The mother of the soldier who is being allowed to freak out on air.

[rover07]

The woman is saying if there were more helicopters her son wouldn't have bled to death,

Which is weird because she also said he would have died of his injuries anyway. Just not by bleeding to death

 

[rover07]

Why get angry about a piece of paper when your son has been killed? The woman should be getting counselling.

Yes. She has to face the fact that her son is dead because HE decided to go to war.

 

[Ralph Masters]

The Sun are creating a situation that the woman will eventually want to extricate herself from, they're not making her life any easier or understandable.

 

[ymu]

It's the whole concept that if you're a grieving mother and angry/upset at your loss, the first thing you'd think of is - 'quick, get this conversation recorded?'. I would have thought the conversation would have been very sensitive and private for her too?

He rang her at 10pm on Sunday evening, unexpectedly, after this had been raging in the press all weekend. Recording the conversation is a pretty normal reaction, if you have the ability to do so at the touch of a button.

And she doesn't want it to be private. Why the fuck should she? She spent 20 minutes lecturing him on equipment shortages and when he tries to contradict her on facts she nails him. You think she'd have more of an impact keeping it out of the press?

Yeah, it's a stitch-up, but one entirely of his own making. Read the transcript of the conversation and he's just concerned to tell her how he's done nothing wrong. Completely inept.

 

[Corax]

So what - people do different things under periods of stress. If she wants to hurt the person she holds responsible for her sons death it makes sense to use what you have against him, use every opportunity. The fact that you wouldn't do it means nothing at all.

Do you think she's acting entirely of her volition, or is she being manipulated and managed by the Sun?

 

[untethered]

Is it even legal to record a telephone conversation without informing the other party? I thought not.

 

[Diamond]

the key thing is this: there wouldn't be a story if brown was more capable at being pm. He shouldn't have spelt her name wrong, included more mistakes or used illegible writing, that's simple incompetance. Politics is largely about the power to persuade, and Broon does it so badly he lays himself open.

That is utter shite.

The key thing here is the level of scrutiny that we now seem to demand of every single aspect of a politician's job.

It's a total loss of perspective to suggest that typos indicate an inability to govern the country.

 

[Wolveryeti]

Do you think she's acting entirely of her volition, or is she being manipulated and managed by the Sun?

Murdoch personally flew down from his evil castle and shot her with a syringe of mind control venom

 

[mattie]

Murdoch personally flew down from his evil castle and shot her with a syringe of mind control venom

I bet that bastard had a helicopter.

 

[kyser_soze]

Has she been coerced into speaking to the press? I mean it could be that she's actually pretty pissed off at Gordo's lack of attention to detail in his letter and she wants to tell people.

But obviously that's far too prosaic a reason for her to do all this...

Gordo to meet Jaqui James

 

[DotCommunist]

Is it even legal to record a telephone conversation without informing the other party? I thought not.

yes, but whats Brown going to do? prosecute a woman who's just lost her son in Afghanistan?

Real vote winner that'd be

 

[butchersapron]

Do you think she's acting entirely of her volition, or is she being manipulated and managed by the Sun?

I couldn't care less frankly. I think this thread demonstrates certain posters politically debilitating obsession with the media more than anything else - the clear danger being shown in siding with the PM (FFS!)because it's the Sun attacking him. Sheer naivity. I despise the Sun and have boycotting since Hillsborough, but i'm not going to allow a blood stained piece of shit like Brown off the hook just because they've ran a story.

 

[danny la rouge]

No it is all just a part of the media plan to 'get Gordon Brown'. [...] The poor woman is being used though and that is not good.

This. It's a lot disgusting.

I'm no fan of Brown, and he should tidy up his writing and double check spelling if he's going to be using it in public. He's certainly no Abe Lincoln. (Bixby letter). But it's hardly worth a media storm. Sure, I can understand the woman's grief and anger. But the Sun's? Fuck off.

 

[southside]

It's all crazy stuff the cyclopse bumbaling idiot in number 10 has screwed up again. But if you allow your son or daughter to join the army during a major war then there is a chance that they may got injured or even killed wich is tragic. The thing is these people allow their kids to join the army I won't be letting my kids join up ever just incase but that's not to say I have no compassion for the parents because I really do and it is heartbreaking to watch the pain of these people.

 

[untethered]

Perhaps there would be more money for military helicopters if companies like News International weren't so good at tax avoidance:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/02/99/e-cyclopedia/302366.stm

(Old story but no doubt things haven't changed much. Except NI's profits.)

 

[Corax]

Murdoch personally flew down from his evil castle and shot her with a syringe of mind control venom

What's your point caller?

Suggesting that hack journos manipulate and coerce people in order to further a story is hardly the stuff of conspiracy.

