October 23, 2004

"I try to become more cynical every day, but lately I just can't keep up."

BRITISH NEWSPAPER CALLS FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF GEORGE BUSH:

"On November 2, the entire civilised world will be praying, praying Bush loses. And Sod's law dictates he'll probably win, thereby disproving the existence of God once and for all. The world will endure four more years of idiocy, arrogance and unwarranted bloodshed, with no benevolent deity to watch over and save us. John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?"
-- Guardian
One might ask more handily, "Where is a V-2 rocket with target co-ordinates set to the Guardian's offices?" The "entire civilized world"? Surely they don't include themselves. From the context, I guess we are to assume the Guardian would have gone for the killing of Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan too.

The email address of the "columist" who thinks it would be great if George Bush is assassinated is: charlie.brooker@zeppotron.com

The email address to comment directly to the newspaper that thinks it would be great if George Bush is assassinated is: reader@guardian.co.uk

Posted by Vanderleun at October 23, 2004 6:30 PM
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper N.B.: Comments are moderated and may not appear immediately. Comments that exceed the obscenity or stupidity limits will be either edited or expunged.

I responded to your Gaurdian link with the following:

"In response to your article's wish for assassins to deal with President Bush, I would recommend Dr. Jack Kevorkian for those who support your article's conclusion."

Posted by: sammy small at October 23, 2004 6:39 PM

I sent this to both addresses:

First you think you can stick your nose in our business by telling people in Clarke County, Ohio, how to vote. Now you think you are small gods that have the right to call for the assassination of someone you don't like. Hate begets hate, intolerance intolerance, and finally indifference. I think it would quite appropriate if the offices of the Guardian became a terrorist target. It might confront you finally with the reality of the world. But then again, you have your heads so far up your recti that it would probably protect you, and all you would get is a sore ass. But wait, you won' t be a terrorist target, because we will get rid of them for you so you will never have to admit their existence.

Bill
A US citizen, who does think we have the right to protect ourselves regardless of someone else's opinion, and at present, is sorry that Europe, other than our allies will benefit.

Posted by: Bill at October 23, 2004 7:44 PM

My e-mail to Charlie Brooker:

I don't normally take the time to write to fools, but in your case, you are so delusional, so filled with sick fantasies that I believe you are mentally ill and deserve compassion. I honestly hope you find your way out of the mental rubbish tip [note to American readers: that's Britspeak for garbage dump] you inhabit. It is not too late, even for you.

Rick Darby
Virginia, United States

Posted by: Rick Darby at October 23, 2004 7:49 PM

Besides my own note, I posted a call for all readers of my blog to send the Guardian a message as well. Thanks, Gerard, for bringing it to our attention.

Posted by: Bill at October 23, 2004 8:11 PM

Besides my own note, I posted a call for all readers of my blog to send the Guardian a message as well. Thanks, Gerard, for bringing it to our attention.

Posted by: Bill at October 23, 2004 8:11 PM

My e-mail:

I want to thank you for speaking your mind reguarding the President of
the United States. I'm sure that you've saved me the agony of watchng
CNN cover a 2 minute video of Osama Bin Laden saying the same thing
now that he has a mouthpiece in Brittan.

I also posted it on my blog.

Posted by: Jordan at October 23, 2004 8:21 PM

It's clear the guy is delusional, because he hasn't even thought through the rules of succession.

Posted by: Libby Sosume at October 23, 2004 8:37 PM

That's what finally did it -- your easy links and my tired brain had a catalytic event. After seeing this account on any number of blogs already, your links caught my eye, and ... I'm (a little) ashamed to say it, but I F-bombed them back into the stone age.

I know, I know: "Be civil in order to get some kind of thoughtful and responsible answer."

Sorry. We're beyond that now, though, aren't we. (That's not a question, and so gets no question mark.) The Democrat response to irrational threats to our way of life is no longer useful or valid.

Sorry, but: Fuck the Guardian.

Posted by: kobekko at October 23, 2004 11:00 PM

This election will be a referendum on an effete and dying philosophy. If Kerry wins, the body of this decaying ideology will be kept on life support a bit longer. If he loses, the death rattle will not be far off, for the objectively pro-fascist left represented by this sad soul will have finally become an irrelevancy.

At least I'd like to think that.

Posted by: Dean Esmay at October 24, 2004 1:26 AM

I am having a really, really hard time staying civil when I see and hear this kind of thing. Who the hell do these people think they are? How can they possibly claim the "high road" when they stoop to this level of garbage?

Just for fun, try to imagine their reaction if someone made a remark about Kerry getting shot.

Posted by: Mumblix Grumph at October 24, 2004 4:20 AM

Oh. *I* get it. Maybe Charlie wants an assassin to kill HIM, because he's too chicken to take his OWN life if the election doesn't go the way he wants :-)

Posted by: Harvey at October 24, 2004 8:06 AM

"Where is a V-2 rocket with target co-ordinates set to the Guardian's offices?"

Hmm, I dunno ... this sounds more like a job for a Scud missile ... Wicked punishing the wicked and all that, no?

Posted by: Steve at October 24, 2004 8:52 AM

Great blog site.

I just sent my comments to both Charlie Booker and The Guardian.

I did vent my spleen with the former, and returned to a more civil tone with the latter.

It's sad, but it appears that there has been a real shift towards anti-Americanism in Europe.

