The last ever post on Paul Staines, aka Guido Fawkes, no. 103
The main reason I write, from time to time, about Paul Staines, who posts as Guido Fawkes at order-order.com, is that he has achieved some publicity as a blogger, but the manner in which he blogs is bad for blogging, bad for journalism and bad for democracy. He is the Daily Express of blogging - opinion off the cuff, without recourse to fact.
Two things in particular have raised my ire for Staines of late. A recent follow-up search on the Oxford Union came up with a fascinating post from Staines:
Ring, ring…Guido Fawkes Hello
Oxford Uni Errm, would you, err, be interested in speaking in an Oxford Union debate?Guido turned them down. He is just not that right-wing.
which suggests that Staines, given that his identity is widely known after having been ‘revealed’ on Newsnight1, has a genuine fear of being bested. This may, however, be because Staines is a muck-raker with no interest in debate or contesting his opinions2. I surmise as much from a comment that one Guido Fawkes Esq. makes on the aforementioned post:
Turned down Cambridge Union a while back as well.
No interest in debating.
Unless it brings publicity, IMHO. Sadly, Staines’ selective interpretation of reality does not just extend to argument. He plays hard and loose with the facts. I know, with many facts, but one in particular has annoyed me. Staines says:
With the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, it fell to us Irish, to our glory, to save Western Civilisation.
which completely ignores one of the effects of the sacking of Constantinople in the fifth century, namely the transfer of the library of Constantinople to the Western Roman Empire.
Just in case anyone had forgotten, YouTube has a clip of Staines’ outing on Newsnight.
xD.
1 - I say revealed; it was already know, but it’s hard to pretend otherwise after it’s been broadcast by Messrs. Paxman and White.
2 - Staines is a self-described libertarian (a self-liberating neo-Nozickian when sober, in fact) but still feels the need to intrude in the private lives of politicians.
December 18th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Dave, this is not like you. You must be suffering from the same end of year blues I am.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Well, thanks for the concern, James. Not end of year blues, just end of year tiredness. Also, I’ve come to a tricky point in my plans for world domination, so it’s taking up what is normally propaganda time.
If you don’t mind my asking, what’s not like me? I’ve disliked Staines’ style of blogging for some time.
December 19th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Agreed, xD. You could also have mentioned his rather inconistent libertarianism when it comes to threatening libel action (http://www.chickyog.net/2007/02/14/the-last-laugh/).
December 19th, 2007 at 4:00 pm
You do write undergraduate quality bollocks.
It is not illiberal to warn someone that if they print a libel you will sue. Libertarians believe in the rule of law.
Incidentally it is without doubt (2) and the blog is surely The Sun of blogging. Wildly popular, successful and profitable.
As for the Irish saving civilisation. Please observe the deliberate “this will get a rise” warning lights were illuminated. Re-set your sense of humour to “on”.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
It would seem that I have got a rise out of you.
It may not be illiberal to use a tool of the state that, particularly in the UK, acts against freedom of speech, but it reinforces the state as an appropriate mediator in private business. It starts to come close to a SLAPP. Either way, it is hypocritical when you say you have put yourself out of easy reach in - where is it? - Kitts and Nevis?
I don’t know what you mean about warning lights, but you came out with what is at best a half-truth. If you’re trying to infer something from history, the inference is weak if the history is weak.
Your blog may well be the equivalent of The Sun. Read by lots of people who can’t even understand, er, undergraduate quality bollocks.
Anyway, thanks for posting. I know I’m not a fan, but it is nice to have big bloggers commenting on here. I do appreciate the effort to argue back.
xD.