paddy o keefe in the farmers journal

irish_bob

does anyone here read the farmers journal and if so do they also read paddy o keefes weekly collumn , this collumn is unique in the farmers journal in that it is rarely about much to do with farming and mostly a commentary on things political both domestic and international
when i read paddy o keefe i sometimes have to check which paper i am reading as it is nothing more than a weekly right wing rant against what o keefe perceives to be evil liberals ,the labour party , the irish times , rte , anyone who makes even the slightest criticism of the usa including george bush , he also firmly believes that global warming is an invention of the left

im not lefty myself but o keefe belongs not at the farmers journal but at one of rupert murdochs outlets or perhaps the daily mail such is his extreme right positions
just yesterday he had a piece condemming fidel castro , as i said im no lefty but to write a piece about castro and not once mention the fact that the usa had tried to assasinate castro numerous times while all the while claiming that cuba was a better place pre castro when the american mafia dons baschially ran the country is truly breathtaking in its hypocrosy considering the nub of the piece was that journalists in the irish times need to be more balanced when giving a synopsis on castro , talk about the kettle calling the pot black or what

he went even further last yr when talking about chile , he claimed that the mass murderer agusto pinochet ( himself a good friend of margeret thatcher by the way ) had been great for chile and outright lied when he said it was pinochets predecessor salvadore allande who had killed thousands in that country
like anyone else who is on paddy o keefes enemy list , salvadore allandes only crime was that he was left wing

i think it actually reflects badly on farmers and as someone who was born on a farm feel ashamed that there is never one letter to the editor taking issue with what o keefe writes
it suggests that if something in print is not specifically farmer related , farmers have no interest in it

were o keefe to write for any other paper , he would be bombarded with angry letters to the editor each week

europerson

I think what you're failing to understand is that Farmers' Journal readers are probably intelligent enough to reach their own conclusions on these matters, even having read Mr O'Keefe's pieces. I fail to see how O'Keefe's inclusion in the Journal reflects badly on farmers as an entity.

irish_bob

europerson wrote: »

I think what you're failing to understand is that Farmers' Journal readers are probably intelligent enough to reach their own conclusions on these matters, even having read Mr O'Keefe's pieces. I fail to see how O'Keefe's inclusion in the Journal reflects badly on farmers as an entity.

the fact that i have never read a single letter to the editor taking issue with o keefes far rights views to me suggests farmers only take seriously issues in the paper which affect them personally like milk price or something

dont know what you mean by me failing to understand farmers reaching a conclusion on theese matters
i cant see inside there heads so i can only draw conclusions from the zero letters to the editor directed towards o keefe

europerson

irish_bob wrote: »

the fact that i have never read a single letter to the editor taking issue with o keefes far rights views to me

In fairness, his views aren't exactly far right in the grand scheme of things.

suggests farmers only take seriously issues in the paper which affect them personally like milk price or something

I wouldn't find that at all surprising. How many people read newspapers just to get news, without ever looking at the opinion pieces? Quite a few I should think.

dont know what you mean by me failing to understand farmers reaching a conclusion on theese matters
i cant see inside there heads so i can only draw conclusions from the zero letters to the editor directed towards o keefe

Sorry, but so what? If you feel strongly about it, you ought to write letters to the editor.

convert

Well said Europerson!