When is an 'insult' not an 'insult'

 Not been at all well over last few days. My aim of writing a blog a day evaporated as I sunk into what can only be described as a deep sleep. So been unable to comment on what I thought a most bizarre Twitter rumpus, following a rather clumsy 'throwaway' tweet of mine around a week ago. The 'Academic Community' didn't take kindly to me writing that I personally don't consider academics to be  'experts'. That is of course not what I actually think. No doubt I'd have altered it if the sheer number of people who considered themselves 'insulted' hadn't taken off into the thousands, by the time I'd finished my supper. Now if I'd said that, "personally, I don't think academics to necessarily be the greatest experts.... " they would prob be still 'insulted'. Blimey, when I think of some of things they say about me on social networks.  For good measure I suggested a bit of experience in the real world would help. Whatever, this post is not about justifying the clumsy wording of my tweet, ( which I don't want to justify) but the response to it which I found truly astonishing. I'm not altogether sure why.

The numbers who took offence was massive, thousands of them who do work in schools, hospitals, and reseach companies. All these people have great experience of the real world. Anyway that's not the issue. 

The issue was the response to a tweet which they disagreed with and thought 'insulting'. Lots responded by simply called me a C**t. The liberal use of the F word and worse was enough to make this hill farming rugby player blush. And the leader of one of our national political parties compared me with Hitler (who murdered 6million innocent Jews.) Interesting that I had a few media calls, (which I didn't think justified a response from my sickbed) who wanting to run a story on my tweet. I had no interest whatsoever in what I thought deeply offensive tweets of others. If fact I was asked if I wanted to make an issue of the Hitler tweet. But No. We have heard far too much about the Nazi dictator over recent months. As far as I know the only coverage I actually saw was by BBC Wales's David Cornock. Could have been more but then I wasn't looking for it. It was all so bizarre, I simply refused to comment. 

In fact David is a sharp cookie, and rightly guessed what had caused me to feel a touch agitated. I'd been been listening to this Welsh political academic, from Cardiff, who is wheeled out almost as often as Derek Brockway on Welsh TV, totally rubbishing the Wales Bill. No problem with that. Clearly he's opposed to this Bill. But is he? No-one asking him if he'd actually vote for this Bill he was describing as so awful. If he were to say he couldn't support it, I would respect that, while disagreeing with it. I think it's a welcome bill. But it sounded to me as though he wanted to lambast the Bill, while hoping others would vote to approve it. The Assembly Members won't have that luxury. They are going to have to decide.