SARAH VINE: My despair at Greta Thunberg and the insanity of her army of hate pixies protesting against silly, kitsch Eurovision

The older I get, the more I think that humans – as a species – are getting crazier. If it’s not all, then it’s a lot.

Take, for example, the hysteria surrounding the Eurovision Song Contest. The annual event is a silly, kitschy, largely irrelevant music competition (I use the term “music” loosely) in which embarrassing regional acts perform pale approximations of real pop songs against a backdrop of gleeful xenophobia.

Every now and then a decent act slips in (Abba, Maneskin, Domenico Modugno) but mostly it’s all exaggerated fireworks and crazy outfits.

In the case of the British entry it’s invariably a virtuous ninny in a torn T-shirt who thinks simulating sex with crotch-grabbing dancers dressed as rent boys and pontificating about how much he hates the British flag is the lack of knowledge will compensate. vocal talent.

Eden Golan, representing Israel, holds up her country’s flag as she sings Hurricane

Climate activist Greta Thunberg attends a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Malmö, Sweden, site of the Eurovision Song Contest

Climate activist Greta Thunberg attends a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Malmö, Sweden, site of the Eurovision Song Contest

That’s not the case, but who cares. It’s just a bit of a laugh.

Or it was until Greta Thunberg and her army of hate gnomes showed up and made it all about something else. Dressed in a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, the 21-year-old Swede explained in her characteristically sanctimonious manner: “Young people are leading the way and showing the world how to respond to this.”

If only that were the case.

Sadly, I’m no longer a young person, but if I were, I’d like to think that my reaction – and that of my peers – to the brutal rape, murder and mutilation of hundreds of young people at the Nova music festival last October 7 by a group of Hamas terrorists, financed by Iran’s totalitarian dictatorship, imprisoning, torturing and killing girls like me – would be absolute solidarity with these victims.

Instead, at the Eurovision Song Contest and elsewhere, there is sympathy for the supporters of these terrorists and their despicable actions, blind hatred for Israel for daring to defend itself and its citizens – and an attempt to mobilize thousands of others to support Israel’s entry , Eden, to bully and intimidate. Golan, whose only crime (aside from her horrible artificial nails) is her nationality.

A 20-year-old boy was booed for singing a song about surviving despite suffering.

She was forced to lock herself in her hotel room for fear of being attacked. She is being treated as if she is responsible for decades of conflict in the Middle East.

I always thought Thunberg was a bit strange, but I didn’t know she was mean too.

British Eurovision entry, Olly Alexander, rehearses his song Dizzy ahead of the competition final

British Eurovision entry, Olly Alexander, rehearses his song Dizzy ahead of the competition final

Signs calling the Eurovision Song Contest 'Genocide Song Contest' can be seen at a rally in the Swedish city

Signs calling the Eurovision Song Contest ‘Genocide Song Contest’ can be seen at a rally in the Swedish city

But the madness doesn’t stop there. A group from Brighton calling themselves ‘Queers for Palestine’ (they know what happens to homosexuals in places run by hardline Islamic regimes like Iran, don’t they?) posted online the contact numbers of venues planning to host Eurovision evenings, calling on people to tell them to “reconsider” because the organizers were “complicit in genocide” for allowing Israel to participate.

Inevitably, the BBC reported this on Newsnight alongside an interview with a drag queen called ‘Crystal’ from presenter Kirsty Wark (poor woman: decades of experience as a respected broadcaster and this is what it has come to).

Through thick mauve makeup and false eyelashes, Crystal said, “I wanted to host my own movie screening, with 800 people screaming and cheering, but decided to join the boycott because of Israel’s participation.”

I’m sorry Crystal’s party was ruined – but seriously, is this how low we’ve sunk – that the cancellation of a North London party is worth a spot on Newsnight?

And isn’t it ironic that a drag queen is complaining about the inclusion of Israel – a country where LGBT culture flourishes like almost no other, and which was the first country in the history of the Eurovision Song Contest to field an openly transgender ( the fantastic Dana International) in 1998) – occurs in any of these people? Or are they just too fat to see it? Young women like the Israeli Eurovision entry Eden Golan are not the enemy of the Palestinian people.

That enemy is Hamas and the terrorist network that oppresses Palestinian citizens, builds a network of tunnels under their homes and hospitals, fills their minds with hatred of the Jews and fuels this endless and brutal conflict with their barbaric actions.

For the record, I didn’t really like Golan’s song (although I did like her dress). It was a second rate ballad by less than Celine Dion with terrible choreography. But I defend her right to perform for the simple fact that I believe in a world where young women with crazy nails can dance and sing as much as they want without being afraid.

And I defend her because the fact that so many young people around the world are trying to stop her represents a kind of disruption that I will never understand as long as I live.

  • Hugh Grant isn’t a very nice person, so I’m reluctant to agree with him – but he’s right about a new iPad ad. He describes the ad, which features creative objects including musical instruments and books being crushed by a press before an iPad takes its place, as “the destruction of the human experience.” In other words, every painter, artist, musician and writer in history has literally been reduced to ghosts in a machine that feeds the coffers of Silicon Valley.
  • A friend sent me a photo of his local hipster bakery with about 40 people lining up to buy sourdough. ‘How crazy! It takes about an hour to be served,” he said. There’s a brunch spot near me that gets harassed the same way on weekends. The food is tasty but you have to wait 30 minutes for a cramped table and it costs around £50 per person. I can make two eggs on sourdough with bacon and avocado for about £1.50 – without the side dish of other people’s screaming children.

What I you see in Meghan’s speech

The Duchess of Sussex took Nigeria by storm, telling a group of children an anecdote about her daughter Lilibet, aged two. ‘She looked at me and said, ‘Mommy, I see myself in you.’ When I look around this room, I see myself in all of you, too.” How remarkable. I’ve known a few two-year-olds in my time, some quite bright, but none provided as convenient an opportunity for a soundbite as Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a visit to Nigeria to mark the anniversary of the Invictus Games

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, during a visit to Nigeria to mark the anniversary of the Invictus Games

A minister armed with a chisel attempts to break the protective glass of the Magna Carta as part of a Just Stop Oil protest. A pastor. The Church of England really is a joke.

Keep the Lycra folks in check

A cyclist who speeded at almost 30mph in a park with a 30mph limit avoided a conviction despite a crash that left an 81-year-old woman dead. As a cyclist, I have occasionally almost collided with distracted pedestrians. But with arthritic knees and an age-old push bike, there is a limit to the damage I can do. But lately I’ve been afraid of Lycra louts on high-tech bikes cutting me up and cursing at my slowness. Even worse are those on e-bikes and scooters. Isn’t it time for the rules to be revised?

It’s no surprise that researchers have found that women who take time off from social media experience a marked improvement in their self-esteem. It encourages an ideal of perfection that is completely unrealistic. We are encouraged not only to judge ourselves by the standards of others, but also to become obsessed with our own appearance and become slaves to the camera. Luckily, I’m part of the last generation that grew up without the damn thing. We had no idea how terrible we looked most of the time, but we lived much happier lives.

So that is persuasion politics!

Stormy Daniels with her attorney Clark Brewster after taking the stand during the trial of Donald Trump

Stormy Daniels with her attorney Clark Brewster after taking the stand during the trial of Donald Trump

Fascinating. A new poll shows that a guilty verdict for Donald Trump in his “hush money” trial against Stormy Daniels would lead to votes in his favor in certain key states. This could lead to the extraordinary situation where a president with a criminal conviction must pardon himself. Not even Silvio Berlusconi could have come up with something so vile.