When I am not writing about love, need and tendresse in the Venice lagoon or the ecstasy of passion with oysters, wine and hot baguette, I am a right little drab Domestos.
Beyond my little world of kids, buses and ASDA is the drama of landscape and nature. Regular readers will recall my delight at the recent visit of Mrs Fox. You know those stories where some kind of magical animal appears and changes lives. Well, that is how I felt when Mrs Fox somehow chose to share my mortadella sandwich. I figured we might never meet again, but today she came back. All those times when I wasn't selected for the sports team or voted girl most likely (only because I already had), were swept away. I know this beast loves me. Maybe she has one of my works in her burrow.
I am not religious in any way but to connect with this animal is a joy that seems beyond this world. Can't say why. Does anyone know.....?
Now let's get a bit serious. Half of today's News is all about the serial sex offending of the deceased Sir Jimmy Savile (for non UK readers, he was a famous TV entertainer and charity fund raiser). The other half of the News is Lance Armstrong who has been labelled a drug cheat.
The connection between the two matters is that both were protected by an insidious culture of celebrity worship. The great and the good are now wringing hands and thrashing around with enquiries and public inquests as if no one understands why these things happened and no one spoke out. The issue is not quite as simple as I suggest but the celebrity as god is a major feature.
Great wedges of righteous hypocrisy will be heaped upon these sinners. All the pus of "totally unacceptable" clichés will crowd around the wound. Speeches will be made. But remember this - at present some 200 hundred detectives are working on the phone hacking case against the News Of The World. Most of the hacking "victims" were celebrities. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been paid to them as "compensation". Millions upon millions of pounds are being spent to persecute the hounded vixen editor Rebekah Brooks. They have even scooped her driver to put frighteners on her. The case has been adjourned for perhaps a year. Lawyers will receive fees for one hour that a bus driver earns in a month. I will not bore you with explaining who will be paying for a lot of this, but you know don't you.
The allegation is that The News Of The World broke rules. Many journalists and private detectives are not selfless kind people. We do not need a show trial to tell us. Celebrities who want the fame and cash were terrified of the "Gutter Press". I know (and believe me, I do know), that the newspapers knew all about Savile. All the glitzy full gloss sports writers knew all about Lance Armstrong. I just say you may have to accept a few celebrity squeals of intrusion or tolerate the alternative. Because that is what we've got. The inner cliques knew it all. We did not and that is the way they wanted it.
Emma thinx: In a sewer a soiled hand will hold the lamp.
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| A vixen fix'n her gaze |
Beyond my little world of kids, buses and ASDA is the drama of landscape and nature. Regular readers will recall my delight at the recent visit of Mrs Fox. You know those stories where some kind of magical animal appears and changes lives. Well, that is how I felt when Mrs Fox somehow chose to share my mortadella sandwich. I figured we might never meet again, but today she came back. All those times when I wasn't selected for the sports team or voted girl most likely (only because I already had), were swept away. I know this beast loves me. Maybe she has one of my works in her burrow.
I am not religious in any way but to connect with this animal is a joy that seems beyond this world. Can't say why. Does anyone know.....?
Now let's get a bit serious. Half of today's News is all about the serial sex offending of the deceased Sir Jimmy Savile (for non UK readers, he was a famous TV entertainer and charity fund raiser). The other half of the News is Lance Armstrong who has been labelled a drug cheat.
The connection between the two matters is that both were protected by an insidious culture of celebrity worship. The great and the good are now wringing hands and thrashing around with enquiries and public inquests as if no one understands why these things happened and no one spoke out. The issue is not quite as simple as I suggest but the celebrity as god is a major feature.
Great wedges of righteous hypocrisy will be heaped upon these sinners. All the pus of "totally unacceptable" clichés will crowd around the wound. Speeches will be made. But remember this - at present some 200 hundred detectives are working on the phone hacking case against the News Of The World. Most of the hacking "victims" were celebrities. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been paid to them as "compensation". Millions upon millions of pounds are being spent to persecute the hounded vixen editor Rebekah Brooks. They have even scooped her driver to put frighteners on her. The case has been adjourned for perhaps a year. Lawyers will receive fees for one hour that a bus driver earns in a month. I will not bore you with explaining who will be paying for a lot of this, but you know don't you.
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| Rebekah with her child. Hundreds of detectives are on her case. |
The allegation is that The News Of The World broke rules. Many journalists and private detectives are not selfless kind people. We do not need a show trial to tell us. Celebrities who want the fame and cash were terrified of the "Gutter Press". I know (and believe me, I do know), that the newspapers knew all about Savile. All the glitzy full gloss sports writers knew all about Lance Armstrong. I just say you may have to accept a few celebrity squeals of intrusion or tolerate the alternative. Because that is what we've got. The inner cliques knew it all. We did not and that is the way they wanted it.
Emma thinx: In a sewer a soiled hand will hold the lamp.
There was a time when we read about man's failures on the front page and his successes on the sports page. Now we read about his failures on both pages. Celebrities are part of a train wreck, and newspapers can't wait to take us from one wreck to the next, we want to devour them all. It's kind of sad.
ReplyDeleteHeroes are human and all have feet of clay. Even if you aren't a religious person, it's instructive to look to the heroes of the Bible. Noah became a falling down drunk. Moses allowed his anger to overcome his duty to God and was forbidden to enter the promised land. In my own experience with heroes (I reported on three actions in Vietnam that merited awards of the Medal of Honor for Valor) I have seen that heroic acts are mere moments in long lives. I don't know where you got the phrase "In a sewer a soiled hand will hold the lamp" and I will just give you credit for writing it. Congratulations! It's an excellent thought.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Jack and Caleb. I think the phrase is original but I am always complaining that pre-emptive plagiarism is plundering my originality.
ReplyDeleteEmma, your article is more a treatise on corrupt news reporting than on any of the examples you used. We have politicians doing abominable things for which they would have be despised as traitorous by prior generations. Thomas Jefferson killed a traitor on the White House lawn.
ReplyDeleteToday the major news sources and politicians are equally guilty of hiding the truth and offering lies and deceptions. An honest review is a rarity, and to find honest news in the U.S. I have to watch the BBC.
Rage on girl, rage on.