VC War hero mocked on morning show.

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**Private_Joker**

So anyway two hosts on a morning show called The Circle decided to specifically target a recent reciever of the Victoria cross, which for those who aren't familiar is the highest award for gallantry within Australia and other commonwealth countries. The actual comments were targeting his physical condition, intelligence level and whether he or others of his caliber was poor in bed.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/negus-says-sorry-for-dudroot-soldier-remark-20120301-1u42z.html

Just wanted to know what Dakka thought of how it was handled, the public reaction and generally whether journalist should be able to get away with it.

**AustonT**

Well the journalist, Negus, WILL get away with it. It's a prickish thing to do and say about a hero of your nation whether or not you particularly agree with where and why he became a hero. It seems the media and public at large MAY have overreacted as the guy in question doesn't seem terribly offended.
That said CPL Roberts-Smith could rip Negus' throat out through his donkey-cave, it might be appropriate for Negus to take that into account before he runs his mouth, how sympathetic do you think an OZ judge and jury would be to Negus when faced by a VC winner publically wronged? I think not much at all.

**Private_Joker**

Well he doesn't seem terribly effected because he is probably keeping a professional face to things. Then again it is terribly hard to offput someone who willingly faced two MG's.

**Gorskar.da.Lost**

Private_Joker wrote:Well he doesn't seem terribly effected because he is probably keeping a professional face to things. Then again it is terribly hard to offput someone who willingly faced two MG's.

I think that's the crux of the matter. Yeah, this presenter guy is clearly a bit of a chump, but the soldier in question doesn't seem to care, so there doesn't seem to be all that much harm done.

**Ahtman**

In the US VC is usually short for Vietcong, which would have been a different story.

**Relapse**

Seems like the VC winner is the one with all the class. I don't think there would be any apology by either of those clones without the outcry.
I'd love to read what Matty'd have to say about this.

**Private_Joker**

I wonder why the people who produced the show or plans the segments even thought that was a good angle for comedy. Yeah sure that one guy may not be offended, but the fact that veterans can be now be made the butt of jokes is what annoys the hell out of the RSL (Returning Soldiers League) and the Defence Force itself.

**Ahtman**

Private_Joker wrote:I wonder why the people who produced the show or plans the segments even thought that was a good angle for comedy.

Because it appears that we aren't talking about a written television series with planned out jokes but a daytime talk show with some off the cuff remarks. From the description it sounded like someone actually was mean to the guy or said something that was meant to be offensive. I can't see how anyone would think they were intentionally trying to be mean. The whole point of the discussion was how he was giving the women on the panel the vapors. What monsters.

Woman A: Look how attractive this soldier is.
*picture of buff soldier with good physique*
Man A: lol, what if he isn't that good in the sack? lol
Woman B: You mean like a small penis? lol
*audience and panel chuckle*

Yeah, that is tantamount to spitting on his grave.

**AustonT**

Relapse wrote:Seems like the VC winner is the one with all the class. I don't think there would be any apology by either of those clones without the outcry.
I'd love to read what Matty'd have to say about this.

Matty seems to be avoiding the OT lately.

**Private_Joker**

Ahtman wrote:
Private_Joker wrote:I wonder why the people who produced the show or plans the segments even thought that was a good angle for comedy.

Because it appears that we aren't talking about a written television series with planned out jokes but a daytime talk show with some off the cuff remarks. From the description it sounded like someone actually was mean to the guy or said something that was meant to be offensive. I can't see how anyone would think they were intentionally trying to be mean. The whole point of the discussion was how he was giving the women on the panel the vapors. What monsters.

Woman A: Look how attractive this soldier is.
*picture of buff soldier with good physique*
Man A: lol, what if he isn't that good in the sack? lol
Woman B: You mean like a small penis? lol
*audience and panel chuckle*

Yeah, that is tantamount to spitting on his grave.

Even though woman B said "He should swim to the bottom of the pool to find his brains".

The man's children were born using IVF, so yeah making those "dud-shot" jokes is a little ignorant.

**Ahtman**

Private_Joker wrote:Even though woman B said "He should swim to the bottom of the pool to find his brains".

I did not hear that part at all there, and obliviously was a stupid thing to say. I may have missed it in the accents.

