Rangers and Armed Forces Day – Whataboutery and Bad Judgement

I think it is fair to say that there will not be a repetition, at least in the same format, of the “Armed Forces Day” held at the Rangers game on Saturday. What is alleged to have happened at Ibrox on Saturday has resurrected concerns about “succulent lamb” press coverage; has brought back into fashion “whataboutery”; and has shown that in both the Army/Mod and Rangers nobody learned the lessons from last year and opened themselves up to criticism by ignoring them.

You would have thought that, after last year’s Remembrance Event there would have been some consideration given by Rangers and the Ministry of Defence to the format for Saturday’s festivities.

In case you have forgotten last November’s event resulted in the following, as reported by the Daily Record:-

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Why is Mr McCoist Taking a Pay Cut at Rangers When There is £10 Million in the Bank?

Goldfish have a short-term memory which lasts only ten seconds apparently.

One sometimes suspects that journalists have a recollection span which does not extend back beyond the press conference they have just been at!

Do I have an example? Yes, I do!

The papers yesterday covered Mr McCoist’s confirmation that he and his management team had agreed to wage cuts. The Daily Record reported:-

It’s Free Speech Jim (Spence), But Not As We Know It – Rangers v BBC – Guest Post By JohnBhoy

An event has occurred that should prove a second watershed in the history of Rangers FC. The first turning point introduced the lexicon of business insolvency into the sporting arena, under the tombstone headed LIQUIDATION; the second pivotal moment is no less seismic. The orchestrated campaign by The Rangers and their fans to formally complain about Jim Spence of BBC Scotland Sportsound ought to have but one ending: the formal announcement by a pillar of the establishment – the BBC – on the status of Rangers FC.

Let us recap. Jim Spence had the temerity on BBC Scotland Sportsound to voice a view, not necessarily his own, that the current club plying its trade at Ibrox is not the same club pre and post liquidation. On the 4th September Jim uttered the immortal line: “John McClelland who was the chairman OF THE OLD CLUB, some people will tell you the club, well, THE CLUB THAT DIED, possibly coming back in terms of the new chairman…” This caused outrage amongst Rangers fans who, encouraged by Chris Graham, immediately complained to the BBC. The Rangers website issued a “Club Statement”, wherein they disclosed that they have instructed “Rangers’ lawyers to write to the BBC Trust” to ensure that “uses of the terms ‘new’ and ‘old'” are not used when referring to Rangers.

“For the Avoidance of Doubt” – Rangers Stamp on Inaccurate Stories And Dump Jack Irvine

Saturday evening seems to be a time for interesting news on the official Rangers website.

A couple of weeks ago we had the incredible disappearing post on the Rangers website – after Ally McCoist blamed Charles Green and his “contempt” for the defeat to Forfar, and the prompt removal of all reference to Mr Green shortly afterwards.

Tonight sees an unusual piece appearing (at least for now) and I have some comments on it below. However, you will see that I have summarised and paraphrased the piece, the original of which can be read here, as a result of the appearance of a copyright message on the website. I did not notice one until today – perhaps Rangers have realised the value of its intellectual property?

Daily Mail Wrongly Castigates “Human Rights” and “Travellers” in Article re Stolen Caravan

The good old Daily Mail never ceases to disappoint. Each day it shows that it is in fact a very clever spoof newspaper, seeking to poke fun at the prejudices of some of its readers. After all, the alternative, namely that the editorial line of the Mail is genuine and that it means what it says is too horrible to contemplate.

As well as the BBC being a target for Mail disapproval, readers might perceive that the paper also does not like those perceived to be “non-British”. I would never accuse the Mail of racism, so please do not take that implication from what I say. However I can see how a misguided soul could take that impression from some of its articles.

On Monday the Mail published a piece which is now under the headline:-

“Police won’t hand stolen caravan back to couple to protect human rights of the travellers living in it”.

The headline originally referred to “gypsies” and not travellers. At some point over the last day or so that has been changed. Sense prevailing perhaps?