‘You Feel Duped’

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Bob Geldof, centre, with Dublin City Cllr Mannix Flynn, left, Dublin City Council official Oonagh Casey, outside Dublin City Hall this morning

This afternoon.

Outside Dublin City Hall.

Bob Geldof holds his Freedom of the City of Dublin award before giving it back.

Mr Geldof said he does not want to be associated with the award while it is also held by Aung San Suu Kyi.

He explained his reasons to RTE’s Sean O’Rourke this morning, saying:

“Because I don’t want, I know this sounds pious, I don’t know how to not make it sound pious but I don’t want to be on a very select row of wonderful people and be honoured thus, myself, of which I’m very proud. And I don’t want to be on it with a killer.

Someone who is, at best, a handmaiden to genocide and an accomplice to murder.

“And I know that sounds grandstanding but forgive me if that’s the case. I don’t actually want to do this because, as I said, I’m very proud of that specific award.

“But I was over, last night, I introduced Samantha Power, at the Abbey and she was Obama’s ambassador to the UN and she wrote the bible on genocide in her book which is Genocide and US Policy.

“I’m also a founding patron of a thing called the Aegis Trust who deal with genocide prevention and genocide studies and they built the National Holocaust Museum in the UK and, on the first national Holocaust Memorial Day in Britain, I spoke at Westminster.

“But, even beyond that, when Aung San Suu Kyi was lauded by Dublin, when she arrived and this city extravagantly welcomed her, I sang welcome and spoke welcomely. They asked me to make a speech to her on the stage [inaudible] theatre when she was there and you feel duped.

“You know? I mean, that’s personally, you feel a chump, like you’ve been taken for a ride. Now that seems very petty in the face of 600,000 people being bombed out of their strewed homes, mass rape, killing of the males and being forced to cross impenetrable borders to another country.

“It seems very petty but, it’s all I can do…

“…She’s now a pariah, nobody’s touched her. I spoke at length with Amnesty, with the head of Amnesty about this and would it in any way help. He just returned, literally just returned a week ago from there and he said: you’ve got to do it, Bob, because it’s just appalling.

“I spoke to this in Bogota in Columbia three weeks ago or four weeks, or whatever it was, I had to do something there, and I spoke to it. So it’s not as if this came out of the blue.

It’s all I can do, Sean. It’s all I can do, you know, that’s it. And it’s my little thing and it will not make one wit of difference, I understand that but you’re political niceties, Sean, in the face of brutal oppression, you know, spare me. 

“Spare me sophistry.”

Listen back in full here

Earlier: Take It Back

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Bob Geldof inside City Hall.

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56 thoughts on “‘You Feel Duped’

    1. badatmemes

      It’s nothing new Helga, believe me.
      I used to drink in the same pub as Mannix when Mannix used to drink.
      His catchphrase in those days was ”Shut your mouth, you don’t know what you’re talking about”.
      Then he’d hurl insults at anyone and everyone until he was thrown out.

      It was a rough pub. He was barred from everywhere else.

      True story.

  1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

    Sophistry is a good word. I had to look it up. I’m not really sure when I’d ever get to use it in real life but when I do I shall wear a small, triumphant smile.

    1. Brother Barnabas

      It’s a nice one to use during an argument with your other half, I find.

      I may have overused it, though. Last time, it elicited: “Fupp off with that again, you insufferable ladypart”

  2. Alan

    Wonder what people think of this statement by Mícheál MacDonncha “Regarding Mr Geldof himself, I find it ironic that he makes this gesture while proudly retaining his title as Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, given the shameful record of British imperialism across the globe. Mr Geldof last year grossly insulted the men and women of the 1916 Rising in the centenary year when he compared them to so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS), causing offence to Dubliners and Irish people generally.”

    Not a fan of Micheal but wondering what people thought?

    1. TheRealJane

      I kind of agree. Bob Geldof has chosen the award from a country with no power or influence for his massive flounce while holding on to a far more significant honour on an international stage which, since he likes being called “Sir”, apparently means a lot to him.

      I mean, we can all make statements renouncing things we don’t care about which will have precisely no effect on us. Imagine if he tried to return his garter or whatever to the good old queen of the empire in this rememberence week. I’d say there’d be some controversy.

      1. H

        It’s quite sad really, because as an Irish citizen, he does not qualify for a UK knighthood, what he was given was an honorary knighthood and therefore he is not entitled to be called “Sir”.

    2. badatmemes

      He doesn’t want to sound pious.
      He’s not grandstanding.

      SuperBob’s propensity to petulance and self-importance is his only kryptonite.
      (Actually, it’s his pedestal too so he’s kinda fupped.)

      1. badatmemes

        PPS.
        @ Bob.

