I love a good row. On my blog you can say anything about me you like and so long as it's not got rude words in it or breaks the law in some way shape or form, I'll leave it there. You may well get a few insults hurled back, so if you don't like the heat don't step into the kitchen. All I require is that you are a registered blogspot user.
You might not want to insult me, just point out what a moron I am and that my arguments don't hold water. That's called a debate and thats how we learn things, so even of I don't like it, it's good for the soul and I welcome it.
You might want to correct me on a mistake I've made. If I have I'll correct it and apologise.
I'm merely a dyslexic punk rocker from Mill Hill who's life's work is to run a studio. That's enough for me. Now if you want to stand for parliament, you should show yourself to have a bit of backbone. You should stand up and be counted and defend your case. You should admit it when you are wrong. If you are a democrat, you should welcome and relish an argument. You should be someone who the people who vote for you can trust. Who they know has the backbone to argue their corner.
Mike Freer is council leader. He's standing for parliament in Finchley. He has a blog paid for by you and I - the taxpayer (unlike mine which is free). Yesterday he made the statement "Business as usual" in Barnet on his blog. I posted a comment saying he was talking nonsense. He won't put it up on his website or respond, wheras he has posted and responded to one which agreed with him (from one of the Friends of Freer). One good feature of his blog is that you can see your own unmoderated comments as well as the approved ones from other people. Here's what I see when I log in
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# Rog T
Posted February 2, 2009 at 11:47 pm | Permalink
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Mike,
I had to take a day off work as my three kids at three different schools were all at home as the schools were shut. Barnet knew for a week about the snow. Half the shops in Mill Hill Broadway were shut. The manager of Leyla’s Turkish restaurant told me it took 4 hours to drive from Barnet to Mill Hill.
The one thing anyone who lives in Barnet knows is that today WAS NOT business as usual.
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marysimns
Posted February 3, 2009 at 11:18 am | Permalink
Can I just say thank you for gritting the roads and making life easier for those of us who rely on our cars to get to places.
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MikeFreer
Posted February 3, 2009 at 6:26 pm | Permalink
Thank you for taking the time to reply Mary - appreciated.
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As you can see from the time, my message was posted first, so he saw it but was too cowardly to post it. It would be bad enough if it was a free blog, but I'm paying for it. Are you allowed to use a publicly funded service to promote yourself and your friends and exclude other comments?
Now you can see my comment. It's not offensive, contains no bad language, it's just critical of Mike Freer. Does a man who lacks backbone and misuses a public service in this way deserve to be a candidate for a major party? If I was David Cameron, I'd want more robust candidates. I'd want people with a bit of integrity. I'd want people who could fight their corner.
If Mike is so "Frit" (to quote a venerable former Tory MP from his seat) of a dyslexic Punk Rocker from Mill Hill, what on earth will he do when he stands up against Dennis Skinner, George Galloway or any other left wing bruisers? How will he cope with the withering analytic skills of a Vince Cable. What possible use could such a cowardly man be? As far as I'm aware, David Cameron doesn't have a shadow minister for cuddly toys, which seems to be about all Mike can cope with at the moment.
Check it out for yourself
http://leaderlistens.com/2009/02/02/business-as-usual-despite-heaviest-snowfall-for-a-generation/
15 comments:
On the face of it, there is an arguable case that taxpayers money had been abused. If Mike Freer was running a free ‘personal’ blog like yours, he could moderate messages to his heart’s content. If he only wanted to allow messages from people saying how wonderful he was, then that would be his right. But “Leader Listens” is a publicly funded blog and whilst the amount it costs to run is a drop in the ocean compared to the amount of money “missing” in Iceland, it is still public money.
I would therefore question the legal basis for rejecting public comments which merely disagree with the leader. If you had called Freer a megalomaniacal despot then he might claim justification for refusing to post your message.
But to refuse to publish a politely written comment which merely offers an alternative point of view is censorship of the very worst kind and merely reinforces my belief that Freer is unfit to hold public office.
