There was no little schadenfreude, especially amongst LGBT folks, when news of Iris Robinson’s indiscretions broke last week.
Back in June 2008, in the same week as a particularly nasty homophobic attack, she declared that homosexuality was an abomination, and that homosexuals could – with help – be turned around. Stonewall voted her the UK Bigot of the Year 2008.
So the reaction to her fall from grace is hardly surprising – a woman who was only too happy to attack what she saw as the moral lapses of others turned out to have sizeable feet of clay herself – in the shape of a sexual affair with a young man 40 years her junior and some dubious financial dealings. Let she who is without sin…
And yet I can’t help feeling very uneasy about a Facebook campaign doing the rounds.
Iris Robinson is suffering from severe depression – a very unpleasant illness. Her political career is over and her marriage must surely be under huge strain.
Yet some of her opponents feel it’s appropriate to launch a campaign to get the Simon & Garfunkel song “Here’s to you Mrs Robinson” to number one in the charts, to taunt her a little further.
She’s paying the price for her sins, and then some. What interest is really served by a campaign like this which seems to me to sail perilously close to cyber-bullying?
Are we supposed to enjoy kicking people when they’re down? Or is the message that anyone daring to express their homophobic views publically will not only be criticised but hounded, perhaps to suicide.
I’m sure those supporting this campaign have no such intentions, but in the name of common decency can we not now leave Iris Robinson alone.
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27 Comments
No.
I won’t leave her alone because she is a predator. Please. Depression? How convenient!
I did an art degree and trust me, I know depressives. And I also know how they’re treated in society when they seak about how we struggle with life. I’ve volunteered with people with mental health for years.
Now what has Mrs Robinson done for mental health sufferers? Was she working with MIND? Or other organisations? Remember that huge campaign that came out and every one from Stephen Fry to Alistair Campbell opened their hearts out about suffering all their lives from depression.
Now were was Mrs Robinson? Oh I know. Shagging a 19 yol kid. Getting him favours and planning permission-do you think she’d do the same for a small mental health charity?Hmmmm-and getting her pure as white as snow christian buddies to loan him 50K!
Yes. This woman is so good and so kind that she only shows an ounce of caring to a little boy that she stalked since he was 19 and that she had it off with his Daddy too.
As someone who has experienced people with mental helath issue pretty much my whole life, I find it insulting and patronising that this abominable woman is giving a free ride because she uses it to explain a shagging spree that she had behind her cold over ambitous husband.
Power hungry to the core. Thank god for the internet.
Some people like HER needs to stay OUT of other peoples lives and businesses. If she’d done that, I bet my pet hamster this would’ve died down and I wouldn’t be ranting on this site!
She deserves everything she gets. She should have ensured that she was whiter than white before attacking other people. Its too easy to say she is now suffering from depression, a bit of a cop out to keep the press off her back
Well said Iain. Depression is not a “cop out”. Have some common humanity folks! She hasn’t had a “free ride”. She’s been kicked from here to hell and back.
Coincidentally I have just blogged, almost in synchronisation with you Iain, about this.
http://liberalburblings.co.uk/2010/01/should-we-kick-a-politician-when-they-are-down/
“Quite frankly, there seems to be more satisfaction for the soul to be sympathetic to someone, even if (and perhaps because) they haven’t come across as particularly sympathetic to others in the past. – Occupying a sort of moral higher ground, if you like. Carrying on and on with schadenfreude tends to sully or debase the humanity of the person dishing it out, more than the person who is the object of the ridicule. I mean, why carry on? She’s got depression. It can’t get much worse than that for a human being. And, as someone pointed out, she hasn’t killed anyone – as several people involved in Northern Ireland politics have perhaps done.”
I take it Iain that you didn’t see the far more spiteful Facebook campaign against her in that case.
I did consider blogging against it but just couldn’t bring myself to do so.
I agree – the joke’s reached its natural conclusion. I don’t want to kick a dog when it’s down.
I think there’s a lot of people on both sides taking this a bit too seriously. But then, I’ve never been one for smugly occupying the moral high ground and looking down on those “lesser” than me.
