Loony leftism

So, I still haven't finished part 3 of my anti-fascist series, nor part 2 of my mixing pop and politics series, nor the post on Ken and Boris I've been working on, nor the big round-up of random links I keep on the boil but needs editing before going on-line. So, in the meantime, I will irritate my regular readers with some snips from The Commentator's regular "Loony left" column.

This is from the latest installment:

MEHDI HASAN CUTTING FAST AND LOOSE 

This feature is in its third week and Leftist firebrand Mehdi Hasan has yet to pop up. Shocking really. But it was only a matter of time. Infamous for playing fast and loose with the facts, Hasan pulled off a cut and paste job this week that was really quite something. 

Speaking about Jenny Tonge – the (ex) Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords who this week disgraced herself by adding to her portfolio of Israel hatred – he said: “Her comment, in full, doesn't seem so controversial” He then presents the quote, supposedly in full, thus: “Israel is not going to be there for ever in its present form” – (his emphasis).  

In his defence, Hasan’s column in The New Statesman is prefaced as “polemic” and just as well. You see, whatHasan fails to disclose is a) the actual full quote and b) the context.
What she actually said was: “Israel is not going to be there for ever in its present performance....Israel will lose its support and then they will reap what they have sown” (my italics) – a threat made in the context of an event whose purpose was to delegitimise Israel and made by a fanatical anti-Zionist who has gone on record saying she could imagine becoming a suicide bomber had she been born a Palestinian.  

Hasan should be more careful; confirmation bias and cherry picking are all part of the same dangerous game.   

A man once said, “Today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator…” I guess that’s fair enough; seems like a stand-up guy, right? Well yes, until you learn that the man was Adolf Hitler and that he finished that sentence with “…by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.' Ah...

And from the first instalment, "the Sean Penn editition":

RACE FOR LONDON MAYOR: KEN VS. BORIS 

The New Statesman published a chart this week -- ‘Boris regains lead over Ken’ -- after February’s YouGov poll shows Johnson two points ahead in the race for City Hall.
But how’s this for an unbelievable statistic: according to the Staggers it turns out that Ken’s ‘impressive “fairer fares” campaign is supported by 68 per cent of voters’ but that ‘just 44 per cent believe he would fulfil his pledge if elected’. 

Of course Ken’s “fairer fares” campaign (which proposes to cut fares by seven percent) is impressive – just as it would be impressive for him to pledge the reincarnation of Christ using a piece of DNA from a crumb of burnt toast bearing his resemblance.* 

Ah, thought I was shocked that as many as 66 people out of 100 don’t believe what Ken says? Incorrect; I can’t believe that as many as 44 actually do. 

Ken’s track record is dodgier than a back-street dentist. He’s lied about his record on crime, he effectively called himself a “dehumanised moron” when he lied about Routemaster buses, and in the past he has U-turned on – you guessed it – transport fares more times than a dog chasing its own tail. 

(*Disclaimer: to my knowledge, Ken has never actually pledged the second coming – though I suspect he might if he thought it’d make up those two poll points.)