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Clarkson, Conservatives, and the Cult of Victimhood
It’s not easy being on the Right today. This is particularly true if you happen to be an affluent heterosexual white male. If you are unfortunate enough to be in that position, you are expected to spend most of your time checking your privilege and must be constantly vigilant lest you inadvertently commit a microaggression.
If, by some failure of the affirmative action system, you manage to slip past the bien pensant guardians of the culture and achieve mainstream celebrity status, your every word and deed will undoubtedly be subject to severe scrutiny. The slightest deviation from politically correct orthodoxy will result in mass public outrage and calls for your termination. Given such circumstances it is entirely understandable that many, if not most, conservative mainstream celebrities choose to toe the PC line and keep their views to themselves. Understandable, but disheartening nonetheless. To his credit, Jeremy Clarkson chose a different route.
For more than a decade, Clarkson has been the host of the wildly popular BBC motoring show “Top Gear.” Since taking over as the show’s chief impresario in 2002, Clarkson has transformed it from a little-watched Consumer Reports-ish snooze fest into an exciting and humorous mega hit with 300 million viewers worldwide. He managed to do so despite, or perhaps more accurately because, he is routinely profoundly un-PC. At one point or another Clarkson has skewered every sacred cow from vegetarianism to multiculturalism to electric cars, making himself one of the British Left’s most hated bogeymen. In recent years Clarkson has sparked controversy and calls for his sacking numerous times for an array of crimes against progressivism ranging from the use of racial epithets to taunting Argentina over the Falklands War. Despite the best efforts of the left-wing outrage industry, Jeremy Clarkson continued to prosper as the star of the BBC’s most popular show.
Alas, all good things must come to an end. Last week the BBC sacked Clarkson following an investigation into a “fracas” where Clarkson verbally and physically assaulted one of Top Gear’s junior producers. The Left’s reaction to Clarkson’s dismissal was both predictable and distasteful. Clarkson had long been a bête noire of the British Left and the fact that his termination had absolutely nothing to do with his politics didn’t prevent such publications as the Guardian and the New Statesman from covering the affair with a tone of jubilation. More surprising, and perhaps more distasteful, than the Left’s glee at Clarkson’s downfall was the reaction of many on the Right.
In the same way that the Left chose to ignore the actual circumstances of Clarkson’s firing in order to exult over the demise of their ideological foe, much of the commentary on the Right has chosen to overlook the fact that Clarkson was fired for beating up an underling and instead declared Clarkson to be a martyr sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. Writing in the Spectator, Rod Liddle has declared that the “rights and wrongs,” of the affair don’t matter because Clarkson was the victim of ‘liberal fascists’” at the top of the BBC and the Daily Mail claimed that Clarkson’s real offense was being “too white, too male, and too damned British.” Now, I have no doubt that much of the management of the BBC was delighted to be rid of the uncouth, un-PC star, but Clarkson’s sacking had nothing to do with his politics.
The fact of the matter is that he assaulted a junior staffer severely enough to send the man to the hospital over the fact that there was no hot dinner waiting for him at his hotel when he finished a day’s shooting. Clarkson isn’t a martyr. He’s an ass. That many conservatives seem to think that Jeremy Clarkson is a victim of a liberal fascism is deeply troubling. How are we supposed to combat the pernicious progressive cult of victimhood when we are so eager to claim the mantle of victim for ourselves?
Published in General
Ryan: ” question is based on the fact that most normal people, especially people who otherwise manage success, do not fly off the handle simply because of dinner. If, however, there was a guy just waiting for a punch, and he made a remark at such a time, that could very well be the straw, so to speak.”
I agree the behavior was unusual, but it by all accounts was simply the lack of dinner that inspired Clarkson’s assault. The eyewitnesses all said the producer did nothing whatsoever to provoke the attack and didn’t even talk back during Clarkson’s rant.
Also, I’m a bit surprised to find you and others taking issue with the severity of the producer’s injury. Would it be okay for a boss to just slightly beat a subordinate? It seems to me that punching a subordinate (which is what all the witnesses said happened, it wasn’t just a push) should be a fireable offense regardless of the damage done.
I know little to nothing about Clarkson or his politics. It sounds like he got what he had coming to him for his actions in this matter. What I do know is if he had the correct Leftist politics then this incident would not have gotten him canned or even made it to the press. We regularly read / hear about leftist celebrities doing the worse behaviors. Other than some bad press and if they are really bad a stint in some sort of rehab program nothing ever happens to them. If anything they become even more famous for their ways.
Besides if this man actually assaulted somebody and put him in jail where are the pictures? Why has he not been arrested?
haha – no, I’m not in any way suggesting that. Or that it didn’t happen, or even that it was justified. Only that it is difficult to really say one way or another without a better picture. I will agree that regardless of how or what exactly happened, it seems pretty clear that Clarkson did something very obviously wrong. Even that he should have been fired for it, and could very will also be criminally charged. What the whole situation says in broader terms is up for debate, though, and I’d have a hard time participating in that debate without more information.
… not that it has ever stopped me before.
FJG: “Besides if this man actually assaulted somebody and put him in jail where are the pictures? Why has he not been arrested?”
