not work. The occasional random exception does not disprove the rule, and the rule is - behave like an animal on the streets, and get punished. I can't see how anyone could disagree with that.

I suppose attitudes like yours are similar to those who think you can not crack down on crimes commited by people who, for whatever reason, find it hard to get a job. Of course, as we all know, if you are a bit short fo cash, and can't get a job working in the local Chippy, then its perfectly Ok to go and rob some pensioners home. Don't they realise you can't get a job?

The causes, must of course be addressed, but they must not be used as a justification for the crime. They are not victims, the people they rob, mug and stab are the victims. ASBOs are a very effective way of making this point clear - behave like an animal or choose to make the life of decent members of the community harder than it needs to be, and be punished.

I'm all for it. Can't get a job, put your name down on a list down the dole. Smash a window and have it away with someone's telly, and you might fool the odd bleeding heart Libeal that you are the real victim, but it seems ever Labour have woken up to this now, and it now doesn't wash.

Punish those who step outside the law and deal with the causes, without trying to justify the crime because of a supposed cause. You cannot break the law if you feel you have a reason to do so and get away with it.

[mr_anderson187]

thanks for the clarification Vaul,

bit of a krap joke thing tbh........

[Howard]

thanks for the clarification Vaul,

bit of a krap joke thing tbh........

In other words, you have no idea what these 3 are rabbiting on about, much like me

[mr_anderson187]

In other words, you have no idea what these 3 are rabbiting on about, much like me

uhh mmm, NO lol,

I read Vauls, first post, (then re read it many tims, to get the jist) and any banana with a braincell (me) could understand it.....


....... it honestly just was not funny......

[Howard]

Pardon?

[mr_anderson187]

lol, look at the reason for editing my post, i tried to make it unharsh before you seen it, but you were too quick, 'put the handbag down' lol it was a joke