Bahrain....

Not a mindset unique to autocracies.
Institutional denial.
Sooner or later they all begin believing their own lies. Maybe nature's way of flushing the system periodically.

 

+1000 exactly Its front page, and that greedy numbskull Hecklestone knows that full well.

 

Now he does. (maybe).
To accomplish what he has takes a mindset that not only ignores obstacles but denies commonly accepted reality. Sooner or later reality will turn around and bite you on the azz.

I wonder if this is having much of an effect on the proposed IPO? (which Mac wants corrected to IPOD).

 

Oh he knows alright, seen him interviewed.

He was trying to make light of it IMO saying he would travel with the Force India guys.

He will go a step too far one of these days, I thought he sunk very very low when he about turned and supported that rat Mosley over his sex scam.

 

To quote Tom Lehrer " A man whose alliegence is ruled by expedience".
Or, in the words of the snake "you knew what I was when you invited me in"

 

True words.

 

Yep, it's front and center on all the news sites now... so much for keeping F1 out of politics. Maybe Bernie's on to something.. he can bring a GP to Somalia and all the other hot spots in the world to bring attention to their cause.

 

The lines between sports, business and politics have been an illusion since the days of ancient Rome, perhaps earlier.

 

Absolutely.

Just look at the Olympics and what e.g. Hitler did with the games in Berlin. Or the Olympics in Munich, LA or Moscow.

F1 has been a bit more on the back burner, but thanks to the FIA it is now front and center.

While I have some sympathy for the protesters, it really rubs me the wrong way when they use slogans like "you drive your cars over the blood of our killed brothers". If they accuse F1 of doing financial dealings with a corrupt regime, I wouldn't say anything, but the F1 folks really have not fired a single tear gas or real bullet onto the protesting masses.

 

As we're seeing, modern insurgencies are fought, in part, before the court of public opinion.
I agree that while the participants in F1 have the same individual responsibilities as the rest of us, the sport itself is not an agent of oppression. But if you lie down with dogs you should expect fleas.
The protester's issues aren't with F1 but making use of all available means is a basic tenet of guerilla war and that they take advantage of the global press attention can surprise no one.

 

The problem with F1 (Bernie & the FIA) together; is that by not having enough backbone to cancel the race, it has played right into what the insurgents needed; global awareness. And has given them hope & strength. When you see someone wearing a shirt that says 'I will die for Bahrain' (on a woman no less), it shows they will sacrifice everything to achieve what they want. If there were no race, the demonstrations would have ended a long time ago.
As usual, F1 is in the headlines for the wrong reasons. Also - the comparisons to China are a joke; china's no angel, but their people have accepted their situation. (haven't seen anyone wearing a shirt that says 'i will die for China')
Kevin
(back to his self-imposed exile from this section)

 

Maybe Bernie and the FIA wanted to give them this publicity.

 

Please. It's like saying we haven't forced a single child to work in a sweatshop.

 

It wouldn't surprise me.

 

Maybe. The track won't do it...that place is booooooring. I tried to watch qualy, but it just isn't an interesting venue.

 

That must be it.

 

LOL...Red Bull better watch out...he'll murder the competition!

Funny how Will Buxton ignored Varsha's question regarding Force India's' decision to leave the paddock early.

 

Here's an interesting take on F1's reasons to run the race - start it at ~8:30. What's the saying... rationalization is the last refuge of a sound argument?

http://www.youtube.com/user/drive

 

This explains it.....

[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PIHgV7TRqM[/ame]

 

Interesting indeed.

 

Seems to me like both sides have tried to use F1 as a publicity stunt.

Bernie/Todt put F1 in the crossfire, in no mans land.

 

They pinned the bullseye on themselves.
And on F1

 

Yes, I'd like to say Bernie is bonehead stupid, but he is far from it.

 

Not stupid but foolish.
He believes that F1 is bigger than any one country. It may well be but the whole world is watching this time around. And I don't mean just the usual fans.

 

The world has the attention span and the memory of a gnat.

No worries.

Come Monday something else will be media fodder.Syria probably.

The leftwing press, which hates F1 gets more ammunition and the F1 supportive press will report about the race. The world will move on from this like nothing ever happened.