Why The Internet Is Great

Hello. Me again. 

Something weird happened today. "Good weird", though, rather than "My Ex-Girlfriend Jenny Weird".

I was at work, sipping my 48th coffee of the day and staring out of the window. I was mulling things over; Newcastle's victory, how to persuade the Better Half to name our expected child Johnny Joey Dee Dee Tommy Ramone Turner and the news on the telly last night.

There had been a segment about Nick Griffin and the BNP. I found myself getting angry about their lowest common denominator easy-answer politics. No. Anger's the wrong word. 

Exasperation.

"The BNP are twats," I thought. I wanted to tell someone that. So I tweeted this:

"Is it possible to get #theBNParetwats as a trending topic? No overarching reason other than I think the BNP are twats"

That's it. Not the most erudite political statement ever made, I know, but I've only got 140 characters to work with. 

Anyway, apparently, it was possible to get it as a trending topic. People liked the sentiment. They re-tweeted it. It snowballed. I sat there looking at my computer screen as it went around the country, then left these cyber-shores. People were posting links to sites of interest to educate those who were unaware of them. THAT was the bit I adored. 

There was a lot of Twitter-Love going on.

Then something really weird happened. 

It was the number one trending topic. It beat Star Trek. Honest. I was in the car and my phone had fainted from all the emotion, so I haven't got a screen shot. But I'm assured it was. 

As I've said on this site before, I truly believe in Evelyn Beatrice Hall's statement of "I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it". But, bloody hell, some people make it hard work.

For further reading, I'd recommend Unite Against Fascism

And, remember kids, 4th June is the date in the UK for the European Elections. Get out there and use your vote. The BNP are hoping to secure at least one seat in this Parliament. Together we can -as one - say "No".

And if the rivals of the producers of Terminator: Salvation need me to start a #TheTerminatorIsaWanker hashtag, I'm available.