Private_Joker wrote:The man's children were born using IVF, so yeah making those "dud-shot" jokes is little offensive

Is that common knowledge? And if so, god why? Even the article linked doesn't mention that.

**Private_Joker**

Well the Circle did the story in response to the Sunday Night report the evening before. The Sunday report went into detail about his family life and his experience in Afghanistan. Imagine seeing a heart felt piece on this brave family man the night before then watch him the next day be ridiculed on some low-rate talk show. The article does say his wife used IVF.

**chromedog**

He's SAS.

They take the piss out of themselves all the time.

I'm sure the subtext of the conversation the corporal had with Negus boiled down to:

"... And next time you or any of your compatriots are over here in the sandpit, don't expect a bulletproof car."

Not so much a threat as a mutual understanding. Mock us too much and we won't be around to protect your candy-arses.

**AustonT**

Ahtman wrote:
Private_Joker wrote:Even though woman B said "He should swim to the bottom of the pool to find his brains".

I did not hear that part at all there, and obliviously was a stupid thing to say. I may have missed it in the accents.

Private_Joker wrote:The man's children were born using IVF, so yeah making those "dud-shot" jokes is little offensive

Is that common knowledge? And if so, god why? Even the article linked doesn't mention that.

It's pretty clear, they pause after saying both comments, and laugh. You would have to be actively engaged in denial not to hear it.The article linked says both; here I'll help since lately you're reading skills seem to be slipping.

Veteran journalist George Negus and his co-host on The Circle Yumi Stynes have phoned an Australian war hero to personally apologise after they made offensive comments on the Channel 10 program suggesting he was brainless and a "dud root".

The pair also appeared on The Project last night to publicly apologise after their comments received widespread condemnation, including a dressing down by members of the Federal Parliament and hundreds of furious messages on the show's Facebook page.

Negus said Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, who was awarded the Victoria Cross medal for single-handedly storming an enemy machinegun position in Afghanistan, was not upset "at all" when he phoned yesterday to apologise.

"He didn't think it was malicious in any way, shape or form," Negus told The Project.

"He actually used the term himself when I spoke to him, 'I know you had your tongue in your cheek, basically I know you weren't having a crack'. And we talked about it and I apologised. I said 'I'm sorry if I've offended you, your family, your colleagues in the army, the SAS, if unintentionally or accidentally I actually offended you'."

Negus also took aim at media coverage of the incident, which he claimed misrepresented what he said.

Negus and Stynes had been looking at a photograph of the shirtless war hero in a swimming pool on The Circle when Stynes, who later admitted she knew little about him, quipped: "He's going to dive down to the bottom of the pool to see if his brain is there."

Negus had then responded: "I'm sure he's a really good guy, nothing about poor old Ben. But that sort of bloke ... and what if they're not up to it in the sack?"

Another host questioned whether Negus was suggesting "that he could be a dud root", to laughter from the audience.

The show's treatment of Corporal Roberts-Smith also came under fire after the soldier revealed in a candid interview on Channel Seven's Sunday Night that he and his wife had conceived their twin daughters through IVF treatment.

Negus claimed he did not say Corporal Roberts-Smith specifically was a poor lover, but that "that sort of bloke, meaning blokes in general" could be.

"I still felt a need to apologise because so many people thought that I had [been referring specifically to Corporal Roberts-Smith]."

Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith released a statement last night, saying he was initially surprised at the comments but understood they were not meant to be malicious.

"I would like to thank the Australian public and Australian Defence Force personnel for their overwhelming support - my wife and I were extremely touched by the outpouring of support and concern," he said.

"I have now put this matter behind me so I can focus on serving my country."

But Defence Minister Stephen Smith said such comments, directed at anyone, were reprehensible.

"Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith has received the appropriate apologies, as he should have. He has accepted them, which is the measure of the man and his family," he said.

Labor parliamentary secretary for defence David Feeney noted the corporal was the recipient of Australia's highest award for gallantry.

"These people are not an appropriate target for the sort of conversation that we saw on that program," he said.

Stynes told The Project that she was humbled by the experience, and that Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith had accepted her apology.

"I did speak to the man in question ... on the phone this afternoon and just said to him 'Look, I'm really sorry about this' and he was like: 'I've got a pretty thick skin' and he kind of went 'You know this stuff happens'," Stynes said.

