Vicious personal attacks on Tamsin Omond
Keith Parkins | 21.09.2009 13:19 | COP15 Climate Summit 2009 | Climate Chaos | Indymedia | Repression | Social Struggles | Cambridge
Why is Indymedia UK being used to launch viscous personal attacks on Climate Rush founder Tamsin Omond?
Tamsin Omond
Climate Rush pay Jeremy Clarkson a visit
'Only those who risk going too far can possible find out how far they can go.' -- T S Elliot
'You must do the thing you think you cannot do!' -- Eleanor Roosevelt
'Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.' -- Lord Dewar
Indymedia UK is not and never has been a forum to launch viscous personal attacks on individuals. Expose cant and hypocrisy yes, viscous personal attacks no.
I am perplexed why Indymedia UK is being used to launch viscous personal attacks on Tamsin Omond. If there is something wrong with her campaigning style, say so, with detailed analysis, but remember there is no 'right' way.
That she has got up some peoples noses is all too obvious.
I thought Climate Rush on the Run, travelling across southern England by horse and cart dressed as modern day suffragettes, from Sipson near Heathrow Airport to Totnes in Devon, raising awareness of climate change on the way, with the occasional direct action, was a brilliant idea.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/437740.html?c=on
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438116.html?c=on
http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/
Dumping horse manure on Jeremy Clarkson's front lawn was a brilliant stunt.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438142.html?c=on
http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/2009/09/anyone-for-manure-words-and-photos.html
And look at the oodles of excellent publicity it has achieved.
Tamsin also has a good track record in terms of activist credentials.
So why such a negative reaction on Indymedia UK? It was not just negative, vicious personal attacks on Tamsin herself.
Was it because she is posh? Was it because she got a First at Cambridge? Was it because she is stunningly good looking, sexually attractive with a nice body? Being called an eco-starlet by the mainstream media, obviously did not help. Nor being sought after by Vogue and Tatler. Was it because she is rich, or if she is not rich, that she comes from a wealthy family, her grandfather owning a landed estate in Dorset. Was she too posh, her grandfather being a baronet? But then she did not decide who her parents were or what her background was.
Tamsin has been accused of promoting her book. And yet I have seen no evidence of this. The book was not being plugged on the Climate Rush on the Run tour. No mention of the book on the blog or twitter.
I for one am looking forward to reading her book. If it is a load of tosh, self-serving, egotistical crap, I will say so, but I reserve judgment until such time as I have read it.
But even if the tour had been a promotion of the book, would that have been such a bad thing? It is not uncommon for writers, or even activists, to go on tour to promote a new book.. If the publisher wished to promote a book tour with a bit of awareness raising and direct action en-route, I for one would have no problem with that.
Last year at the Guildford Book Festival, Mark Thomas was brilliant. His appearance was part of a tour to promote his latest book, Belching Out the Devil. I did not see anyone complaining and the Electric Theatre was full. I know because I had the last ticket. I recall the Amnesty International event with Tariq Ali, again to promote a new book, was packed.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/411305.html
Climate Camp at Blackheath Common was a success because it found the right balance on direct action, activism and awareness raising. By doing so, it brought a whole load new people on board.
What Tamsin Omond, Climate Rush and other have managed to do is make protest a class act, not class in terms of social divide but class in terms of style. As with Climate Camp, they have wrong-footed the authorities and remained ahead of the game. They have taken protest to a whole new level, and they are being listened to. For this they should be applauded, not condemned. Whether this will result in needed change, changes in the group mindset remains to be seen. But at least they have tried, which is more than their critics have done.
When democracy has stopped working, as it has in the UK and elsewhere, where corruption of the body politic is rife, there is no alternative to direct action, civil disobedience.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/dir-act.htm
An educated elite with the ability to organise has tasted the protest game and they like it. Government and big business pay heed, your days are numbered.
Is government worried? The simple answer is yes, as we can see from the mouth of Gordon Brown when protesters, including Tamsin, sat on the roof of the House of Commons:
"The message should go out today, very clearly, that decisions in this country should be made in the chamber of this House and not on the roof of this House. It's a very important message that should be sent out to those people who are protesting."
