I Think I Might Have To Buy Popcorn Shares...

It's always amusing to see someone on the Left trip themselves up, and the following pack suddenly turn on their fallen comrade and rend him limb from limb.

And at the weekend, Liberal Conspiracy provided a superb show in just that vein. First up, Septicisle, with a post on how terrible it was for Alan Johnson to use grieving mother Linda Bowman to support the DNA database. Nothing wrong with that, you say? You'd say the same, right?

Well, indeed. But he went a little too far for a lot of commenters by including this gratuitous sideswipe:

Mrs Bowman’s compassion is extraordinary, as shown by how she found it within herself to forgive the killer of her daughter:

"I’d love to watch Sally Anne’s killer get the death penalty. I want to see him suffer until he is squealing like a pig."

It’s that kind of magnanimous, sensible, compassionate, non-vindictive approach to criminal justice which this country is crying out for.

This prompted many others - even those on the left - to excoriate the poor chap until a retraction of sorts was produced:

Update:

To be entirely clear: it was not my intention to criticise Linda Bowman for not forgiving Mark Dixie, even if that is what the post looks as if it was doing; the entire sentence building up to the quote is simply not good enough, and shouldn’t have been posted here, let alone on Lib Con. I should have written something along the lines of “Really? Her apparent compassion is not exactly shown in statements she has previously made”, or words to the effect.

Straight after him came John B, who decided that shooting oneself in both feet was a game that suited him down to the ground:

So that can’t be the reason why people are edgy about following the same convention, and accurately describing Ms Bowman as a barbaric, vindictive person [*]. What, then?

Unfortunately for him, the original word wasn't 'person', but rather a word for someone accustomed to broomstick riding.

This brought Cath Elliot ravening out of the underbrush to maul the hapless monorchid:

"barbaric, vindictive witch

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me? And this is on LC, where we’re running a series about the sexist shite coming out of the election campaign…..

...

Look at Sara Payne for instance, and the work she’s done on reviewing the criminal justice system’s response to rape victims. She’s made a significant contribution, and she’s also helping to shape policy, but because she’s on the right side so to speak, no one’s accusing her of being a barbaric vindictive witch or suggesting she has no role to play in the debate around violence against women and girls.

By all means criticise Bowman’s views, by all means argue as to why she’s wrong to think it’s a good thing to collect everyone’s DNA, but ffs, let’s leave the cheap shit sexism and the attempts at character assassination to the tabloids."

Ouch!

A few comments earlier, someone had attempted to point out to another commenter that a previously-quoted example did not mean that forgiveness was a function of sainthood, but of resources (it's a lefty site, all differences can be laid at the door of differing access to 'resources'):

I have some sympathy with the “having it both ways” point. But I cannot agree that in order to forgive in these circumstances you would need to be a saint.

You just need to be resourced, as the ambassador’s widow was, and as – through her faith – the African lady was whose son was killed in the Tube bombings (7/7/05). She grieved publicly outside Euston station – the media picked it up – and asked God to give her the strength to forgive his killers.

This prompted John B to pick the offered olive branch up and poke his own eye out with it:

@11, I see your point, kinda, but surely the only thing the African lady had that Linda Bowman doesn’t is basic human decency?

Prompting Brownie to comment forlornly on this impending car-crash:

Wow, it gets better.

Or is that worse?

You know, I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had reading a thread since the last time JohnB opened his mouth and put both feet firmly in it...

Update: Incidentally, you won't find some of those comments there now - those fearless campaigners for the truth have quietly moderated them out of existence. Not deleted them with a referring message, as any honest website does, but vanished them, as if they never were.

Rather like what the left wish they could do to the people who point out their shortcomings.