"I was relieved to have had that conversation, having him on the phone.

"He can tell that I'm a human being and I made a mistake."

Corporal Roberts-Smith was awarded the VC for extraordinary heroism in bitter fighting as members of the Special Operations Task Group assaulted a Taliban stronghold in Kandahar Province on June 11, 2010.

At great risk to himself, Corporal Roberts-Smith drew fire away from his fellow Diggers by making himself an easy shot before single-handedly silencing two Taliban machinegun posts.

That enabled his unit to go on to clear a village of Taliban.

**Ahtman**

AustonT wrote:It's pretty clear, they pause after saying both comments, and laugh. You would have to be actively engaged in denial not to hear it.

And you'd have to be pretty dense not to know that even when one is ad-libbing on air and in front of an audience that you pause if you make a joke. That doesn't mean it was planned ahead of time in any way. To go even further if you watch it again yourself, it doesn't even seem to have those types of pauses either. The first remark shows the other host starting to respond almost immediately but it jump cuts to the other scene where there isn't a planned pause either but the audience laughing and the other female host looking surprised and the guy hiding his face. I think you would have to try equally as hard to want to see this as planned. I have never said that they shouldn't apologize, becuase they should have, but I also think this is being blown way out of proportion. People were thoughtless and made some crude jokes, not something Dakka should be unfamiliar with, but they realized that it was wrong and apologized and he accepted. This wasn't some coordinated smear campaign, just two people that didn't use the best judgement when trying to be clever.

I missed the in vitro line becuase I searched for 'vitro', I didn't realize they only referred to it in short hand of IVF.

**AustonT**

Ahtman wrote:
Private_Joker wrote:Even though woman B said "He should swim to the bottom of the pool to find his brains".

I did not hear that part at all there, and obliviously was a stupid thing to say. I may have missed it in the accents.

Private_Joker wrote:The man's children were born using IVF, so yeah making those "dud-shot" jokes is little offensive

Is that common knowledge? And if so, god why? Even the article linked doesn't mention that.

Ahtman wrote:
AustonT wrote:It's pretty clear, they pause after saying both comments, and laugh. You would have to be actively engaged in denial not to hear it.

And you'd have to be pretty dense not to know that even when one is ad-libbing on air and in front of an audience that you pause if you make a joke. That doesn't mean it was planned ahead of time in any way. To go even further if you watch it again yourself, it doesn't even seem to have those types of pauses either. The first remark shows the other host starting to respond almost immediately but it jump cuts to the other scene where there isn't a planned pause either but the audience laughing and the other female host looking surprised and the guy hiding his face. I think you would have to try equally as hard to want to see this as planned. I have never said that they shouldn't apologize, becuase they should have, but I also think this is being blown way out of proportion. People were thoughtless and made some crude jokes, not something Dakka should be unfamiliar with, but they realized that it was wrong and apologized and he accepted. This wasn't some coordinated smear campaign, just two people that didn't use the best judgement when trying to be clever.

I missed the in vitro line becuase I searched for 'vitro', I didn't realize they only referred to it in short hand of IVF.

Oh so NOW you can hear it. It must be a bloody miracle! But obviously not well enough.
Look at that physique
He's going to dive down to the bottom of the pool and get his brains
BWHAHAHAHAHA
cut.

They must have heavily accented laughter that you can't understand.

No one said they planned it, it's not appropriate in any circumstance. Keep making excuses.

**Mannahnin**

Please try to keep it friendly. Not posting is a better alternative to posting unpleasant things to one's fellow Dakkanauts.

**Ahtman**

AustonT wrote:Oh so NOW you can hear it. It must be a bloody miracle! But obviously not well enough.
Look at that physique
He's going to dive down to the bottom of the pool and get his brains
BWHAHAHAHAHA
cut.

They must have heavily accented laughter that you can't understand.

No one said they planned it, it's not appropriate in any circumstance. Keep making excuses.

I love how you know that I wrote that I didn't hear her say that the first time I watched the video, but ignore that I said that it was wrong of her to have said it. I didn't make it clear enough when I wrote that I didn't hear it, but I suppose I thought it would be obvious to anyone that was thinking rationally that it was a stupid thing to say. It doesn't seem to matter that I pointed out the details I missed and admitted that it changed my initial observation, you want to just huff and puff no matter. I guess if it makes you feel better to get worked up this then go for it, but it seems an odd way to get your rocks off.