        Dear Bob,
        Let’s face it…
        The Rats were a pub-rock band who latched onto the early Punk movement. (Kinda like the Stranglers, but not as good.)
        You made a few bob Bob, and your background in journalism helped considerably.
        Live-Aid was a farce. The participants made more money from it than the ‘intended’ recipients.

        Stop milking it for your own good.
        You have zero credibility and your token gestures should NOT be in the News.

        Stick your Trivago on your botty boo boo, you business man without a suit.
        People like you…

    3. RuilleBuille

      Micheal is spot on.

      Geldof was awarded the Peace Summit Award in 2005 by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates which included Aung San Suu Kyi. He could have generated more publicity with that gesture but chose Dublin Council instead.

  3. Ben Redmond

    Baaah. Bob Geldof never exercised his right as a Freeman to graze his sheep in St. Stephen’s Green. I have waited in vain to see him photoed carrying a crozier and wearing a shepherd’s gown.

  4. Gabby

    Bob the Gob wears a fine fur hat suited to a sub-zero winter. Can he take Halligan’s place on the peace trip to North Korea?

    1. badatmemes

      If Live Aid wasn’t a PR stunt the first time around, why was there a Live-Aid 2?

      And don’t make me seem cynical by mentioning Self-Aid.

      This is the platform that the likes of X-factor and Simon Cowell and Louis Whelk sprung from.
      Give us your money, show that you care, etc…

      Godammit… you made me appear cynical.

  5. f_lawless

    That’s what happens when you start rubbing shoulders for too long with Western establishment elites – you end up getting played as a “useful idiot” by espousing an out-of-touch narrative of world events which have been skewed to fit an agenda of vested interests.
    It just doesn’t sit right that Aung San Suu Kyi, who has endured so much suffering in her life to stand up for the democratic rights of the Burmese, has suddenly turned into a cold and callous “pariah” as Geldof puts it. I tend to believe her when she says Myanmar’s current portrayal in Western media equates to an ‘iceberg of misinformation’.
    Seems to me that Myanmar, which like other nations such as Libya and Syria who won’t kowtow to US-led demands, may well be being primed for yet another case of military intervention under the guise yet another manufactured humanitarian crisis.
    This article by journalist Gearóid Ó Colmáin is worth a read:
    http://www.gearoidocolmain.org/urge-media-objectivity-in-myanmar/
    “Since the communal violence of 2012, a low intensity war has been waged by Islamist terrorists against the government of Myanmar. The terrorists have received funding and training from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and have links to British,French and US intelligence agencies and NGOS. The strategic objective of the US-backed destabilisation is to carve out a Muslim enclave in north Rakhine State, breaking up the Union of Myanmar.”

    1. Warden of the Snort

      You’re one of the biggest conspiracy nut jobs I’ve ever seen on this and that’s saying something

        1. f_lawless

          “Putin mouthpiece” – aren’t those just Western establishment media buzz words that are used when attempting to delegitimise any viewoint which challenges the narrative they would like to set? If you don’t have anything to back that assertion up, then I’d have to dismiss it as conspiratorial nonsense.
          Also I don’t see Jews or even Israel mentioned in the article so let’s stick to the topic at hand.
          How about this article by James Jatras, former U.S. diplomat and foreign policy adviser to the Senate GOP leadership? Is he merely a mouthpiece of Putin too?
          https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2017/09/08/is-new-kosovo-brewing-in-myanmar.html
          “Whenever western governments and mainstream media start shedding crocodile tears over a minority community of «peaceful Muslims» being persecuted by some nasty non-Muslim government somewhere, with demands that the «international community» do something about it, it should be treated with a big, fat dollop of skepticism.
          ..when the usual manipulators in the media and the self-appointed international community get on their genocide high horse, caution is in order. It needs to be asked, what is the other side of the story?…”

          1. Mary's oul wan

            Putin mouthpiece” – aren’t those just Western establishment media buzz words that are used when attempting to delegitimise any viewoint which challenges the narrative they would like to set? If you don’t have anything to back that assertion up, then I’d have to dismiss it as conspiratorial nonsense.

            – YOU’D have to dismiss it as conspiratorial nonsense?

            Comedy value 10/10

          2. f_lawless

            yes Mary, in case your unaware, we really are living in times of heightened propaganda and ‘stenographer’ journalism is largely taking over from real investigative journalism. The onus is on us to try as best we can to seperate lies from facts.
            Do you have anything to add to the debate except attempted putdowns? It’s doesn’t reflect very well on you. ;)

  6. Serval

    When did people start saying “I spoke to (something)” when they actually mean “I spoke about (something)”?

    Does language change simply by people beginning to say things that just don’t make sense?

    I met John in the pub and we spoke to the Denmark v Ireland soccer match. It didn’t reply.

