Centrist Extremism
A tale of arse splinters
If there were such a thing as an extreme centrist McGuirk would occupy that title (perhaps alongside David Quinn). Both classic conservatives who have failed to grasp that the datum of political discourse has shifted.
They are so terrified to align any of their positions with anyone considered ‘far right’ or ‘far left’, that they often wind up occupying an outdated one, ending up with arse splinters from sitting on the fence. Which is why Gript often report things we reported with We The People (and others), a year or two after the fact.
In the article below, McGuirk perpetuates the notion that Philip Dwyer is on the extreme right (though attempts to soften it somewhat, because he’s the middle ground you see) by pitting him as opposite to an actual extremist - Paul Murphy.
There’s an honesty to what Philip does that seemingly bugs those even in the alternative press. It’s warts and all, he just goes directly to the scene and rolls the camera. I don’t ever remember seeing McGuirk at one of these events.
He refers to him with a kind of throw away, flippant, condescension as “a communications mastermind”. Though he’s describing an outsiders view looking in, they are his words, so it slightly betrays his feelings.
What Philip Dwyer has done is not for everyone, but however anyone may feel about the man, nobody can say it hasn’t been effective.
He has been extremely brave and has done his bit for this country far more than most. He will always get my respect for continuing to put himself out there, the odd time it hasn’t worked out in his favour but that’s how it goes in high pressure situations. We wouldn’t know the half of what’s going on without him that’s for certain.
The position McGuirk places himself in, in this piece is that of the sensible adult. Separating the two childish extremes on both sides from tearing each other apart, when the reality is he time and again underplays the extent of the problem and the dire situation we face as a nation. At times I often wonder does he still live in 2019.
The relentless bullying of the establishment and the hard left (to the point of hate speech laws, which McGuirk opposes) has forced ordinary people to act and defend this country.
Citizen journalism only really exists now due to this phenomenon and this phenomenon has actually weakened McGuirk’s credibility as a ‘respectable journalist’ although he won’t admit it.
Dwyer has time and again put himself in difficult situations and is now even running for MEP. However with McGuirk, I always get the sense he is hedging his bets in the event of a radical reform within RTÉ or the Irish Times, where he is given a top job.
In previous articles I have given McGuirk credit when he’s deserved it. He is an excellent debater and a good writer, however he does have many glaring blind spots and his routine dismissal of the merits and effectiveness of activism (remember his capitulation regarding the gallows) can’t be overlooked.
Which leads me to the next point about the ‘right to housing’ legislation, another effective poisoning of the well by activists. He dismisses people for keeping the spectre of this legislation in the zeitgeist because he views it as a done deal.
Once more failing to realise that the removal of property rights is part of the globalist manifesto and this legislation could re-emerge in other forms and through other initiatives, at any point in the future.
We The People, the platform Stephen Delaney, myself and a few others were involved in, took particular interest in this topic and would only be defeated by referendum by ‘historic margins’ as McGuirk puts it, due to the work we put in behind the scenes, not because of anything he or Gript did on the issue.
Public meetings were organised and well attended, which helped to get the message out regarding the dangers of this bill. It’s only toxic now because of the work put it. Work McGuirk fails to acknowledge.
This is an issue which must be kept in the public consciousness - despite what McGuirk thinks - constant vigilance is required on housing and the migrant crisis is another dot he fails to connect to this.
I will always give people credit for the good work they have done and McGuirk has done plenty. However his insufferable, incessant twerking at Montrose damages all that. He seems to be trapped in the paradigm of worrying about what those in the mainstream think. Granted it has kept a slot open for him on television where he has admittedly delivered a few body shots.
However, those opportunities often only come as result of him now inhabiting an environment which has already been made safe by the likes of Dwyer and others, who are courageous enough to drive the conversation to where it needs to go, in order for McGuirk to have the confidence to deliver the argument through discussion on RTÉ or Virgin Media.
He has his uses, but John McGuirk is a serial fence sitter and certainly no innovator.
Gript article…
https://gript.ie/premium-winning-the-neglected-middle-ground-on-immigration/
Unbelievable piece of writing here Steve
I agree Stephen, but we must take small wins when we can. I have sometimes wondered if Mr McGuirke chooses some positions as a shield, (even for selfish reasons) like a fox covering himself in feathers to gain access to the henhouse to obtain a meal.
I do believe that we need a variety of people to get to where we want to go each with their own talents and approaches. Philip Dwyer is a rare exception, a man who has shown great fearlessness in the face of personal harm to highlight what others try to conceal and he has my respect and admiration for that.
Likened to a football team, Philip is the solid midfielder with the powerful kick and steely determination to launch the ball from a great distance and difficult angles toward the oppositions goalmouth. I see John McGuirke as the leaner agile man weaving around the goalmouth unthreateningly, who sometimes (not often successfully I might add) gets his fingertips to the ball kicked from midfield and slips it past the mainstream keeper into the damp sagging net of normie awareness.
In my opinion, without men like Philip Dwyer there'd be no John McGuike. Without John McGuirke there'd still be Philip Dwyer, but both have a role to play before the final whistle sounds.