Blog Fail

Mr Eugenides

Outrageous.

SUSAN HILL

Outrageous.

Rhoda Klapp

You could usefully invest some time in naming the various evil racists who apparently haunt your blog. Must be true, I read it on Clive Davis.

Laban Tall

There's none so placid as those that will not be outraged ! It's outrageous !

EC

You must be exhausted after your exertions of the last six days!

daniel maris

I suggest if you can't get outraged you get inraged. Start with your excuse finding for the EU. And then move on to your (well heeled) insouciance in the face of mass immigration.

Ronnie

Mr Massie. How is it possible for you to remain so calm when we have arrived at the very tipping point for western civilisation? When our enemy's ram has almost battered its way through our gate! When our values lie on the floor like a pile of discarded husks.

Pull yourself together man!

Edmund Jerk

Workshy!

ndm

You could usefully invest some time in naming the various evil racists who apparently haunt your blog. Must be true, I read it on Clive Davis.

I don't need Alex Massie to tell me when the slurry slops over from Melanie Phillips' blog. Clive Davis was absolutely right to condemn it - and it doesn't take too much reading between the lines to recognize that Alex Massie has a similar opinion.

The out-of-control hatefest that is Melanie Phillips' blog and comments are doing immense damage to the reputation of The Spectator. They have no place in any publication with even a pretence to public civility and intellectual integrity.

jpeeps

All that ndm says is true - as usual - but I have a sneaking suspicion that Rhoda Klapp but be a major asset on "Come Dine with Me" or on a lifeboat. Ditto Conservative Cabbie. The same cannot be said of the flotsam spewing over from Planet Melanie - apart from anything else some of them are so RUDE.

Tiberius

It's okay, Alex.

I hope you've enjoyed your duvet day at the expense of we subscribers, which is of course quite piffling in the outrage stakes compared to the BBC licence fee.

In2minds

You could pretend.

Snowman

ndm: are you visiting this planet for long?

dearieme

You could at least have appealed for calm, Alex.

Nicholas

". . . are doing immense damage to the reputation of The Spectator."

Measured, quantified, assessed how exactly? And what is the reputation of the Spectator?

Beefeater

What, no cricket-is-life thoughts?
No borrowing from Democratic Party talking points?
No sneer?
No celebration of Scotland the Brave and Compassionate?
May I suggest that when inspiration next dries up you put up a picture of your dog.
Or even better, one of your wife's excellent paintings.

daniel maris

It is quite clear that, sadly, there are a number of BNP Nazi types here flying under false colours as nationalists, anti-Islamists. concerned citizens, defenders of Western civilisation and the like. Their underlying racism peaks out every now and then as the "fundamental" explanation for whatever ills assail us.

It's a problem on every blog from left to right. I hope it doesn't lead the Spectator to fetter free speech, but it is undoubtedly an issue.

However, the problem with people like Clive Davis is they seem to roll every one up into the same ball of "extremism".

I don't think it is extremist or intolerant to be concerned about mass immigration or the growing influence of Islam in our country and other European countries. These are real issues of our time and the political class have to get to grips with them. So far they have failed to do that.

Rhoda Klapp

Well, if there are BNP types here, let's name them. But let us not assume as some seem to that any opposition to immigration or Islam is coded racism. You don't like Islam is taken as you don't like Brown people. Well, for some it may be so coded, although in what is essentially an anonymous forum you could say what you mean. The problem is that if you really don't like Islam (for reasons which you can articulate) but have no problem with brown people, how are you supposed to code that? Well, you will be taken wrongly. But it is what happens next that is the problem. Any offensive remark here can be called out and replied to. But if some people who write blogs here fail to call out individuals but later go on to call out entire groups with the implication that they know they are 'nasty types', that is not polite discourse. It is not acceptable to throw out general accusations of racism. That is too serious nowadays to be let past. These are accusations which in a different medium could be libellous. So I want them to name names. I didn't really mean on the Melanie Zoo, the original blog was this one. If a journalist is content that it is correct to throw epithets around and not back it up with names, facts and examples, he is not much of a journalist. If he is one who has previously campaigned for a relaxation of the libel law, he is a hypocrite too.

Claudia Massie

Mr. Beefeater, when you suggest Alex post a photo of his dog "Or even better, one of your wife's excellent paintings", I guess you may be referring to my paintings. I would like to clarify that I have the good fortune to be Alex's sister, not his wife. As far as I know, Alex is not in possession of a wife.
Thank you however for the compliment, and I agree that when in doubt, recourse to art (preferably mine) is the only answer.

Fergus Pickering

Well I do hope one of the contemptible racists is me Was it contemptible? I can't remember. I don't like adherents of Islam who plan to murder me. I really don't like them at all. I think we should get rid of them and not let any more in. If there are friendly westernised Islamists - as I am assured by Guardian types that there are - then I welcome them. They can take their places in the queue because of course, contemptible racist that I am, I believe there should be a cap on immigration.

Rhoda Klapp

Fergus, nobody who frequents those sites which you frequent need be called racist. Or homophobe. The EU crowd might want you to visit their officially sanctioned eurosites too, lest you be called europhobe too.