    1. Sheik Yahbouti

      Yes. See “fulsome praise” for example. We’re in the age of Newspeak, where words mean the opposite of what they were intended to mean – particularly in politics. Black is white, up is down etc,

    2. Little Lord Chesterfield

      I don’t know when they started, but it was well underway by 1610. That’s when John Dove, the CofE thinker, wrote: “I desire them therefore to speak to these four points.” There are other examples in the prose of such linguistic tearaways as Jonathan Swift and Jane Austen.

      Laments about language change are always wrongheaded and usually wrong.

  7. Sheik Yahbouti

    Because of the level of ‘moderation’ of adults posting on this forum I am unable to adequately articulate what I think of Sir Bob, and his magnificent gesture. Any news at all from Africa, Bob? I hear life for the Africans on your holdings is one long round of giddy pleasure.

  8. Chris

    Ok so get rid of that knighthood and quit kissing Blair’s ass. He’s killed far more people. A few people will die in the Irish healthcare system because of your tax dodging aided by the underfunding Blueshirts.

    1. Rob_G

      Bob Geldof hasn’t lived in Ireland in many, many years. So his tax-dodging, unethical as it may be, doesn’t really have any effect on the funding of services here.

  9. jusayinlike

    Burma like Afghanistan is a major distributor of heroin, anyone who gets in the way of this politically is always thrown under a bus.

    1. Mary's oul wan

      What about Pizza? Are they in THAT game as well? You know what I’m talking about, right? 9-11 was fake.

  10. Jim Bob Julius

    And yet he is incredibly deep up Rupert Murdochs colon, a man who was a powerful cheerleader for the Iraq war.

    Do us a favour Bob – fupp off, nobody cares anymore, between Live/Band Aid and all the rest of his sanctimonious poo including his ‘knighthood’.

    I’d say images of him pontificating on the Thames pushed an awful lot of British voters into the leave camp.

  11. postmanpat

    Shouldn’t we just get rid of these old fashioned honor type things all together? The Nobel prizes and awards like freedom /key to the city seemed cool before the information age, now a lot more people know about Alfred Nobel , dynamite and his war profiteering and they hypocrisy of associating him with peace prizes. I’m aware that things are more complicated in the real world than “good guys and bad guys” but these awards , keys to the city, etc they have had their day they continue to be used cynically by big corporations and political opportunists to smooth over and over simplify a persons life achievements or “world changing” inventions. The real heroes in the world don’t get any awards so why should disingenuous phonies like Geldof, Bono, Obama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mother Teresa, Gandhi. These people accept these awards not because they feel honored , they accept them to further their careers and in turn, their political power and agendas, Agendas which no one but them really know , these awards can be taken back when an award holder goes rogue but usually the damage is done by that time. Aung San Suu Kyi for example, was propped up by the media as a demi-god despite her overtly childish bigoted view of all Muslims in the world, as seen with the incident with BBCs Mishal Husain. Giving awards back achieves more media attention, fame and ultimately more money for Geldof this week , a relatively slow news week , ie, no mass shooting in the USA to subtract attention from him despite the world knowing about Aung San Suu Kyi criminal negligence in genocide for months. How many times has Geldof postponed this stunt so he could get maximum exposure? Sure there was an earthquake in Iran/Iran but lets see what Bob is doing.

      1. postmanpat

        Whatever , At least I have opinions of my own. Do you have any to share? Or are you just going to criticize other peoples comments like a coward?

    1. Gabby

      @ postmanpat You add Gandhi to a litany of ‘disingenuous phonies’ who won Nobel or other awards. Mahatma Gandhi was nominated five times for the Nobel but wasn’t awarded it. http://www.deccanchronicle.com/world/europe/011016/when-mahatma-gandhi-didnt-win-the-nobel-peace-prize.html
      He was assassinated in 1948 by a Hindu fanatic. He had been trying to persuade Hindu and Muslim leaders to use their influence to bring the inter-religious massacres to a halt.

      1. postmanpat

        He has separate peace awards named after him! besides, When the Dalai Lama was awarded the Peace Prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was “in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi”. Mahatma Gandhi was racist against black Africans and likened his race more like “civilized” whites. He didn’t like Indians getting lumped in with blacks ,not because he thought the blacks were persecuted, but because he saw his race as white and shared the same opinions of black people that white south Africans held. As for his opinion of the Jewish holocaust “the Jews should have offered themselves to the butchers knife” he was a friend of Hitler. Goebbels even coasted on Gandhi’s famed vegetarianism and added it to Hitler’s public persona to make the man seem more enlightened, (Hitler wasn’t actually a strict vegetarian but the myth still persists even today). He had a strange view of women and like to give girls enemas. This is all on public record but lets ignore it shall we? My point is that these Saint personas built up around people ,(even when not true to begin with) has been used, and continues to be used to push corporate and political agendas.

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