Tuesday, Sept. 04, 2001 Let's Stop The Media Hysterics Wasn't it simply awful? Those television pictures of those poor wee sobbing and terrified children being escorted into their school by policemen in riot gear? Enough to melt the hardest heart. Not to melt mine - it made me want to vomit. I'm a protestant living in Northern Ireland and I'm fed up with us being portrayed as the biggest bad guys in the world now that white South Africans aren't fair game anymore. Here's a few points just to set the record straight since, as usual, the world's media is only ever interested in presenting one side of the story. Protestant families (and their young children) in the area have been subjected to a long-running campaign of violence and harassment from their nationalist counterparts. I didn't see many American film crews over to report that story. How desperate were those protestant families to take the law into their own hands and forcibly demonstrate that this route from a nationalist estate be closed off? No-one gets any pleasure from terrorising children, but when parents watch their own youngsters being threatened they'll resort to any measure. I defy any parent reading this to disagree with that statement. Those were heart-wrenching pictures of cute little blonde girls screaming and crying as they were led through the protest. Now, I have a question to ask. Would you put a child through that? If it was simply a case of wanting to make a point myself and putting my own ass on the line, I'd gladly do it. If it meant subjecting my child to that, there is no way in hell I'd put her through it - especially when there's an alternative route to the school. Then again, it wouldn't provide those lovely images for the media and make all those protestants look like evil nazis - would it? Why the fuck does nobody ask those questions? I'll tell you why. It's because there's this image of a poor, downtrodden nationalist/catholic community in Northern Ireland, and while it is perpetuated more dollars flood in to provide arms and explosives while international pressure is exerted to strip the protestant community of it's civil rights. Sinn Fein - I did notice the presence of resident rent-a-gob Gerry Kelly at the protest - have always been more media savvy. They may not have got the Brits out, but they sure as hell have won the public relations war. The only losers will be those little catholic schoolgirls who will never forget the experience they have been put through the past few days. Watch the terrible images; tsk, tsk over the nasty protestant rabble and then ask yourself: "Could I lead a child by the hand through that, just to cause the protestors some bad publicity." If the answer is yes, then you would really need to rethink your views on parenthood.
| |
| Stale | Fresh |
�
Cast List
� |
