What a disappointment Tim Farron has already turned out to be, denouncing Jeremy Corbyn for his opposition to torture and for his regret at an extrajudicial execution.
This was supposed to be Harry Cole's first big scoop as Westminster Correspondent of The Sun. But it did not appear in the paper, only on the website.
It featured only a pair of neoconservative rent-a-quotes, the utterly discredited Liam Fox for the Blues and the utterly embittered Ian Austin for the Reds.
Even the Daily Mail, in picking it up, managed to give the proper context, more or less discrediting the whole thing by so doing.
I have been ruminating for some time on the absence of serious political coverage and comment in the country's largest-selling newspaper.
It has now sent Cole to the Lobby, and it regards Katie Hopkins, Louise Mensch and Toby Young as commentators worthy of its readers.
The truth is that that looks like a public school joke on those readers.
Yes, they buy the paper for the football and The X Factor. But if you think that that means running little or no politics, then run little or no politics. The Daily Star still sells healthily.
It does not, however, have staffers who hold parliamentary passes, still less who attend the Lobby briefing.
Nor does it have Rupert Murdoch as not only its proprietor, but also its Editor-in-Chief.
Osama's death was not an "extrajudicial execution", as he was not covered by civil, but military, law. As an adherent of a non-sovereign body, operating without the Hague and Geneva Conventions, he had no rights, being classed as "an enemy chattel". Moreover, he raised his weapon, which would have legalised his killing, in any event. Overiding which is the legal maxim "Salus republica suprema lex".
ReplyDeleteIt's not too late to join Devalera in expressing condolences on the Fuhrer's death.
Herr Sturmbahnfuhrer Ludwig Kessler
Bless.
DeleteThat's neocons for you.