I will cast my vote for the first time for a Republican presidential candidate in this election. To the shock and dismay of many friends and fmily I will be voting for George Bush because he truly has a better grip on the threat posed by IslamoFascism.

Mike Hartrich

Posted by: Michael Hartrich at October 24, 2004 11:32 AM

http://www.xs4all.nl/~vantrier/vets.swf

sssstttt.....sweet dreams for the ignorant....

Posted by: ashamed at October 24, 2004 12:06 PM

The Guardian is an old leftist tool of the Soviets that lumbers on heedlessly to the tune of Marxism.

Posted by: Stephen at October 24, 2004 7:44 PM

Here's the e-mail I sent to both Brooker and the Guardian:

- - - -

The meddling mail campaign to influence the outcome of the Presidential election is failing so now Charlie Brooker and the Guardian call for someone to assassinate George W. Bush? Is that how elections are decided in the UK, by murdering the opposition?

What's standard office attire at the Guardian, brown shirts and arm bands? Did you forget about that? It's because of smarmy twits like you and Neville Chamberlain that WW II even happened. Had we not pulled the UK's fat out of the fire your cowardly hide would be a lampshade.

I'm damned thankful that George Bush has the cajones to stand up and steadfastly prosecute this war against the terrorists, just as I am for FDR and Harry Truman in WW II. And you should be as thankful for Tony Blair as you are (or should be) for Winston Churchill. Because of Blair (and GWB) your Parliament and Big Ben still stand.

Now, run along and attend to your own pressing issues, like the abolition of fox hunting.


( I was going to send this via air mail, but I couldn't afford a cruise missile programmed for your office window. )

- - - -

They must have been buried in an avalanche of outrage because they've pulled Brooker's hatchet job completely and issued this slimy "apology" in its place:

Sunday October 24, 2004
The Guardian

The final sentence of a column in The Guide on Saturday caused offence to some readers. The Guardian associates itself with the following statement from the writer.

"Charlie Brooker apologises for any offence caused by his comments relating to President Bush in his TV column, Screen Burn. The views expressed in this column are not those of the Guardian. Although flippant and tasteless, his closing comments were intended as an ironic joke, not as a call to action - an intention he believed regular readers of his humorous column would understand. He deplores violence of any kind."


He "deplores violence of any kind"? Yeah, especially the kind directed at him !

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/columnists/story/0,,1333748,00.html


Just because they've pulled it shouldn't stop you from letting them have a piece of your mind --

- charlie.brooker@zeppotron.com
- reader@guardian.co.uk

Posted by: Jim at October 25, 2004 12:12 PM

The Guardian: The british Al Jizera. Which reminds me of something that everyone seems to agree on, that the Brits and the French and the Iraqui insurgents and the who-cares-where-else are all rooting for Kerry. That, my friend, is why we need Bush in charge, because America is Number One and we need to say it proud.

Posted by: Floyd Jackson at October 25, 2004 12:26 PM

The Guardian: The british Al Jizera. Which reminds me of something that everyone seems to agree on, that the Brits and the French and the Iraqui insurgents and the who-cares-where-else are all rooting for Kerry. That, my friend, is why we need Bush in charge, because America is Number One and we need to say it proud.

Posted by: Floyd Jackson at October 25, 2004 12:26 PM

You guys are all mad, the article in question was at the back of a TV guide as part of an acerbic observational piece on the presidential debates. You make it sound like some terrorist network communication.

I think what is lacking here is a sense of perspective.

Posted by: zappa at October 25, 2004 5:01 PM

I have to say that upon reading the invective bile spewed forth on this web site I am saddened by the isolationist fantasy that Americans seem to be slipping in to. The whole world is not against you, however, the is certanly a lot of reasonable questioning of foreign policy. The article was a joke and the responses it garnered from people on this site reflected badly on those who wanted to scud missile the Guardian offices and worse. Try to ensure you maintain a sense of perspective people.

Posted by: Dan at December 9, 2005 7:53 AM

As a Republican I find most of these comments idiotic, offensive and disrespectful.

This was not a serious threat and to stoop to his level does no-one any favours.

Posted by: Richard at February 5, 2008 7:08 AM

Having no strong political agenda I can only find myself expectedly amused and overwhelmed by the mis-intepretation of an opinions column.
"From the context, I guess we are to assume the Guardian would have gone for the killing of Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan too."
The exact opposite in fact: cosmic irony or irony of fate plays upon the idea of contrasting reality with ideals, it points out how fate toys with civilisation when competent presidents seem to be assassinated whilst the least competent, in his opinion, remain alive. Basically its a statement saying 'why is it that good presidents get assassinated and when a bad one comes along there are no assassins to be seen', which is irony(I'm certain, as angry as he sounds, that he doesn't actually want Bush dead but only out of the whitehouse, irony is usually exaggerated for comic effect.)
Its not a political crusade against republicans since the statement is obviously ironic, this misunderstanding of what irony is has lead to its interpretation as a literal threat. If you ever cared to watch or read more of Brookers work then you might understand the comic undertones better and rather than be offended take it as a joke as opposed to an incitement of hatred.

Posted by: filson at February 22, 2010 8:52 AM

Context is indeed all, filson. I note that this is from 2004 and pass on.

Posted by: vanderleun at February 22, 2010 10:14 AM