Just typing 'cut' doesn't give a clear reference to how soon after the statement was made and how soon the cut was made. The cut wasn't even in the original airing but part of this article. You can see that the other person there was beginning to immediately say something over the crowd when it cut. Whether or not it was planned actually does make a difference becuase it goes to intent.

No one is excusing anything, but trying to contextualize the incident. I even specifically stated, more than once, that they were in the wrong and that they should have apologized. Even the person they made the comments about didn't get this worked up.

I don't know why you are getting such a hard on for this, as it really is a non story, but you need to calm the feth down. Even the Corporal wasn't being as petulant as you are right now. Go for a walk, hit a pillow or something.

**Zakiriel**

What did any of you really expect from the liberal dirtbag media?

**sebster**

The guy in question has been moved from media event to media by the Australian Defence Force as a big goddamn hero, and the nation as a whole has recognised he is a big goddamn hero, precisely because he is a big goddamn hero. If anyone can take a few lame jokes it's this guy.

That doesn't excuse The Circle for telling some jokes that aren't funny, and were basically just mean spirited. But we already respect soldiers immensely for what they do, and turning them into sacred cows about whom we can never tell a joke isn't needed.

Zakiriel wrote:What did any of you really expect from the liberal dirtbag media?

Yeah, damn the evil liberal bias of a morning chat show that alternates between girlie gossip and advertising exercise equipment. Their evil liberal agenda must be stopped.

Or, alternatively, that's ridiculous.

**SagesStone**

The biggest shock here is that people are still watching that show...

**Krellnus**

n0t_u wrote:The biggest shock here is that people are still watching that show...

Ikr
Still I think its disgusting to refer to a VC awardee in a manner such as that.

**sebster**

n0t_u wrote:The biggest shock here is that people are still watching that show...

The fat girl was pretty funny. Is she still on it?

**SagesStone**

I have no idea I saw the show once, didn't take long to see it was complete drivel then moved on never looking back.

**Frazzled**

Private_Joker wrote:So anyway two hosts on a morning show called The Circle decided to specifically target a recent reciever of the Victoria cross, which for those who aren't familiar is the highest award for gallantry within Australia and other commonwealth countries. The actual comments were targeting his physical condition, intelligence level and whether he or others of his caliber was poor in bed.

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/negus-says-sorry-for-dudroot-soldier-remark-20120301-1u42z.html

Just wanted to know what Dakka thought of how it was handled, the public reaction and generally whether journalist should be able to get away with it.

Since its not my coutnry I can freely say the rights of free speech do not apply. Put them in a cage. Put Humoungous in the cage. Tell Humoungous they can't just walk away.
Televise!

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Private_Joker wrote:I wonder why the people who produced the show or plans the segments even thought that was a good angle for comedy. Yeah sure that one guy may not be offended, but the fact that veterans can be now be made the butt of jokes is what annoys the hell out of the RSL (Returning Soldiers League) and the Defence Force itself.

Evidently their target audience is jerkwads. Teenage audience and those who never quite reached adulthood probably - aka the Howard Stern crowd.

**Sonophos**

They won't be laughing when the SAS use their house for HALO infiltration and targetted assissination practice or when they go out to walk the dog and every bush tells them that they are a total feth head.

**Frazzled**

Sonophos wrote:They won't be laughing when they go out to walk the dog and every bush tells them that they are a total feth head.

**Joey**

When did we decide that all servicemen are automatically saints, beloved by all?
People on tv shouldn't be making those kinds of comments about anyone.

**purplefood**

Joey wrote:When did we decide that all servicemen are automatically saints, beloved by all?
People on tv shouldn't be making those kinds of comments about anyone.

True, but a VC winner is someone who deserves a touch more respect because of their actions...
Though they really shouldn't be saying that about anyone...

**Medium of Death**

This just in!

Daytime talk show hosts say stupid things.

Join us later for a special report on why people are getting so wound up over this non-event.

If these comments hadn't been picked up by local news, this whole event would have been blown over and wouldn't have resulted in maximum fail.