Political Mud Slinging

Sometimes it is best to sit back and watch as news breaks, particularly where atrocities and terrorism are concerned. With the coming of twenty four hour media, there has been a greater tendency to jump to conclusions which later prove to be utterly wrong.

When the news of the dual attacks in Norway broke, the broadcast media, in their usual rush to appear important and ‘discuss’ matters, were quick to suggest the killings were the work of evil Islamists. Time, as we now understand, proved otherwise.

Yet, one thing which rarely changes, once Islamists have been ruled out, is the willingness of the Left to demonise the political Right. I was immediately struck by the similarity of reaction in leftist media to the atrocities performed by Anders Breivik and those carried out by Jared Lee Loughner in Tuscon in January. On both occasions, the Left were particularly quick to label the perpetrators as ‘right-wing extremists’, and thus tarnish millions of people by association.

In the very sad case of the Tuscon shootings, Loughner targeted the Democrat and House of Representatives member, Gabrielle Giffords at a local advice surgery. During the incident she suffered a severe gunshot wound to the head, while a local Judge and five bystanders, who were caught up in the shooting, died of their injuries.

Initial reports suggested that Giffords had been killed in the attack, though these statements were relatively quickly retracted when it became apparent she had survived, albeit in a critical condition. Yet it didn’t take long before the finger was pointed at the Right in the United States, especially the Tea party movement and its followers.

It was mainly brought to the fore by an outburst from the Democrat supporting local Sherriff, Clarence Dupnik, who said in an interview:

When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.

Later, Sherriff Dupnik retracted his initial statement, saying that his investigation had not yet found such evidence. But it was all too late – the damage was already done. This spark lit the touchpaper and a predictable Left-wing witch hunt began in earnest.

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Departed From Reality

There is something deeply disturbing about the publicity the media and political class has given to the supposed phone ‘hacking’ scandals recently.

The sheer volume of coverage has been somewhat staggering, with the broadcast media having given the matter virtually wall-to-wall treatment, with every miniscule new event turned into ‘breaking news’, all reported in wide eyed, breathless tones by metropolitan elite newsreaders.

Likewise, the print media have gone into overdrive, filling hundreds of pages and columns with mindless prattle on the technological equivalent of rummaging through someone’s dustbins (something that, incidentally, our beloved and benevolent state does to us with little comment or complaint by that same media and politicians).

Yet, for all the quantity of reporting then there has been very little in the way of quality, with most articles rarely scratching beyond the surface of the issue and indulging in the typical kind of bubble-journalism which is increasingly prevalent in the mainstream media.

If only the media elite expended as much effort examining Britain’s membership of the European Union, the financial crisis into which we are rapidly sinking, or the way in which (as Christopher Booker weekly highlights) children in this country are let down in the ‘care’ of the state. But, then again, this is the British media…

During this manufactured scandal, the political and media classes have shown the full extent of their regressive and symbiotic relationship, with each feeding off the filth disgorged by the other and revelling in the spectacle: one rotten establishment propping up another equally rotten institution, like two corpses with rigor mortis.

Meanwhile, as our politicians and media vie for the limelight in their race to the bottom, dealings of far greater significance are taking place across the Atlantic. Ambrose Evans-Pritchard tells us:

On the other side, the recovery has sputtered out and the printing presses are being oiled again. Brinkmanship between the Congress and the White House over the US debt ceiling has compelled Moody’s to warn of a “very small but rising risk” that the world’s paramount power may default within two weeks.

This, as he highlights, is an incredibly scary prospect. Whether it will actually happen is another matter, but the spectre of default now hangs over the US economy and consequently the world. After the Wall Street crash in 1929, it was said that when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches the cold – and it now appears that the same or worse may well happen again unless the US institutions can pull the country back from the brink with debt reduction.

Of great interest has been the way in which the price of precious metals has risen as paper currency has receded in value due to the inflationary pressure of printing money. I recall reading an article in the Daily Mail back in May, which noted that the US State of Utah became the first in the country to legalise gold and silver coins as currency. This was a warning sign of events to come, and Evans-Pritchard highlights the increasing flight by the markets to Gold.

Yet, so absorbed in its own sordid affairs is our British media that the crisis that is gripping the world is treated as almost purely an economic rather than political issue. This is the news that should be on the front page of newspapers. This is the news that should be leading daily broadcast news bulletins on the BBC and Sky. Instead though, we have to contend ourselves with the dreary mug shots of Rebekah Brooks and company as the world crashes and burns.

It Must Be Global Warming

I haven’t had much time in the past few months to update my website due to working and other commitments. However, hopefully this will change in the next few weeks as I free up more time.

In the mean time I’ve been keeping tabs on the whole ‘Climategate’ saga which thankfully blew up a few months ago before the Copenhagen Climate talks. Much of the foot work was done by the blogs both in this country and in the United States as the mainstream media sort to bury their heads in the sands and managed to turn a collective blind eye.

Today has seen heavy snowfall right across the country causing disruption to traffic networks and business. However, predictably the usual suspects have been quick to claim that what is predicted to be the coldest winter in thirty years is not, in any way whatsoever, in conflict with man-made global warming.

If you haven’t read it already, Dr Richard North wrote an excellent article for the Mail on Sunday about how the Met Office has been so wrong about its long term forecasts. I am also about to start reading Christopher Booker’s latest tome on the subject of Global Warming and Climate Change which comes highly recommended.

As I write, it is beginning to snow again, so I leave you with a photograph of all that Global Warming in my garden this morning. Clearly I had absolutely nothing better to do…

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Winners Or Losers?

Nadine Dorries MP has been right in the past to campaign for measures such as a reduction in the legal abortion limit and selective education.

For having the audacity to stand up for her beliefs and probably those of millions more then she has come under intense and personal criticism from the Left – and for this at least she deserves acknowledgement.

Yet, I do find her rather annoying. Despite her brave, if at times ignorant, stand on traditionalist issues such as abortion, at times she lacks a sense of credibility. Perhaps the attacks by the Left really are hitting home, or perhaps it is because when she gets things wrong it is arguably in spectacular fashion. Who knows?

On her blog last night, Ms Dorries did nothing at all to alleviate these concerns of mine. Quite openly she cited ‘rumours’ from a close yet unnamed source who suggested that the MPs expenses scandal may have been created and exploited by the apparently ‘fiercely eurosceptic’ Barclay Brothers, who have since 2004 been the multi-billionaire owners of the Telegraph newspaper group.

Nadine went on to declare that she agreed with her source who said the Barclay Brothers wish to destabilise Parliament and allow anti-EU parties to gain votes at the European elections because the Conservative Party are not ‘eurosceptic’ enough. Yet, if she really believed the Barclay Brothers were conspiring against MPs then she should have said so rather than using weasel words.

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