I've posted this comment@
What do you mean by business as usual? If Mill Hill was anything to go by it was definitely NOT business as usual. Ungritted roads and pavements and hardly any shops were open. I could not get to work as there were no buses. Many shops in Mill Hill Broadway were closed. So sorry Mike, it was NOT business as usual. Hasn’t anyone else posted about this or do you only publish praise like the first comment??
Let's see if it gets published, but I won't hold my breath...
Im sure Freer quakes in his boots about what you think David.
To be quite frank because someone says something you don't agree with always turns into a bitching session.
Have you ever actually stopped to think that some real people do actually post comments who are not as you call them 'Friends of Freer'? Or is it your objective to stifle the debate so much and insult so many people they stop posting?
Amanda,
Given that, unlike Mike Freer, I don't block comments I don't like, it's a bit rich to start accusing people of trying to block debate.
As to you not being a "Friend of Freer", I just had a look at your profile and the only blog you follow is one called "The Friends of Freer" - just had a look at it and it's not exactly ripping him to pieces is it ??? I doubt that the Socialist Workers Party are running that blog.
Everyone who posts here is a "Real Person" - it's just that many of them hide behind unreal identities.
Strange as it may seem, I only post blogs about Mike Freer when he does something worth commenting on. Unfortunately, as he says and does such stupid things on such a regular basis, there are rather more mentions of him than I'd like.
You mean there's a Friends of Freer blog? Why wasn't I told? I'm going to look for it now... found it... going to follow it from now on.
Vicki,
I thought it was a mate of mine winding me up when I first saw it - author "Mrs T", so I embarked on a policy of ignoring it. Mind you I'm not too sure having read some of the comments. Mind you the policy of ignoring it still seems like a good one (hard as it is for me).
What a strange comment by Amanda given that Mike Freer is the one stifling debate by refusing to publish Rog’s comments. His web site (paid for by us) is called “Leader Listens” not “leader only listens to people who agree with him.”
If Cllr Freer is not prepared to listen to residents who might have a different view to him, then perhaps he is not best suited to a career in politics.
Umm doesn't Vickim work for the Barnet's TUC and run an anti blog? Funny old world...
Thought you might be interested in this article by Mike Freer on the Local Government Association website.
Moving with the times
"Digital media allows councillors to communicate with those residents who may not normally access traditional forms of council communication, writes Cllr Mike Freer."
These paragraphs particularly stood out:
"By not shying away from the difficult conversations we can address the real issues that are happening on the streets of our borough and work towards resolving them to the satisfaction of all those involved. This work underpins our use of social and digital media as part of our agenda to promote open and transparent government."
"I have personally harnessed the power of the web by establishing my own council owned blog and a Twitter account. With this site I have the ability as leader of the council to publish articles, photographs and videos hosted by YouTube into one place providing a platform where residents are invited to provide feedback, pose questions and seek clarification of points, all of which are answered and posted back onto the site."
However, as you have posted, the reality does not seem to match the promise.
I think this just proves Cllr Freer to be a sanctimonious hypocrite.
Dodgy ground there Dave...name calling really is childish and pathetic.
It's okay for you to not publish comments straight away (at least Rog had the gall to all it) but it isn't okay for you to do it...
Hello pot this is kettle calling!
"Do Call Me Dave"
Shouldn't that be
"Hello Pot Crack calling"?
I tell you what "dave", you tell your mate Freer to turn off moderation and publish all comments posted, and I will do the same.
Do Call Me Dave / Crackhead,
What a preposterous comment. The fact that it, and all of the rest of yours, are accepted and published no slower than mine showed the silliness of your comparison.
Don't Call Me Dave, to my knowledge, has only ever refused a couple of comments all of which made personal comments.
Compare that to your friend.
Specifically, I have refused to publish anonymous comments which insult my mother or, on one occasion, both of my parents. The friends of Freer who post such comments are pathetic individuals if they think the way to win an argument is to insult the parents of someone exercising his democratic right to free speech.
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