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Our Press Should Worry About The Fascists In Scottish Stands Before Those In Rome.

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Image for Our Press Should Worry About The Fascists In Scottish Stands Before Those In Rome.

There is an amazing tendency in our media towards cognitive dissonance.

This has been apparent in the last couple of days as opprobrium has poured onto the right-wing fascist supporters of Lazio on the occasion of their visit to Glasgow for last night’s game.

And these fans deserve every bit of criticism and condemnation that is coming their way.

We don’t want these people in Scotland, and in particular in our football grounds.

Here’s the thing though; there have been fascists in Scotland’s football grounds for years, the media has been shamefully silent most of the time. Only occasionally do they actually go after it, aggressively, and properly. At other times they actually make excuses for it.

We’ve seen Rangers fans make Nazi salutes in Israel, Hearts fans welcoming Tommy Robinson and the Union Bears and all the baggage they carry.

It’s the tip of the iceberg, and our media’s complacency on it has been shameful.

Already, I can anticipate the squealing in their own defence.

They can scream into the mirror. Some of them know this is true, and they should be disgusted over it. There are a handful of them in our press who do actually get this and care about it … they are woefully underrepresented in the media rooms and their voices don’t carry far.

You don’t have to look back that far to see black-clad thugs marching down a Scottish street and making fascist salutes.

It happened towards the end of last season, and those thugs advertised their match in advance.

You might remember them.

There was zero media condemnation of that. Zero.

The story barely bleeped on the press radar.

It was Celtic sites who highlighted how disgusting that spectacle was. It was Celtic sites which said that march should never have been allowed to take place. It was Celtic sites who pointed out the deeply disturbing and fascistic overtones in it.

It is a dangerous thing to allow supporters to get away with.

And these were the same fans who caused UEFA to sanction their club.

The media refuses to acknowledge that.

Just days later, they won praise for their behaviour against us, in spite of thousands of them chanting hatred the whole match and where their disgraceful banner depicted a dead Celtic fan.

Lazio fans aren’t from here. They are an easy target.

Whilst I completely agree that we don’t want these people on our streets, my frustration extends to Orange Walks every July as well, on top of the collection of gutter rats who stain Scottish football’s reputation.

Some of us do care about this for more than just appearances sake.

Some of this isn’t just faux outrage but the real kind.

The media which defended the Ibrox fans for their own scummy salutes on the grounds that they were “Red Hand Salutes” instead don’t get to climb onto any moral high ground here.

Their defence on behalf of the Ibrox fans was that killing Catholics was more acceptable than gassing Jews.

I’m afraid I have a problem with that.

I’m afraid a lot of people do.

I guess it is simpler to care when it’s your own blood they are talking about being up to their knees in.

When it’s not, it’s easier to dismiss.

This article’s poll question is more a rhetorical one … I think most of us would answer the same way.

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