Today Celtic have blasted the DUP’s Gregory Campbell for a disgraceful comment he made in relation to our game in Gibraltar tomorrow night.
Celtic kept their response short and sweet, which is good, because there’s no point getting into a public slanging match with a publicity hungry oxygen thief, whether he’s a Twitter troll or an elected parliamentarian.
Campbell, who is a notorious subscriber to a number of anti-Celtic conspiracy theories, including the utterly discredited State Aid fiasco, posted on Facebook about “the last time Irish Republican sympathisers went to Gibraltar and lost”.
I’m sure I don’t need to educate any of the readers as to what he scandalously refers to.
A Celtic spokesperson was stinging, calling the post ““highly inappropriate and irresponsible and not worthy of any further comment”.
Few would disagree.
This quote appeared in an article for The Herald and at first you could be forgiven for thinking theirs was a reasonable piece which condemns this moron and bigot and closes off the subject. Yet it’s not, because then the writer makes the decision, for no reason at all, to drag the barmy State Aid issue into the piece.
The writer is Gerry Braiden.
Not the sort who usually indulges in this kind of nonsense, which makes today’s piece all the more unfathomable.
Yes, Campbell was a supporter of the stupid State Aid cause, but his comments today made absolutely no mention of that in any way, shape or form.
As has been pointed out time and time and time again that case had absolutely no merit whatsoever and the issue is dead, it’s been dead for ages.
The paper’s dredging it up seems illogical at best.
Let’s not forget, although the issue is now the number one talking point for much of social media in Scotland, The Herald first solicited and then turned down advertising cash to print the entirely neutral CQN ad on Resolution 12, which led to some to question their motives.
I question the motives of an article which has no bearing on conspiracy theories but chooses to mention them.
I question the sense of a writer who then goes on to inform its readers – again, for no reason at all – that the State Aid allegations were “never a political issue in Scotland” and finishes up with a quote Campbell gave in an “online interview” in which he states that the matter was buried by “politicians relying on Celtic-minded voters and media coverage to get re-elected”.
You know where that “online interview” was from?
Vanguard Bears.
I’m fairly sure the writer is well aware of that fact, but he chose to omit it from the piece.
That interview wasn’t nearly credible. Braiden has just given it status it didn’t deserve. Now you tell me; why in God’s name is The Herald giving legitimacy to them, in an article that had the sum total of nil to do with that issue in the first place?
If it was to make Campbell look like a crank, well that’s hardly difficult to do.
Instead Braiden has given crank ideas espoused in a crank forum a place in a piece in a national title.
This one stinks like a dead fish left under a bed for a week.
Which brings me to the weekends papers and the way some of them tried to drag us into a story about ISIS.
Apparently Islamic State is doing one of its community outreach things, having obviously twigged that there’s no positive PR to be gained in hacking off heads in the town square any longer. They’re going now for the “hearts and minds” and one of their schemes involved what the media here was eager to brand the Jihadi Games, a get-together of their supporters and locals in the Iraqi town of Tal Afar.
And lo and behold, the hacks must have been wetting their pants when they spotted that one of the kids involved in the game of musical chairs (I am not making this up, I swear) was wearing a Celtic shirt. Another wore a Manchester City top.
Which of course gave several outlets a chance at a “scoop”.
Some of the kids were also wearing well known clothing brands, but no-one appeared to be insinuating a connection there.
It’s not clear whether the guy in the Celtic top is a member of Islamic State at all, or simply one of the local kids who turned and fancied a bit of a laugh. Details like that are unimportant to the hacks when it comes to squeezing out a story.
(An apt metaphor as I’m sure you’ll agree.)
There are a lot of possible “explanations” – not that any are required, by the way – as to why a Celtic top would have turned up in such a place. For one thing, we’re a truly global football club and the famous Hoops are distinctive and worn throughout the world.
For another thing, Celtic fans are amongst the most charitable in the world and a lot of good causes in the war-torn parts of our planet have benefited from that. The Green Brigade and other fan organisations, many of whom are plugged into the plight of the poor people in these countries, have amongst other things donated football strips in such numbers that it’s a wonder you don’t see more Celtic jerseys on the 10 o’clock news.
This is the stuff the media gets up to.
This is the stuff we have to be watching out for each day, every day.
UPDATE TO THE PIECE:
Gerry Braiden didn’t like this one. He responded on Twitter to it, offered his opinion (it wasn’t that I should win any awards) and he clarified his article.
For the record, I’m perfectly happy with what he had to say, including the part where he said this article was “febrile”!
Hell, if I can’t take that on the chin I might as well apply for a job at The Daily Record.
Gerry does have previous in exposing these goons, which is why the piece very clearly says that he’s “not the sort who usually indulges in this kind of nonsense.”
He’s placed it very clearly in the context, as he puts it, of giving a “very clear picture of where on the spectrum Campbell’s take on Celtic lies.”
It certainly does that.
He goes on to point out that his was one of the few stories at the time which called the state aid nonsense exactly that, and I remember well that piece and the way he handled the affair.
This has been one of those days.
Sometimes you need someone outside of it to say “Step back a little bit and take a deep breath.”
Gerry, thanks for clarifying the two main points here; namely that Campbell is a goon and State Aid guy is a loon.
I consider that a pretty good result overall.