Is Jim Spence okay?

[PSJ.84]

3 hours ago, ArabFC said:

 

 

Condescending pish. 
 

An incredible couple of tweets here. 

[Cheese]

Me, paid to write in the Courier whatever shite leaks out of my brain which has almost completely melted:

grr, youngsters these days have no idea what real work is.

It's the use of the emojis though

[tongue_tied_danny]

I don't use twitter myself. 

Is anybody able to send him a link to this thread? He needs to know how much contempt he is held in.

Edited August 25 by tongue_tied_danny

[tamthebam]

4 hours ago, ArabFC said:

Bitter old man sums him up well. Even his blandest tweets show this.

Yes Jim, you were up at 5am as a kid working before school, and yer ma was probably working in the mills at the age of 13. Doesn't mean it was a good thing ya plonker!

 

I think he saw a 1970s documentary about a milkman called Robin Askwith and is bitter he didn't get his hole with the wivies of Dundee at the time

[ArabFC]

35 minutes ago, PSJ.84 said:

Condescending pish. 
 

An incredible couple of tweets here. 

The cracking part of nonsense like this - bemoaning University educated folk who’ve never worked hard - is that Jim himself studied Law at Uni and has spent most of his career doing that notoriously heavy-lifting job of broadcasting.

[invergowrie arab]

46 minutes ago, ArabFC said:

The cracking part of nonsense like this - bemoaning University educated folk who’ve never worked hard - is that Jim himself studied Law at Uni and has spent most of his career doing that notoriously heavy-lifting job of broadcasting.

It's contact working classism. A related condition to that one where people over 50 think they fought in WWII

[Hendo]

I think Jim is being seriously misunderstood here.

From what I have read of his twitter output, he is on the left but has become increasingly frustrated at supposed left wing politicians being more interested in performative politics than actually improving the lives of working people, and he has, rightly IMO, called them out over some of their nonsense such as promoting identity politics.

Of course, this thread is indicative of a recent change where those critical of government are seen as alt-right weirdos who have "gone down a rabbit hole". This of course suits those in power, where if you criticise them you are immediately denounced as some deranged nutter, or transphobic / homophonic / anti-semitic etc. It is gaslighting, the best examples recently being the Zionist movements activities and the transgender lobby (though I  not giving equivalence to either of these cults, as one is obviously more dangerous than the other).

This then reduces dissent as who wants to be accused of being phobic and discriminatory? Disagree with us and you're a fascist. The irony is that this is how fascism starts, by stifling debate and reducing scrutiny.

 

[doulikefish]

Just now, Hendo said:

I think Jim is being seriously misunderstood here.

From what I have read of his twitter output, he is on the left but has become increasingly frustrated at supposed left wing politicians being more interested in performative politics than actually improving the lives of working people, and he has, rightly IMO, called them out over some of their nonsense such as promoting identity politics.

Of course, this thread is indicative of a recent change where those critical of government are seen as alt-right weirdos who have "gone down a rabbit hole". This of course suits those in power, where if you criticise them you are immediately denounced as some deranged nutter, or transphobic / homophonic / anti-semitic etc. It is gaslighting, the best examples recently being the Zionist movements activities and the transgender lobby (though I  not giving equivalence to either of these cults, as one is obviously more dangerous than the other).

This then reduces dissent as who wants to be accused of being phobic and discriminatory? Disagree with us and you're a fascist. The irony is that this is how fascism starts, by stifling debate and reducing scrutiny.

 

Hiya Jim Hiya pal 

[Flammable sheep]

He's a transphobic p***k

[ArabFC]

11 minutes ago, Hendo said:

Of course, this thread is indicative of a recent change where those critical of government are seen as alt-right weirdos who have "gone down a rabbit hole". This of course suits those in power

Seek help Jim

[RandomGuy.]

11 minutes ago, Hendo said:

This of course suits those in power, where if you criticise them you are immediately denounced as some deranged nutter, or transphobic 

Hard to understand why people labelled Spence transphobic.

FWIW he's 100% one of the generation who coasted through life with massive benefits, let everything rot in their wake, and are so oblivious to their role in the mess everything is now that they rant and rave that literal children have somehow caused it all instead of them. A relic of a better time who can't understand the sacrifices people had to make to make the world he remembers, because he never made the same sacrifices.

[Boo Khaki]

7 hours ago, GallowayBlue said:

I saw Ronda Rousey of UFC fame put out a seemingly genuine apology during the week and appeared to have pulled herself out of a particular conspiracy rabbit hole (if that is the correct terminology).

Surely some real life friends/family of Jim could have a word - or is our human nature to double down when challenged like that?

At least with Rousey there is years and years of being punched in the coupon and thumped aroond the side of the heid as a plausible explanation for cognitive dysfunction. Ginger bairns undoubtedly get it tight, but I'm no sure Spence could really use the same excuse for turning into a bam in his 50s/60s

[BFTD]

2 hours ago, Cheese said:

Clearly called 1-800-GET-HAIR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLMocDUkvzg

23 minutes ago, Hendo said:

I think Jim is being seriously misunderstood here.

