I’ve noted earlier how globalised terrorism has moved the front-line behind us in a war in which we are all footsoliders, whether we like it or not, and whether we approved of invading Afghanistan and Iraq or not.
I was dismayed to see the news reports that Jason Gillespie thinks we should call off the Ashes Tour if there is another bombing in London.
The chances of being caught in a terrorist bombing in London are lower than the chances of suffering a traffic accident there, so this is not just an unpatriotic statement, it is one of mindless cowardice.
If you were considering martyrdom as a way of toppling what you saw as a corrupt, weak and degenerate civilisation, what more proof of those three propositions would you need than this statement? Gillespie makes life slightly more dangerous for each of us, while doing his own chances of immortality little additional good.
In which case I have no hesitation in suggesting that we should all forward a white feather to Cricket Australia to send on to Gillespie. Their contact address is http://www.cricket.com.au/?s=contactus (which is only a submission form, so you might also like to try something info@cricket.com.au). And here is a white feather:
Serendipitously On Line Opinion’s September feature is:
Can our sporting stars be rich, famous AND virtuous?
Why should we expect sharp eyes and strong well co-ordinated limbs to produce model human beings? What do we expect from our sportsmen and women and are they delivering?
Please send submissions to the editor.
For those of us who opposed the war in the first place, it’s a sticky situation to be in. Given the terror perpetrated by extremists on the one hand and the misplaced militant aggression of the CoW on the other, we are of course forced to side with the latter, the lesser of the two evils.
The central fear is that the CoW are perpetuating a climate of terror and effectively encouraging further attacks. The lesser evil may indeed be consolidating and indirectly fuelling both the terrorists of today and terrorists yet to come.
Comment by Guy — August 5, 2005 @ 8:17 am
That is funny and mean, but very deserving.
PS. What is the symbolic opposite of a white feather?
Comment by Benno — August 5, 2005 @ 12:15 pm
I know Iam a bit late but I have to say that I totally reject your comment about sending a white feather to Jason Gillespie.
The point you seem to be missing is that for the very reason you are able to make an idiotic statement as you did, Jason has the right to his opinion and the right to take whatever steps he sees fit to protect himself, he is a cricketer not a foot soldier.
If you were as informed as you think you are, you would know that entire cricket teams have elected not to play at certain venues on safety issues so before you go off shooting your stupid mouth off perhaps you might wait for your brain to catch up, assuming you have one. Brian
Comment by Brian — October 15, 2005 @ 3:35 pm
Brian, I’m tempted to use the old line that if I had a brain that would only make one between us. They didn’t send white feathers to soldiers – they sent them to men who refused to enlist. Of course Gillespie is entitled to his own opinion, and to be a coward, as are whole teams of cricketers, but don’t expect me to applaud, or to suppress my own opinion. Shout me a trip to London and I’d be prepared to demonstrate that it’s not a particularly risky trip to make!
Comment by Graham Young — October 16, 2005 @ 9:15 pm