As of two days ago, the North Yorkshire Police were still considering bringing charges according to the Telegraph.
The difference there being that was a criminal matter, and therefore the government had a responsibility (which it shamefully abrogated) to respect and defend Darren Wilson’s legal rights.
In the Clarkson’s case, we’re not talking about a criminal case. We’re not talking about a court case at all. We’re talking about a termination of employment which is not being challenged in court (AFAIK).
The incidents are not really comparable, IMHO.
Sal,
Was a punch thrown? No mark, no bruise, no complaint, no arrest. Some punch, some assault.
“the severity of the producer’s injury” Was there any injury? He went to the hospital. Surely they would have photographed it. He or a friend could have taken a selfy as proof. A phantom punch that leaves no bruise? Was the ‘producer’ another adult child that needs to be protected from bullying? With George Zimmerman the video of the blood on the back of his head was at first doctored to erase it. It was more than a few days before the actual video came out. Of course, he was a White Hispanic monster who wanted to murder 12 year old black boys. You remember the first photo of Travon released and shown over and over again of the 12 year old Travon. When you already know the narrative you don’t need any evidence do you. In fact you can invent evidence because your narrative must be the truth. Again in typical PC fashion the trial and conviction without any facts. Just fantasy and free floating indignation.
Now that I think of it, I wonder if this happened at all. Is Clarkson playing along so his new show get’s higher ratings? Maybe I’m on Gary’s side on this one after all.
Who cares.
Regards,
Jim
Furthermore, should employers be prohibited from terminating employees absent actual criminal charges? Should employers need to seek permission from some sort of government tribunal every time they want to terminate an employee?
Employees who believe they have been unjustly terminated already have legal recourse to challenge the termination. As far as I know, Clarkson isn’t challenging his termination.
Jim: “We are adjudicating a case for which there is no physical evidence nor sworn testimony. We have just come off a situation where Darren Wilson was almost lynched by the Attorney General of the United States. The atmosphere of false accusation by the left is everywhere.”
I’m not sure why you are questioning the veracity of the accounts of this particular case. In Ferguson, there were conflicting accounts. Here, the multiple eyewitnesses all tell the same story. In Ferguson, Wilson himself disputed the accusation. Here, Clarkson has not disputed the accusations in any way. In Ferguson, multiple investigations all exonerated Wilson. Here, the BBC investigation (which Clarkson was involved with and gave testimony to) concluded that the allegations were accurate.
Aside from the fact that you’re a Clarkson fan (as am I), why on earth do you think he didn’t do what literally everyone present said he did?
All the best,
Sal
Jim,
“Was a punch thrown? No mark, no bruise, no complaint, no arrest. Some punch, some assault.”
According to multiple and uncontroverted eyewitness accounts at least one punch was thrown.
Is it your position that it is okay for a television presenter of whom you happen to be fond to physically assault his subordinates as long as he only inflicts minor injury?
All the best,
Sal
If he is working on a new show, will the new show be different from Top Gear or more of the same, with maybe a bigger budget?
Because if it is more of the same, then I’ve see enough episodes of Top Gear to not want to see more.
The drive through the Andes from the Amazon to the Pacific had epic moments, though, as did the drive up the Icelandic volcano. And the road trip up Viet Nam on scooters was fun, as was driving the pickup truck across the English Channel.
And the Reliant Robin Space Shuttle was glorious.
They’re right.
Yeah. I think the publicized reasons for Clarkson’s firing are probably BS. I think so because Clarkson was often in violation of political correctness, because he seemed so much like a straight-up guy that anyone he punched out probably deserved it, and because I know that what I’m told by the media about such things is always a lie.
I trust my gut over anything the media says. That, and I know Sal is a lawyer so anything he says is automatically wrong.
So, Jeremy, regardless of what that slimy git you punched out did to deserve it: well done, and I wish you’d done it twice. Best of luck in your next venture.
Mike- If by saying that the Daily Mail is right that Clarkson was fired for being “too white, to male, and too damned British” you were referring to the fact that the rate of violent crime in Britain is significantly higher than the average found in other developed countries, I suppose I agree with you. Otherwise, it seems that you don’t consider assaulting a subordinate to be a suffiently serious offense to merit termination of employment. Is it the former or the latter?
Gary McVey
“It’s always tough when a genuinely gifted person makes a genuine, almost unforgivable ass of themselves.”
Must we continue to torture the language?
Nice post, Sal. You should thank Mr. Gawron for making your point for you!
I love Top Gear, I think Clarkson is terrific; but, his character flaws and his partners’ reaction to those flaws are what made it entertaining. (Can’t believe that’s past tense!) Those same character flaws are what led to this foolish incident, which is what makes it a bit of a tragedy. He pretty clearly knew that he’d done wrong immediately, and immediately tried to right it, and then did the right thing by notifying management. (Sal, in point of fact, the producer didn’t need to be taken to the emergency center, he took himself there. So it was a minor incident, although still an assault.)
But there’s no disputing the facts of the case, and while I wish they’d figured out a non-firing solution, the BBC behaved reasonably in firing Clarkson.