As for her having depression… Lots of people have clinical depression, myself included. It doesn’t mean, and nor do I want it to mean, that people should treat depressives with kid gloves, or walk on eggshells around them.
Having said that, I appreciate that there is an element of schadenfreude here. And I would be uncomfortable about it if she was a powerless person. But she’s not. She’s a very powerful person, and has misused her power to financially benefit those in her circle. Surely a bit of gentle fun poking, in the guise of what is, after all, a rather good song, is not going to drive her to suicide?
Agreed Jennie. I would not suggest any censorship or self-censorship here. It’s up to people to make a personal decision. I just wouldn’t feel good about continuing what has been a damn good laugh. By the way, I think people are probably flattering themselves that any of the stuff written about IR in the media or on the web has actually been read by IR herself.
Oh and yes, I agree, it is a good song. I think my comments were aimed at the more schadenfeudish of the continuing comments, rather than the S&G campaign. I very much doubt it will succeed anyway. It’s too MOR – unlike that Christmas thing.
It’s worth pointing out that Mrs. Robinson’s venomous views on LGBT people, who are significantly more likely than straight, cisgendered people to suffer from depression and other mental illnesses, count in themselves as kicking people while they’re down. Views from people like her do indeed drive LGBT people to suicide, and DELGA works with Lib Dem candidates who are uncomfortable coming out even to their own local parties through our “Out To Win” peer support network.
That being said, two wrongs don’t make a right…
Clearly the internet campaign to get Simon & Garfunkel to the top spot is fundamentally flawed – the Lemonheads version is far better.
As for Mrs Robinson – should she be treated differently just because she suffers from depression?
I think not.
The Facebook crime is aimed at what she has done, not at her illness.
This incited hatred with her comments on the gay community equating them to child abusers. Being gay in Northern Ireland is not easier and her comments made it even more difficult! then to find out that she was selective with her scripture quote leaving out the adultery bit, what a hypocrite!
I normally would feel sorry for someone in her position at the moment but she still has not apologised for her comments, maybe if she did people from gay community might be more forgiving, Her comments were very very dangerous and I just wonder has she (and by the way she is not alone especially in northern ireland) changed her view?
I do think now she should be left in peace, She is paying a high price and will pay more in the future both publicly and privately. A lesson for any of us Hypocrisy is probably the greatest sin of all!
I agree that the whole “depression” thing is VERY convenient. She didn’t try to kill herself because she was depressed, she tried to kill herself because she panicked – that is NOT depression. Peter didn’t even call an ambulance for her and he went to work as normal; in other words, it was not a serious attempt at suicide. Iris is using this as an excuse for her behaviour. I have actually had depression and I think she should feel utterly ashamed of herself for using such a serious issue issue to mask her failings.
SHE is the abomination and a silly, playful Internet campaign is nothing compared to what she said about gay people. I wonder how many young teenagers actually tried to kill themselves because of what she said. I’m sure some were successful. I hope she can live with that. Sorry, but Iris does not deserve your sympathy and she fully deserves everything she gets.
Her career is over, and that is a good thing, given her illiberal views, and, it appears, her corruption. But that is sufficient, irrespective of whether she has depression or not.
I do think more work should be done on who has covered it up along the way, and on whether – on the backhanders and the like stuff – she is the one rotten apple or typical of others who also need rooting out.
Depression? I think the word you are looking for is “manipulation”.
My instinct is to agree with Iain. I haven’t written about this since the financial stuff came out, but I posted on Wednesday basically saying that if we believe in respect, tolerance and compassion, then everybody should get it, whether they’ve shown it to others or not. Iris Robinson has spouted vile, homophobic poison in her time and there has been a huge shadow between what she says and what she does, but she’s still a human being. I don’t believe that given the financial stuff she’s fit to hold office and I’m not that convinced her husband is either.
The Facebook campaign’s a bit of fun, but I don’t feel comfortable about joining it so I won’t.
Look at it another way. Why should I pay 79 pence for a mediocre 40 year old track I’ve already got on about five different media and have heard so many times I can sing it in my sleep anyway? For goodness sake, I’ve even got it on blinking Eight track somewhere! “The Boxer” is much better.
@Paul
Eight track! Now that takes me back.
