Never let it be said that conservatives haven’t been good for independent media. Who else would we laugh uproariously at?
Speaking of Miranda Devine, the Daily Telegraph’s favourite conservative columnist got busy making a goose of herself over the weekend, while engaging in her favourite pursuit – abusing lefties.
On this occasion, it was Brumbies star David Pocock, a favoured target of the right, given his progressive views and actions (which included ‘locking on’ to mining equipment in the Leard State Forest last year, in protest at plans to mine one of the last remaining stands of Box Gum Grassy Woodland).
What set Devine off? During a match against the Highlanders on Friday night, Pocock scored his third try – a hat-trick – and then celebrated in a way that was not to Devine’s liking.
Did David Pocock actually do jazz hands when he scored a try?!!! What a tosser
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 24, 2015
Well, no. Pocock didn’t do ‘jazz hands’. He did something quite selfless and heart-warming… as lefties often do. A few hours later, Pocock responded. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in Devine’s boudoir when she read it.
@mirandadevine it was actually Auslan/sign language for clapping. I have a friend who’s first language is Auslan so it was for her…
— David Pocock (@pocockdavid) April 24, 2015
Early the next morning, a sycophantic Anzac Day back-peddle was the order of the day.
@pocockdavid That’s really nice. Sorry I misjudged. Glad it wasn’t jazz hands! And congrats on your hat trick.
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 24, 2015
Pocock would have been well within his rights to tell Devine to shove her apology up her arse… instead, he wrote this.
@mirandadevine thanks, Miranda. That’s totally fine. Also glad it wasn’t ‘jazz hands’ 🙂
— David Pocock (@pocockdavid) April 24, 2015
Which speaks some volumes about Pocock, and quite a bit about Devine as well. Particularly when you consider what she tweeted the following day, as the criticism kept coming.
Can’t believe vitriole over my @pocockdavid #jazzhands tweet. What’s wrong w u people? I didn’t realise it was Auslan. I apologised. Move on
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 25, 2015
As Darth Vader himself might say… the skin is thin with that one.
And thus, of course, it sparked a whole new round of tweets. In media management terms, we call this ‘pouring fuel on the fire’… we also call it ‘a very, very silly thing to do’.
@mirandadevine @pocockdavid but you display such vitriol yourself Miranda.
— Carolyn Holbrook (@SigmundMarx) April 25, 2015
@mirandadevine @pocockdavid It’s the staggering gulf in class between your ‘tosser’ comment and the grace with the apology was accepted.
— Ian Pratt (@IanPratt_Lexis) April 25, 2015
@mirandadevine poor thing, look what happens when you jump to conclusions and call people names. Let’s use this as a learning experience.
— dickie dickbag (@dickieisadick) April 25, 2015
@mirandadevine @pocockdavid @bencubby it’s spelt “vitriol”. I will be contacting your editor about this.
— Ben Pobjie (@benpobjie) April 25, 2015
Devine has developed a bit of a habit of shooting from the lip on Twitter. Here’s one from December last year, while defending conservative bedfellow, Andrew Bolt (in response to a discussion about the treatment of Muslims after the Sydney siege).
@TheRealPBarry @boltcomments Paul, that’s a parody account. The leftist imagination creating division where there is none. Stick w the truth
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) December 16, 2014
Well, no. Not really. @Boltcomments is not a “parody account”. It’s a literal republishing of the batshit craxy comments that routinely find a home on Bolt’s Herald Sun blog.
Ironic, isn’t it, that when it comes to vitriol, Devine can’t tell the real deal from the fakes.
But as Devine herself would say, it’s time to move on… and so we shall, to the second half of ‘Miranda’s Big Weekend On Twitter’, when she joined the celebration over the sacking of SBS journalist Scott McIntyre over a series of tweets he sent about Anzac Day.
In case you’ve been living under a rock, McIntyre had been tweeting about the brutality and lionization of war, and the truth about the behavior of some Australian diggers. In a level of media cowardice up there with the sacking of Mike Carlton, SBS gave him the punt.
Cue Devine, who just a day after demanding others ‘move on’ from her own mistake, was dancing the figurative jig over McIntyre’s public culling.
SBS reporter Scott McIntyre sacked after posting ‘despicable’ Anzac comments on Tweeter http://t.co/6qGHz5aFQM
— Frank Acocella (@frank8427zz9za) April 26, 2015
And again…
Scott McIntyre sacked for highly offensive Anzac tweets pic.twitter.com/ik0oUe7EbU
— Sharri Markson (@SharriMarkson) April 26, 2015
And again…
Here’s my statement regarding unfortunate comments made by Scott McIntyre last night http://t.co/QuqAb83daJ
— Michael Ebeid (@michaelebeid) April 26, 2015
And again…
Innocent children, on the way to school, murdered. Their shadows seared into the concrete of Hiroshima. pic.twitter.com/DQOGXiKxEb
— Scott McIntyre (@mcintinhos) April 25, 2015
Four tweets later, Devine decided it was finally time to ‘move on’… which, surely, rules out a column from Devine this week about McIntyre? Guess we’ll have to see.
Either way, the irony should be lost on no-one who takes an interest in all things media. Devine still has a column to write this week because she still has a job, despite sending an abusive tweet based on her own complete ignorance.
McIntyre, by contrast, has no job to go to tomorrow, despite sending a series of largely factual tweets based on his honest opinion.
If that’s not reason enough to ‘move on’ from mainstream media, I don’t know what is.
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