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Cheap and nasty are not words I would use to describe people, but really BBC R2 reached a low ebb when it permitted a prerecorded item to cause such mayhem last weekend.  I have to say I find Jonathan Ross slightly but not very amusing, while Brand I can only describe as a pig, pig ugly, pig ignorant and stupid to boot - his brand of humour after watching him on MTV, borders on the lowest, cheapest and nastiest I have ever heard.  Now don't get me wrong, I think Tommy Tiernan is hilarious, but he at least has a point.  Brand is simply crude, unfunny and the kind of "comedian" who is exactly what Mike Judge tore apart in his famous Beavis and Butthead cartoons - "hu hu hu.....you said hard."

Now the other thing I have noticed over the years is how Radio 2 has deteriorated into a subtype of Radio 1.  It seems to have just inherited the stupid, ignorant, blinkered, tabloid-reading, X-Factor watching bores who spend their entire weekends glued to tripe like Americas Next Top Model and Extreme Makeover, programming so devoid of any form of integrity, nothing more than a florified gameshow that doesn't even have proper planning. Its rather sad that a station with such a proud heritage can allow its programming to rot into the same kind of pulp that now totally dominates Friday and Saturday evening television - the takeaway curry and 6-pack or cheap bottle of wine style TV.

It is just me or what is the connection between gay men and the leadership of the far right?

To me its quite shocking that somebody from a supposedly "deprived" minority background such as the gay community can wholeheartedly loan their full political backing to the far right, to groups that not only seek to deprive in particlar ethnic minorities of their rights, but also to roll back the rights of sexual minorities in favour of traditional family units.

Yet, particularly down here in rural Ireland, some of the most vicious and hateful right wing positions I have heard from gay women, and even in Dublin, I've heard a supposedly "deprived" transgendered lesbian complaining that "refugees" are taking all her work.

So why is it that the gay community at grassroots level are not only turning their back on fellowship and empathy for other minority groups, but wholeheartedly supporting the far right at such a level that they are emerging in the leadership ranks?

Tomorrow I hope to discuss this more in full.