By chance the Chair of the BBC has just said some interesting things very relevant to the truth vs popularity discussion:
“Impartial news may be too unprofitable to do properly,”
A very good friend of mine, a long standing journalist, has worked for the Morning Star for many years, and does still. I’m very proud to call him ‘Comrade’, as he calls me. That doesn’t mean to say that I’m particularly left leaning, because I’m not. Throughout our friendship, he’s never tried to ‘convert’ me, or upbraided me because of my beliefs. He’s just a very committed and decent person who I’m proud to be associated with.
Drunken rant over.
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If you look at a map highlighting the number of bars per capita in France, and a map of where people vote for the left, they’re almost identical (Brittany comes out top on both!).
But of course they are - people on the left are sociable, friendly, convivial, open - naturally inclined to be caring and supportive - they believe in people, in other people’s natural goodness.
People on the right, by contrast, tend to believe others are untrustworthy - they tend to be suspicious, closed, prejudiced, self-centred, competitive, intolerant, bitter.
I know which I’d rather have a drink with. Isn’t that everybody’s experience?
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Good for you hairbear 
, this pigeon holing people by their politics is just laziness, I very rarely rate people by their politics if at all, I go by how they treat me and others and really could not give a monkeys whether they are left, right or center.
Whether they work for a left or right paper shouldn’t make any difference, as everyone who works for the paper will not be the same, you will still have the usual mix of good, bad, selfish, generous as you would in any walk of life regardless of how their politics lie.
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Spending time in bars, whether leaning to left or right you will eventually fall over. 
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Very narrow minded attitude and so biased but then you’re on the left so you would say that. I’d say politicians such as Robert Halfon are perfect examples of how wrong you are.
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Interesting, Geoff about bars and being more socal in leftist areas… When I went to Rouen, which is pretty leftist a place so far as I understand it, to get an antigen test at their hospital for a permtted emergency visit to the UK during lockdown, I did notice how many bars there were where I was staying in Rouen near the hospital.
Unfortunately they were all full, packed with people and overflowing onto the pavement. At that time Rouen infection rate was dark red to black on the map.
What else can we conclude from this? 
Socialists (and/or perhaps socialites) are Covid deniers? 
Are you at it again Tim?
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LGBT rights[edit]
Halfon voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which permitted same-sex couples to marry, and much of the secondary legislation implementing the Act.[35] In 2019, he apologised for this and said, “I regret it and I would vote for equal marriage if it came before Parliament now.”[36] Later that year, he voted in support of same-sex marriage for residents of Northern Ireland.[37][38]
Took him until 2019 to realise same sex marriage was something he shouldn’t vote against? Seems like Geof’s description, at least on that issue, was pretty good. 
Edit: This doesn’t sound ideal either. It really is about time all sides, especially those who are our elected representatives, acknowledge what a complicated issue this is rather than this broad brush nonsense.
Israel and Judaism[edit]
Halfon has said that one of the three things that motivate him in politics is “unashamed support for the State of Israel, as the only real democracy and progressive force in the Middle East”.[31] He said, “I have always been very supportive of Israel. I have been to Israel many times for work and family, especially now that my father, who has become more Orthodox, lives in Jerusalem. I talk a lot about Israel in the House of Commons.”[4]
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I was being a bit naughty - almost troll-some, teasing - in my post.
Always interesting to see the reactions though.
I hadn’t heard of Halfon - but just looked him up and indeed Wikipedia certainly makes him sound like somebody you would avoid at all costs in your local bar!
If you mean an opposing view to the ‘left is best’ mantra that is a constant theme here then yes.
I’m a firm believer that you don’t have to be wedded to any political ideology to care about others or have a social conscience but apparently that’s balderdash.
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I agree Tim. For me the point is to try to escape ideology as far as we can by carefully applying a valid methodology, based on reason and evidence. One of the best exponents of this in popular journalism is George Monbiot - here he is today exposing the ideology that passes for ‘truth’ on most BBC news etc…
No Tim, as was obvious from the part of your post I highlighted. I don’t think Geof is narrow minded.
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Thankyou John. It’s so interesting how tempted some people are by the ad hominem line. Tim, I must say, generally far less so than some others - though I remain puzzled by his dismissal of the excellent analysis I linked earlier because its writer ‘writes for the Morning Star’ - not only because it’s ad hominem, but because I’ve not been able to find any evidence of it at all!
Always the problem with politics Tim, people are astounded when someone else has a different view point from theirs because they cannot comprehend someone having a different view from their own, in their minds eye they are always right and people must be silly not to see it their way.
Sorry, but that’s just bollocks.
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Working in large factories you tend to see a different side to folks.
I have seen nose to nose arguing that has resulted in people almost coming to blows, families falling out with each other which results in people not talking for months at a time because of their differing views on politics, hence why it is a subject I rarely bring up, Brexit was at times the worst times for this, so not bollocks just your experience is different from mine
I’ve been thinking about the evidently controversial question raised in my not-entirely-serious post about people on the left being better drinking companions than right-wingers.
The alternative view seems to be not that right-wingers are a bundle of laughs, but that sociability, humour, etc, are entirely separate from and unaffected by political outlooks.
But can this be true? @tim17 proposes that ‘politicians such as Robert Halfon’ are ‘perfect examples’ of right-wing people you’d like to ‘have a drink with’ - but @kirsteastevenson then reveals that (according to Wikipedia) he is an apologist for the most extreme racism (an ‘unashamed supporter’ of the apartheid state of Israel).
Is it true that somebody can condone extreme oppression, injustice, violence - and still be a good companion?
Only for others who share the same views or those who are prepared to ignore the herd of elephants in the room.
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