I’m not saying that anyone who ever posts an internet comment is nuts. But...
Wednesday, 17th February 2010
Hugo Rifkind gives a Shared Opinion
Back when I was a diary columnist, they’d publish my email address in the paper every day. I did love the emails from lunatics. And we’re talking proper nuts here, not just xenophobes, or people with unusually strident views about Israel. My favourite was a guy from Glasgow, whose emails were all either impenetrable tracts about global macro-economics, or detailed, punctuation-free recreations of the arguments he’d had that week with his GP, fellow lunatics, or the local branch of the Hari Krishnas. I remember getting bored one afternoon and looking him up on Lexis Nexus. He’d twice been published on the letters page of the Daily Express.
I suppose they’ve probably gone off email, the lunatics. Just like the way they went off letters. I haven’t had a proper letter from a madman in years. There was this one guy who used to write to me every couple of months. Well, I say ‘write’, but there weren’t actually many words. He’d usually sellotape a photograph of my face on the envelope, instead of writing my name, which was a nice touch. Inside, he’d take an article I’d written, glue it onto the middle of a big white piece of paper, and extrapolate from it with swooping felt-tip diagrams and mathematical calculations. At the bottom, he’d always write ‘= 666!!’. I suppose he might have been published in the Daily Express, too.
So where have they gone, these lunatics, if they don’t send emails and don’t write letters either? Well, it’s obvious. They’re in the comments. And nobody even notices, because down there, madness is par for the course.
More articles from: Hugo Rifkind | this section
Post this entry to: del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
Advertisement
Popular Blogger Posts
1 Terry shouldn’t be captain, but that should be Capello’s decision to make - Rod Liddle
2 Snow? What snow? - Rod Liddle
3 Do we really need to know more about Gary Speed’s death? - Rod Liddle
4 JFK: The Nastiest President of the Twentieth Century? - Alex Massie
5 Scottish Labour Embrace the Logic of Independence - Alex Massie
sponsored links
THE PRESENT FINDER
1,700 Unusual Christmas Presents Request Catalogue 01935 815 195 Quote SPEC10 for 10% discount www.presentfinder.co.uk
OLIVE BRANCH FLORISTS
Pimilco based Florist with online ordering Web: www.olivebranch.net Tel: 020 7630 1868 Fax: 020 7233 8844
RUFFS Bespoke Signet rings
62 Shore Road, Warsash, Southampton, SO31 9FT Telephone: 01489 578867 Web site: www.ruffs.co.uk
Apollo Magazine | Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms
Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP
All Articles and Content Copyright ©2012 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved
Geoff Miller
February 18th, 2010 6:41am Report this commentBasically, everything is fine.
Happy now?
Austin Barry
February 18th, 2010 8:38am Report this comment"They’re in the comments. And nobody even notices, because down there, madness is par for the course."
I agree. We're all quite barmy down here.
Stuart Seacole Smith
February 18th, 2010 10:05am Report this commentAh, that's better - just pulled the pencils out of my nose and taken the silver-foil down from the windows. Now I see the light! Eternal thanks dear Hugo for showing us bottom of the page window-lickers the way - the country is doing great, and no doubt ideally placed to go from strength to strength on the global scene. Such a relief. I feel strangely serene. Almost grandiose.
terence patrick hewett
February 18th, 2010 5:21pm Report this commentUp to a point Lord Copper; except..except..
"...for there is an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers, that with his Tygers hart wrapt in a Players hyde, supposes he is as well able to bombast out a blanke verse as the best of you: and being an absolute Johannes fac totum, is in his owne conceit the onely Shake-scene in a countrey".
Cogito Ergosum
February 18th, 2010 9:36pm Report this commentWhen I get out (occasionally) I cannot imagine the people I meet as anything like the silly bloggers on the Internet.
OldS.B.
February 19th, 2010 8:41am Report this comment"..They’re in the comments. And nobody even notices, because down there, madness is par for the course. ."
Welcome to you Hugo, there's a vacant throne over there....
John Patrick
February 19th, 2010 10:01pm Report this commentYou are right. There is a lot of anger out here and it is probably just too easy to post 'comments'. I do it myself as you can see now. We all have our pet hates: there seem to be an awful lot of anti-bigots out here and my pet hate is anti-Catholic bigotry, so I tend to respond to some of the more hateful comments - just to set the record straight. But I agree it is probably a complete waste of time. My Lenten resolution is to spend less time reading news sites online - it is not good for my tendency towards anger ... or my blood pressure.
John Patrick
February 19th, 2010 10:02pm Report this commentSorry that should have read 'anti-Catholic bigots' - leaving out words is another reason why I shouldn't do this.
djw2009
February 21st, 2010 6:02pm Report this commentHugo, you are right to an extent. The comments are an attempt to influence debate, but realistically speaking does the editor of the Speccie read all the comments? or give a damn what we say? One nice exception - in case you are bottom fishing through the comments on your article - is Norman Tebbitt who does read and reply to the comments on his Daily Telegraph blog. Actually Peter Hitchens on the Mail replies to comments on his blog too.
The real reason though is the inchoate sense of powerlessness to see the Conservative Party dominated by people whose core philosophical values are no different to those of the Labour Party. Yes! What about immigration? I can spell immigration, you see, and yes, I want it stopped! And I want withdrawal from the EU, the return of hanging, the abolition of income tax, and much else. I do often refrain from commenting, because I realise how pointless it is, but the blogosphere gives one the opportunity to vent. And why shouldn't I vent when I see my country being handed over to others, and every political party and journalist shilling for the multi-culturalists? Basically, Hugo, you can lie secure in your bed - there will be no revolution in our lifetimes - but if there were, most of the political class, including the journos, would be denefestrated. Actually, it is around 5 years since I paid for a copy of the Spectator or the Daily Telegraph - I refuse to fund "treason" - and will only ever read it for free online - it is only because it is free that I even noticed your article. Thank goodness I am not subventing your salary!
Frank P
February 25th, 2010 6:53pm Report this commentdjw2009
A considered and apt response to a pompous hack, who like most of them, thinks they have a divine right to form 'public opinion' without the right of reply, unless carefully controlled by editorial dictate.
Piss off Rifkind, like djw2009 I cancelled my subscription, too, some time ago; not as promptly as s/he did though ; I lived in hopes for a while, after the take-over, that I was reading the runes wrongly, but his prescience was admirable. At the moment, you are living on the contributions of the gullible, so continue to take the piss at your peril.
I quite liked your Dad, btw, but I guess mater spoiled you - and public school did the rest.
Back to top