 

[Ralph Masters]

Maybe Gordon Brown should have used a standard, impersonal formula letter. Or just not bother saying he's saddened by the woman's tragedy, she is obviously someone who can't accept people might be genuine. Is she genuine about the reasons for being so upset, or is she trying to distract herself from the reality of her loss?

 

[untethered]

yes, but whats Brown going to do? prosecute a woman who's just lost her son in Afghanistan?

Real vote winner that'd be

Which part of zero tolerance don't you understand?

My point being that those claiming the moral high ground need to act with impeccable integrity. It's hard to see how stirring up this story in a newspaper openly hostile to the government meets that standard.

 

[gabi]

Saw the sun's political editor being interviewed this morning. He said categorically she's not being paid and they were not involved in recording the phone conversation.

I suppose if he's unequivocally saying that, you have to believe him. His neck on the line if he's caught out lying.

I think the woman's a fucking prick however. fwiw.

 

[untethered]

Maybe Gordon Brown should have used a standard, impersonal formula letter. Or just not bother saying he's saddened by the woman's tragedy, she is obviously someone who can't accept people might be genuine. Is she genuine about the reasons for being so upset, or is she trying to distract herself from the reality of her loss?

How about mail merge and a scanned signature?

 

[mattie]

I couldn't care less frankly. I think this thread demonstrates certain posters politically debilitating obsession with the media more than anything else - the clear danger being shown in siding with the PM (FFS!)because it's the Sun attacking him. Sheer naivity. I despise the Sun and have boycotting since Hillsborough, but i'm not going to allow a blood stained piece of shit like Brown off the hook just because they've ran a story.

But he's being pilloried for what is actually quite a decent gesture.

And, as far as I'm aware, something he didn't do for political capital - I'd certainly not heard of him writing to the families of the deceased before.

 

[danny la rouge]

I think the woman's a fucking prick however. fwiw.

Don't be absurd. She's a grieving mother, how is she supposed to behave? I'd be cutting off his blood stained hands.

No, the people behaving appallingly here are the Sun.

 

[Corax]

I despise the Sun and have boycotting since Hillsborough, but i'm not going to allow a blood stained piece of shit like Brown off the hook just because they've ran a story.

It's not zero-sum.

 

[gabi]

Don't be absurd. She's a grieving mother, how is she supposed to behave? I'd be cutting off his blood stained hands.

No, the people behaving appallingly here are the Sun.

She's got her 15 minutes. That would appear to be her pay-off. Can't blame the Sun. Maybe she should've advised her son not to get involved in such a stupid profession?

 

[butchersapron]

In fact, this is a microcosm of how certain people view politics, society and people in general. This woman stands in for the mass of thick, passive media led people, unable to recognise their own problems or needs and formulate solutions based on their own interests. There’s no chance she could have actively decided to do something for herself, she must have been manipulated by that damn media - almost by definition.

 

[Diamond]

This. It's a lot disgusting.

I'm no fan of Brown, and he should tidy up his writing and double check spelling if he's going to be using it in public. He's certainly no Abe Lincoln. (Bixby letter). But it's hardly worth a media storm. Sure, I can understand the woman's grief and anger. But the Sun's? Fuck off.

I'd like to know how the Bixby letter might read if it had been written under the pressures of the modern news/political cycle.

 

[danny la rouge]

She's got her 15 minutes. That would appear to be her pay-off. Can't blame the Sun. Maybe she should've advised her son not to get involved in such a stupid profession?

What a charming attitude.

 

[butchersapron]

But he's being pilloried for what is actually quite a decent gesture.

And, as far as I'm aware, something he didn't do for political capital - I'd certainly not heard of him writing to the families of the deceased before.

I couldn't care less. He's the PM, he wanted the job. He knew what bullshit came with it.

 

[gabi]

What a charming attitude.

Cheers danny, means a lot

 

[Beanburger]

The woman is saying if there were more helicopters her son wouldn't have bled to death,

And why aren't there more helicopters? Because they're expensive. And the government doesn't want to spend the money? And why doesn't the government want to spend the money? Because it would mean putting taxes up. And why don't the government want to put taxes up? Because people don't like paying taxes.

Honestly, I feel compassion for anyone who loses a relative, but all this "brave heroes" shit is really getting on my tits. The vast majority of people who join the army do so because they want to - be that for a job, for the shits and giggles, or for a way out of Little Shitsville on the Crapper. They do not (as a rule) do it to lay down their lives defending our glorious nation. And if they do, they really wanna fucking educate themselves, because wars are fought for national economic and political interest - not as a last-ditch defence of the realm. The only remotely defensive war we've fought within recent memory was WWII, and I think we can safely say that that's atypical.

So if you don't wanna take the government's dollar for getting shot at fighting the government's war, then don't join the government's army. Because if you get blown up, shot or otherwise killed, it's a bit shit, but you don't have a right to complain. You chose to be there.