Saturday, February 12, 2005
Harry's Place has the transcript of London Mayor Ken Livingstone's bizarre outburst directed toward a Jewish reporter.
Harry's Place: "Scumbags and reactionary bigots"
Livingstone: How awful for you. Have you thought of having treatment?
Finegold: How did tonight go?
Mr Livingstone: Have you thought of having treatment?
Finegold: Was it a good party? What does it mean for you?
Mr Livingstone: What did you do before? Were you a German war criminal?
Finegold: No, I'm Jewish, I wasn't a German war criminal and I'm actually quite offended by that. So, how did tonight go?
Mr Livingstone: Arr right, well you might be [Jewish], but actually you are just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?
Finegold: Great, I have you on record for that. So, how was tonight?
Mr Livingstone: It's nothing to do with you because your paper is a load of scumbags and reactionary bigots.
Finegold: I'm a journalist and I'm doing my job. I'm only asking for a comment.
Mr Livingstone: Well, work for a paper that doesn't have a record of supporting fascism.
What was the treatment to which KL referred?
Was there an earlier confrontation between OF and KL?
Not between these two. KL has a "thing" for that paper (even though he apparently worked for them). Take a look at the comments thread at Harry's Place for a fuller discussion. Be aware that Harry's Place is a Leftist site, so, for instance, many of the commenters (and KL) blame OF's paper for supporting Facism back in the 30's for instance (they have plenty of comapny).