From what I have read of his twitter output, he is on the left but has become increasingly frustrated at supposed left wing politicians being more interested in performative politics than actually improving the lives of working people, and he has, rightly IMO, called them out over some of their nonsense such as promoting identity politics.

Of course, this thread is indicative of a recent change where those critical of government are seen as alt-right weirdos who have "gone down a rabbit hole". This of course suits those in power, where if you criticise them you are immediately denounced as some deranged nutter, or transphobic / homophonic / anti-semitic etc. It is gaslighting, the best examples recently being the Zionist movements activities and the transgender lobby (though I  not giving equivalence to either of these cults, as one is obviously more dangerous than the other).

This then reduces dissent as who wants to be accused of being phobic and discriminatory? Disagree with us and you're a fascist. The irony is that this is how fascism starts, by stifling debate and reducing scrutiny.

[Zen Archer (Raconteur)]

1 hour ago, tamthebam said:

I think he saw a 1970s documentary about a milkman called Robin Askwith Timothy Lea and is bitter he didn't get his hole with the wivies of Dundee at the time

 

[Moomintroll]

8 hours ago, KnightswoodBear said:

Can't remember what caused Jum to block me. 

Hmmm, he either loves Arachnids or hates people having hired help..

[Cheese]

Actually it isn't just an old man shouting at clouds, it's serious political comment.

[Granny Danger]

Who says sarcasm is dead?

[Sortmeout]

3 hours ago, Theyellowbox said:

He got booed when he came on yesterday if that is any indication.

 

Any indication of what? A further indication that if you win games you are cool with his views but when you aren’t winning games you won’t be?

PS - I’m not taking the moral high ground here if it was one of my teams players I would probably do the same.

[rainbowrising]

1 hour ago, Hendo said:

I think Jim is being seriously misunderstood here.

From what I have read of his twitter output, he is on the left but has become increasingly frustrated at supposed left wing politicians being more interested in performative politics than actually improving the lives of working people, and he has, rightly IMO, called them out over some of their nonsense such as promoting identity politics.

Of course, this thread is indicative of a recent change where those critical of government are seen as alt-right weirdos who have "gone down a rabbit hole". This of course suits those in power, where if you criticise them you are immediately denounced as some deranged nutter, or transphobic / homophonic / anti-semitic etc. It is gaslighting, the best examples recently being the Zionist movements activities and the transgender lobby (though I  not giving equivalence to either of these cults, as one is obviously more dangerous than the other).

This then reduces dissent as who wants to be accused of being phobic and discriminatory? Disagree with us and you're a fascist. The irony is that this is how fascism starts, by stifling debate and reducing scrutiny.

 

Is that you, Jim? I think it is. 

[Francesc Fabregas]

Around 11 or 12 years ago, Jim Spence was a well-liked and respected sports reporter amongst Scottish football fans. He came across as keen and enthusiastic and through his work with the BBC and local media in Dundee, he always championed "the little guy" ahead of bigger and better-supported clubs. Spence seemed like an amiable guy, something that came across in his social media output.

These days, there's not much joy to be found on his Twitter account. Spence seems increasingly frustrated and bitter towards the shifting landscape of Scottish society, young people and university students, and "the left", whatever that means, and fires out whatever fetid thoughts pop into his consciousness dozens of times a day. He frequently creates straw-man arguments (examples of which have already been posted on this thread) which renders any debate pointless, and people who challenge him are often blocked. The "back-in-my-day" tone of his tweets is both patronising and condescending and he grandstands and the twists the truth to make himself appear the "winner" in any conflicts, both online and offline. Spence is wholly supportive and uncritical of the police, regardless of context (he has a family member in the force), and has shared content from far-right accounts in the past such as Paul Joseph Watson and Katie Hopkins. Earlier today, in fact, he QTd Islamophobic journalist David Atherton. Some might say Spence's tweets are delivered with a wink and shouldn't be taken seriously but there's a large body of evidence to suggest that is not the case.

There was a definite sea change after he left the BBC in 2015 (he started changing his Twitter bio a lot at this point). I think his departure from the Corporation following the "Rangers debacle" badly affected him and he's still angry about how it was handled. Upon leaving the BBC, he said he was looking to explore a freelance career and express himself with a greater degree of freedom, but I don't think the opportunities he was hoping for materialised and he's largely found himself on the margins of relevance ever since. He was briefly a media consultant for Dundee United and then the Rector of the University of Dundee for two years (his tenure there finished 12 months early - he claimed he was unable to give the role the commitment it deserved, although I suspect his bizarre criticism of students played its part in his departure). The last time Spence was vaguely prominent was in February last year when he said "tadger" on Debate Night; needless to say, that comment won him several thousand new followers. Now, he squirts out his weekly columns for The Courier and occasionally pitches up on their football podcasts and even then, all he contributes is stories about Jim McLean's United and makes his points after glancing at the league tables.

It feels as though Spence has been radicalised online. He gives the impression he never leaves his street, let alone Dundee, so his worldview over the last decade has been exclusively shaped by whatever the algorithm has curated on his For You tab. This is probably the same for a lot of retired men with time on their hands and nothing to do with it. Spence seems scared, resentful and unhappy with his lot. And that's a shame.

Edited August 25 by Francesc Fabregas