To before I was born 😉
If you live by the sword, then you must be prepared to suffer the consequences. By spewing her poison, she was effectively stating that gay people deserve to be beaten up because of how they were born. Iris has created this situation herself, so a little public humiliation is entirely in order. People are fully entitled to believe whatever they want, but when they hold a public position, they are certainly not entitled to say whatever they want. I, like many others, am very sceptical about her so-called “depression”.
Iris: Grow up and accept full responsibility for your actions. Blaming everything on a mental illness is a slap in the face to everyone who really suffers with a mental illness.
She doesnt need to apologise or accept any responsibility for anything – because as she already says: “God has forgiven me”. Her God dosnt forgive gays though (because they are “worse than child abusers”), just corrupt, lying, criminal, adulterers. That’s where He draws the line, luckily for her.
GUILT and depression are two very different things. When she apologises for the disgusting things she said at a time when she knew she was in an adulterous affair with a teenager then, perhaps, people will start to have sympathy for her “mental illness”. Promoting the song is a joke, some people are trying to lighten the atmosphere, nobody is forcing anyone else to buy the song! It’s a bit of fun people!
Where is Joe DiMaggio in all this?
Irish Robinson has allowed the love of the Lord Jesus Christ into her heart. How can she be suffering from depression?
FReudian slip. IRIS Robinson
OK I’ve relented and downloaded the blessed thing. Enough already!
Guilt? I think you are crediting Iris with too much humanity. Iris probably just realised how bad the situation looked for her. Let’s be honest; many people fake suicide attempts every day in order to gain sympathy and attention. Peter went to work as usual, so it can’t have been a very serious attempt.
Let’s not forget that Iris had known Kirk since he was a child. On top of that, Kirk had just lost his father. In other words, she took advantage of him when he was at a low ebb.
Iris has shown exactly what she is capable of. The whole story is disgusting for so many reasons. Save your sympathy for someone who deserves it. I hope that Iris learns a few lessons from all of this. What are the chances of that? Slim to none.
I work in mental health and have professional (and personal) insights into depressive illness. Not knowing Mrs Robinson personally, and not having read her medical records, I can not possibly think of making judgement about whether her depression is “convenient” or whether her actions have been manipulative.
What is pretty certain, however, is that Mrs Robinson was not “hounded to suicide” by those who opposed her views and actions. She thought very little of what her opponents thought, and probably even now doesn’t regret what she’s said about gay people.
Mrs Robinson’s depression doesn’t really concern me – that’s an issue between herself and her psychiatrist. Mental health is a very personal thing and I wouldn’t dream of sticking the boot into someone with acute depression.
Having said that, I have very strong views on Mrs Robinson’s political views, her intolerant and unforgiving line on homosexuality and what appear to be less than legal financial dealings. I also have little time for such crass hypocrisy, or for those who talk about being “forgiven” while they mercilessly judge others.
The fact that Mrs Robinson is undergoing treatment does not, in my view at least, act as a barrier to criticism. On the contrary, the recent revelations require serious investigation and – if appropriate – actions to be taken against the Robinsons. Mrs Robinson’s medical treatment and political career need to be separated; her depression is a private matter but her actions as an MP are not – unless there is evidence that her actions were a direct cause of mental ill health, which I seriously doubt.
As for the facebook campaign, I wouldn’t take it too seriously. Those of us who find it a step too far don’t have to sign up to it. If the “cyber-bullying” was aimed at her mental health then I would be concerned, but it appears to be little more than an expression of disgust over the way she’s conducted herself.
In any case, I imagine that, as more details emerge and the political consequences become obvious, Mrs Robinson will be worried about bigger issues that what’s top of the pop charts!
Yes, depression is a very private issue (or at least it should be). I don’t think any decent person would try to stem the flow of criticism by casually mentioning the fact that they have tried to commit suicide. It is tacky at best, and downright offensive at worst. That rather means that anyone who criticises her is criticising anyone with a mental illness. Well , I don’t believe for one second that she has truly suffered with a mental illness. Iris wouldn’t have been so quick to make such nasty, hurtful comments if she had truly suffered in her life. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that she is a manipulative liar, and almost none to suggest that she genuinely has a mental illness. We all know what her word is worth.