They're Not Like Us...

What all those morons on Twitter calling for Jeremy Clarkson to be 'reinstated' by the BBC don't seem to grasp is that, as he's been accused of assaulting a colleague, the BBC really doesn't have any choice but to suspend him pending an investigation.  It's standard practice. If the allegations are found to be true then, if the BBC hadn't suspended him, they could find themselves facing legal actions from other of his co-workers for putting them at risk by allowing them to work with someone who is violent toward his colleagues.  Conversely, by removing Clarkson from the workplace they are protecting him from any further, possibly false, allegations.  If any of Clarkson's 'supporters' doubt any of this, then I suggest that they try assaulting a colleague - they'll find themselves suspended from work pending an investigation.  If it is found that they did assault a colleague, then they'll also find that such an action constitutes gross misconduct, which, in turn, will result in their dismissal.  But, of course, because Clarkson's a celebrity, he should be treated differently, these morons seem to think - normal rules don't apply to celebrities.  They're not like us, you see.

The worst thing about this Clarkson nonsense is the way he's succeeded in having himself depicted as some kind of maverick or outsider being persecuted by 'the establishment'.  Let's not forget that he's the one being accused of assaulting a colleague, not the other way around, (although, as an investigation is still ongoing, we have to give him the benefit of the doubt here and bear in mind that the allegations could be unfounded).  Moreover, far from being 'anti-establishment', Clarkson is 'establishment' through and through - just look at his friends: David Cameron.  In this respect, he has much in common with Nigel Farage, another privately educated, over privileged reactionary who tries to play the rebel.  They promote their self-interest as if it is somehow in the interests of the wider public.  Scratch the surface of their supposed 'radicalism' and you'll find a set of deeply conservative values.  It's important to remember, whatever the outcome of these assault allegations, that Clarkson isn't 'one of us'.  He isn't an 'ordinary bloke'.  Far from it.  The only thing he is 'rebelling' against is the fact that those of us he considers 'inferior' - workers, the poor, immigrants, women, homosexuals, to name but a few - have rights ourselves and the likes of him can no longer ride roughshod over us.