Labour Councillor smeared by Lib Dem activist shocker - 3 comments

Political Penguin reports that "Liberal Democrat Campaigner" Colin Ross has done a hatchet job on Councillor Bob Piper in response to his publication of the "blacked-up" Cameron image that caused so much controversy earlier in the week.

Colin is neither shy to smear Bob with the charge of racism, nor to make the completely unjustifiable accusation that a "whole load of negative comments about BME people" was also featured (I assume Colin is clear in his mind of the need neither to generalise about, nor to 'spin', any particular racial/ethnic group). He goes further:

Thankfully he [Bob] has taken it down now, he has also stated that he will be taking a break from blogging. However it's not enough he should stand down from public office and Labour should have the guts to throw him out of the party. Believe me if this was a Liberal Democrat I would be urging that course of action.

Yeah, of course you would. Mercifully, though:

• No reasonable person could possibly take Colin's charge seriously, either from knowing Bob, having read his other posts, from mulling over the words "Lib Dem activist", or after discovering the nature of Colin's political activities. I assume his website is strictly for fellow activists.
  
• Most readers of a liberal (of all things) persuasion should object to unelected individuals - in principle, and especially when they busily mobilise public campaigns - pressurising elected members - individually, or through their party - for what amounts to no more than offending some people's sensibilities. It should be obvious to a genuine liberal how valuable such "offence" can be across society, and that elected members must accept a priori that they will take the consequences of their actions at the ballot box.
  
• Colin's conscience - or sense of shame - may eventually surface, prompting him to append an apology to his mean-spirited article, before genuine public opinion compels him to publicly backtrack. Hopefully this will happen before the "Stop Press" leaflets hit the streets. He might also like to investigate this while he's at it.