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Owen Jones hits the nail on the head
Unfortunately this is the direction that political discourse in the media is heading, and it is not good. 
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/owen-jones-on-the-big-benefits-row-the-hopkinsisation-of-political-discourse-9106227.html
Basically Hopkins's schtick is to oh-so-subversively repeat the mantra of mainstream politicians and journalists about people at the bottom of society, but with even fewer facts and more venom. It's just panto (which I reckon is where Hopkins will end up when the media requests dry up). She was even practising arching her eyebrow - a facial expression she's inexplicably very proud of. “They're just lazy.” Booooo! “I don't care about anyone else.” Boooo!
The producers justified booking her on the basis that she got a response; I suggested that the same could be said about a live execution, but that probably wasn't an argument in its favour. And so producers will keep ringing her agent so long as people keep agreeing to “debate” with her, and the Hopkinsisation of political discourse will continue.
And then there was Edwina Currie, best known for a scandal involving eggs and boasting about her escapades with a former Prime Minister. Hopkins has moved in on Currie territory, and so an arms race has begun. On the Channel 5 programme on Monday, Currie was put on the same panel as Jack Monroe, a brilliant writer and inspirational campaigner with first-hand experience of poverty and food banks. She began confronting Currie with facts, the one thing Currie seemed to be bereft of. And so Currie's comeback was - wait for it - to bring up Monroe's dead grandfather.
The likes of Hopkins and Currie are a fascinating aspect of modern culture, with their outrageous politically incorrect opinions they have for money, to paraphrase Stewart Lee on Jeremy Clarkson. Going on TV is not something I hugely enjoy, to be brutally honest - it's just a means to get a point across - but for the professional troll, nothing beats the limelight, even if everybody is booing. But I feel genuine pity for intelligent right-wingers out there (and yes, they do exist!). They're being replaced by pantomime villains. Personally, I relish taking someone on who knows their facts. But ratings are ratings, and so the circus goes on.
The producers justified booking her on the basis that she got a response; I suggested that the same could be said about a live execution, but that probably wasn't an argument in its favour. And so producers will keep ringing her agent so long as people keep agreeing to “debate” with her, and the Hopkinsisation of political discourse will continue.
And then there was Edwina Currie, best known for a scandal involving eggs and boasting about her escapades with a former Prime Minister. Hopkins has moved in on Currie territory, and so an arms race has begun. On the Channel 5 programme on Monday, Currie was put on the same panel as Jack Monroe, a brilliant writer and inspirational campaigner with first-hand experience of poverty and food banks. She began confronting Currie with facts, the one thing Currie seemed to be bereft of. And so Currie's comeback was - wait for it - to bring up Monroe's dead grandfather.
The likes of Hopkins and Currie are a fascinating aspect of modern culture, with their outrageous politically incorrect opinions they have for money, to paraphrase Stewart Lee on Jeremy Clarkson. Going on TV is not something I hugely enjoy, to be brutally honest - it's just a means to get a point across - but for the professional troll, nothing beats the limelight, even if everybody is booing. But I feel genuine pity for intelligent right-wingers out there (and yes, they do exist!). They're being replaced by pantomime villains. Personally, I relish taking someone on who knows their facts. But ratings are ratings, and so the circus goes on.
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