george galloway

31 Aug 2005

Via Drink Soaked Trotskyists etc…, I founda bit about ol’ George Galloway. I don’t really know much about George except that he became somewhat of a poster-boy for the anti-war opposition here in the US because he’s been a vehement opponent of the war in Iraq, despite being, as far as I can tell, a preening egomaniacal git (if I am criticizing a British MP, I get to use British slang – that’s the rule). Well, he’s maintaining his reputation with this bit of nonsense:

Salman Rushdie clashed with George Galloway yesterday in a debate about TV and religion and a hypothetical small-screen adaptation of the novelist’s controversial book The Satanic Verses.

Mr Galloway, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said TV executives had to be “very sensitive about people’s religion” and if broadcasters did not show sufficient sensitivity they “had to deal with the consequences”.

He said: “You have to be aware if you do [offend people’s beliefs] you will get blowback. You should do it very carefully, especially if you are a public service broadcaster.”

A “blowback”? For fuck’s sake, man, they put a fatwa out for his DEATH!! NOT COOL, man, NOT COOL! But, of course, Rushdie (for whom Amanda would instantly leave me. she’s told me so.) can hold his own, here:

Describing Mr Galloway’s argument as “craven”, the author said: “The simple fact is that any system of ideas that decides you have to ringfence it, that you cannot discuss it in fundamental terms, that you can’t say that this bit of it is junk, or that bit is oppressive … we are supposed to respect that?”