It’s against my interest, but they certainly did, if not the right thing, then a right thing in handling the case.
I don’t know if they exercised a double-standard in handling the case, there’s some evidence to suggest that’s the case, but it doesn’t bear on whether or not they dealt with Clarkson fairly in this case.
The people I feel badly for are the producer and the staff of the show, as Clarkson put them in a bad spot. And judging from his last interview, he’s well aware that he botched this.
Basil, we must. Avert your gaze.
“Basil, we must. Avert your gaze.”
I shall do our best.
Folks, obviously I’m in the wrong here. No kidding; as our brother member drolly points out, my singular and plural are not in agreement. A bit of sloppy drafting, that. Normally it’s the sort of nonsense up which I will not put.
it pains me too. If you know the gender, don’t ruin the pronoun.
I forgive you.
Just like I forgive Jeremy Clarkson for going diva and throwing a hissy fit on the staffer that bungled his dinner.
Which is, I suppose, what the crux of a lot of this comes down to: those of us who enjoy Clarkson are willing to forgive this failure, and wish for him to be permitted to continue performing in spite of it. Some of us are coping by assuming (or at least speculating) that the allegations are false, exaggerated, or meritless for other reasons. Some are writing Clarkson off as a prima donna reaping what he has sown. Others, like me, are disappointed that someone we like and respect could behave so badly, but not disappointed enough to make us turn our backs on him.
Indeed, this is what it must be like to be a Clinton fan, carefully tending and watering one’s adulation, even as a parade of gaffes and missteps threatens to trample it into dust.
With any luck, Clarkson will find a mechanism to rehabilitate his reputation, resuscitate his career, and once again entertain those of us who enjoy him.
Or maybe he’ll do something else SO bad that I can cease liking him.
Sal,
Apparently the word assault to you is same as the word rape is to the current crop of on campus rape hustling lefties. If you wish to live in a world where false accusation is a way of life then by all means any injury no matter how microscopic is an assault. Sex, consensual by any reasonable standard, can be retroactively construed as rape months hey why not years later. All the better if it’s not a criminal investigation then real Kangaroo court tactics can run the show. Hey nothing is going on here but the destruction of someone’s career. Sure no extortion no threat to freedom.
We are adjusting everyone’s behavior. No good or evil be invoked. The end result is that there is an obsessive need to discipline Jeremy Clarkson’s “assault” while I haven’t heard a thing about the guy who beheaded a British soldier in broad daylight in the middle of London. Did they hang the S.O.B. yet? Anybody know? As if there is a chance in hell that they’d actually hang anybody no matter how fiendish the crime.
I’m so glad that psychobabble rid us of all that good and evil nonsense. We are such wonderful judges of human character. The government has an infinite capacity to mold behavior just give it more and more power to micromanage. What could go wrong?
Regards,
Jim
Hey, singular “they” is a deeply conservative use of the language, honoring a tradition that goes back to Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Austen. There was no need for those newfangled, progressive grammar pedants to impose their centralizing social engineering on everyone else ;-)
Midge, your opinion is not valued when it differs from mine. I don’t remember soliciting such contrarian comments…
LOL. Nice point. I don’t think he’s quite that bad, but he’s certainly a rogue, which has an appeal.
Is Clarkson a conservative, or an upstart moron?
Either way, Top Gear is a crappy show. Whoever is the host.
Jim,
I think I’m beginning to understand your position. It’s not that you think it’s acceptable for people you like to assault subordinates as long as they only do minor damage. It seems like what you’re saying is something along the lines of “1) it’s only assault if major injury results; and 2) it’s wrong to punish Clarkson for hitting his producer because a lot of feminists employ an overly broad definition of rape and jihadists beheaded a soldier in London and the trial isn’t going fast enough.”
Have I understood your position?
All the best,
Sal
Sal,
In the grand tradition of left leaning straw man argumentation you do not understand my position at all. The point is quite simple. A pattern of massive exaggeration of so-called crimes characterizes the left. They like nothing more than to destroy the victims by innuendo as the facts will not support their inflated charges in a court of law. Currently the ridiculous tantrum over Indiana is a prime example. The Federal Statute and all of the State Statutes are no different than Indiana’s. Those laws were passed with bi-partisan support. Suddenly, Indiana’s law won’t be fair to LGBT so the hysterical left wing mob says.
If it was an assault with even minor injury (non shown whatsoever) why hasn’t Clarkson been charged. Virtually every other “gaffe” that Clarkson has been accused of when scrutinized is a wild exaggeration. I suspect this one is too. Punish? What are you talking about? Since there is no charge filed this is a mute point. The BBC can conduct its business anyway it sees fit. As a fan I guarantee that I will not be watching any replacement and have written a post only to urge the BBC to reconsider on that basis. As this is a business decision, I think they are making the wrong one. So does Clarkson. We will all soon see.
Regards,
Jim
Signs of a rapprochement? (This appears on a BBC-owned blog)
One wonders if they could just publicly administer a spanking and put the whole thing behind them. :) That was my daughters’ preferred approach.
Because the victim declined to press charges.
Rapprochement watch. That didn’t take long!
“Jeremy Clarkson coming back to BBC, but not to Top Gear”