I have to say that OH often made me laugh too but I was always vaguely uncomfortable with the uncertainty of whether I was laughing with him or at him.
Whatever ~ he has courted trouble for a long time and now it seems it has found him. Deliberate? I always though so. His aim long seemed to me to be notoriety and although he made some very valid points he was also too free with the insults for his own good. Some may say he was fearless in his outing of cant, vanity and hubris but there are limits even in our so called "free country" and he would have been well advised to remember them. Guido, Hislop and others have managed to score points without too much trouble over the years and done so without resort to gratuitous foul language and insults.
I am all for pricking the bubble of pomposity that many in power live in but there are ways and then there is OH's way. Shame he never learned the difference.
As for slurs about Scousers etc ..... Well I come from Hampshire and have never taken offence at being labelled, as all Hampshire people are, of being "Strong in the arm but thick in the head". I am open in my dislike of many things North of Watford Gap, the food, the chip on shoulder attitude of many, the "cartoon" Yorkshire Tykes (Parkinson, Freddy Trueman etc) and the "We are an oppressed nation" attitude of both the Welsh and the Scots Nationalists but I am also aware that amongst the slag heaps there are many nuggets of pure gold. If anything really upsets my equilibrium it is intolerance.
OH is a victim of his own silliness I'm afraid and should have worked out that treading on Scouse toes over such matters as Bulger, Hillsborough etc. would play straight into the hands of those who, rightly or wrongly, feel that the Country, Judiciary and Press have always been against them. He will probably now feel that he is as much a victim of prejudice as those he has apparently upset feel they are. Then again, knowing him only through his ranting and posting, he may well be feeling highly pleased with himself but it will, I fear, cost him dearly.
And that will probably be my last serious post for a while ..... Normal service may now be resumed.