In other words, Brown was rattled.
Politicians are our servants not our masters!
A shortened version of a longer article published elsewhere.
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/tamsin-omond-founder-of-climate-rush/
'You must do the thing you think you cannot do!' -- Eleanor Roosevelt
'Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.' -- Lord Dewar
Indymedia UK is not and never has been a forum to launch viscous personal attacks on individuals. Expose cant and hypocrisy yes, viscous personal attacks no.
I am perplexed why Indymedia UK is being used to launch viscous personal attacks on Tamsin Omond. If there is something wrong with her campaigning style, say so, with detailed analysis, but remember there is no 'right' way.
That she has got up some peoples noses is all too obvious.
I thought Climate Rush on the Run, travelling across southern England by horse and cart dressed as modern day suffragettes, from Sipson near Heathrow Airport to Totnes in Devon, raising awareness of climate change on the way, with the occasional direct action, was a brilliant idea.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/437740.html?c=on http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438116.html?c=on http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/ Dumping horse manure on Jeremy Clarkson's front lawn was a brilliant stunt.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/09/438142.html?c=on http://climaterushontherun.blogspot.com/2009/09/anyone-for-manure-words-and-photos.html And look at the oodles of excellent publicity it has achieved.
Tamsin also has a good track record in terms of activist credentials.
So why such a negative reaction on Indymedia UK? It was not just negative, vicious personal attacks on Tamsin herself.
Was it because she is posh? Was it because she got a First at Cambridge? Was it because she is stunningly good looking, sexually attractive with a nice body? Being called an eco-starlet by the mainstream media, obviously did not help. Nor being sought after by Vogue and Tatler. Was it because she is rich, or if she is not rich, that she comes from a wealthy family, her grandfather owning a landed estate in Dorset. Was she too posh, her grandfather being a baronet? But then she did not decide who her parents were or what her background was.
Tamsin has been accused of promoting her book. And yet I have seen no evidence of this. The book was not being plugged on the Climate Rush on the Run tour. No mention of the book on the blog or twitter.
I for one am looking forward to reading her book. If it is a load of tosh, self-serving, egotistical crap, I will say so, but I reserve judgment until such time as I have read it.
But even if the tour had been a promotion of the book, would that have been such a bad thing? It is not uncommon for writers, or even activists, to go on tour to promote a new book.. If the publisher wished to promote a book tour with a bit of awareness raising and direct action en-route, I for one would have no problem with that.
Last year at the Guildford Book Festival, Mark Thomas was brilliant. His appearance was part of a tour to promote his latest book, Belching Out the Devil. I did not see anyone complaining and the Electric Theatre was full. I know because I had the last ticket. I recall the Amnesty International event with Tariq Ali, again to promote a new book, was packed.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/10/411305.html Climate Camp at Blackheath Common was a success because it found the right balance on direct action, activism and awareness raising. By doing so, it brought a whole load new people on board.
What Tamsin Omond, Climate Rush and other have managed to do is make protest a class act, not class in terms of social divide but class in terms of style. As with Climate Camp, they have wrong-footed the authorities and remained ahead of the game. They have taken protest to a whole new level, and they are being listened to. For this they should be applauded, not condemned. Whether this will result in needed change, changes in the group mindset remains to be seen. But at least they have tried, which is more than their critics have done.
When democracy has stopped working, as it has in the UK and elsewhere, where corruption of the body politic is rife, there is no alternative to direct action, civil disobedience.
http://www.heureka.clara.net/gaia/dir-act.htm An educated elite with the ability to organise has tasted the protest game and they like it. Government and big business pay heed, your days are numbered.
Is government worried? The simple answer is yes, as we can see from the mouth of Gordon Brown when protesters, including Tamsin, sat on the roof of the House of Commons:
"The message should go out today, very clearly, that decisions in this country should be made in the chamber of this House and not on the roof of this House. It's a very important message that should be sent out to those people who are protesting."
In other words, Brown was rattled.
Politicians are our servants not our masters!
A shortened version of a longer article published elsewhere.
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/tamsin-omond-founder-of-climate-rush/
Keith Parkins
Homepage:
http://keithpp.wordpress.com/
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