Hoiday Snap Of A Liberal Democrat Councillor And Magistrate

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2590036/Liberal-Democrat-councillor-magistrate-poses-photograph-AK-47-ASSAULT-RIFLE.html

Should he now be 'fired'?

What I can't understand, this has been his profile picture on Twitter since September but it is said that it has only recently been brought to light.

His excuse was "I am running for election this year and I think the opposition have picked it up and are trying to summon up some dirt about it".

[LazyGun]

Politically naive, sure. But AoG is calling for him to be sacked as a magistrate, which seems a tad harsh. And anyway, I cannot see him as a terrorist- not with that jacket and scarf combo.

[naomi24]

I agree with AOG. I don't think anyone stupid enough to do something like that is fit to sit in judgement of other people. I like to think the people we trust to mete out justice have at least a bit of common sense.

[LazyGun]

And I like to think that the people we entrust with sitting in judgement on others do not simply judge a book by its cover.

[Zeuhl]

In fairness, I wouldn't post any of my AK47 photos on social media

But then I wouldn't allow anyone who uses Twitter to be a magistrate

One of my mates was 'asked to resign' as a JP after he tweeted something from his courtroom - silly @rse!

[anneasquith]

well. I would not be happy attending his courtroom if hes that naïve/stupid to post that picture .

[naomi24]

LazyGun, you're attempting to defend the indefensible. He should have more sense.

[LazyGun]

Thanks for your instructions Naomi. I will go ahead and ignore them now, if that is ok with you?

[anotheoldgit]

LazyGun

/// LoL Naive! :) The only reason it has made the national press and you have decided to post it is precisely because of the colour of his skin. In yours and the DMs eyes - Brown skin+assault rifle = terrorist. ///

Stop now because you are now getting too silly for me to carry on debating with you.

First your sensitivity regarding skin colour thus falling short of actually calling me a racist and now finally wheeling out the anti Daily Mail agenda, when this story has also been reported on by the BBC.

[LazyGun]

I am not going to stop anything, AoG. I call it as I see it.

[naomi24]

LazyGun, no instruction there that I can see. Simply saying that he's an idiot, he's unfit for office, and his utter stupidity is indefensible.

[LazyGun]

@ Naomi. OK. And he may end up being sacked. I don't think that is a deserved response though. Nor do I think that the first response, upon seeing a posed picture of someone holding a gun, is to think "aha! terrorist."

I think it might be political naivete - but then more than a few councillors and politicians have been caught out in inappropriate pictures or having made misjudged tweets or facebook postings.

As a society, we should develop a thicker skin and be a little less quick to pass such judgements.

[naomi24]

//As a society, we should develop a thicker skin //

If only. With people either actively seeking offence or tying themselves in knots in an effort not to give it, I have to agree with that. However, in this instance, a thicker skin is not the answer - just a bit of plain common sense would do. I wouldn't vote for him - and not because he's a LibDem.

[LazyGun]

"However, in this instance, a thicker skin is not the answer - just a bit of plain common sense would do. I wouldn't vote for him - and not because he's a LibDem"

Then we differ.I would not vote for him either, but it would be because he was a lib dem.

[naomi24]

Haha. So you'd vote for an idiot ... just not a LibDem idiot. That's democracy. ;o)

[mikey4444]

Clegg should be on the 'phone right now to sack this tw*t. After all, he needs something to restore his reputation after last night.

[naomi24]

I doubt it'll get as far as Clegg. He's a local councillor - not an MP.

[LazyGun]

Everyone is entitled to moments of idiocy, even politicians and magistrates. To claim otherwise is to deny the human condition. We often judge too harshly based around 1 misdemeanour.

To you and others here, this posed picture is an indefensible error. To me it is juvenile but hardly a sacking offence.

As to who I would vote for, it would be based on 2 criteria - whether or not I thought them any good as a local candidate, and secondly on which party they represented. Since I have no idea how good he is as a local candidate I would not vote for him on the basis of his party affiliation.

[Gromit]

I wonder if this is a British thing. We have very strict gun control in this country, so the macho gun trotting pic does not play well with us.

Posing with a gun didn't stop these people getting le ted...

Putin
http://a.fod4.com/images/user_photos/1162079/gun_width_600x.jpg

Sarah Palin
http://leosigh.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/sarah-palin-with-gun.jpg

Beflusconi
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01472/berlusconi_1472698i.jpg

President Obama
http://media.salon.com/2013/02/obama-guns.jpeg-1280x960.jpg

President Bush
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/02/02/article-2272417-174E1F4E000005DC-578_634x896.jpg

[ludwig]

anneasquith // well. I would not be happy attending his courtroom if hes that naïve/stupid to post that picture . //

I think this is the point. For a person in his position to use this as his Twitter profile picture shows a breathtaking lack of common sense.

[naomi24]

Gromit, great! Just what’s needed to illustrate the point being made here. Since the colour of the councillor’s skin has been said to have influenced perceptions of the picture, take a good look at Obama’s picture – him having approximately the same colour skin as the councillor. Can you spot the difference? Well done, Gromit.