Friday, May 28, 2010
Campbell's Caper
Alastair Campbell is an overwheening former soft porn writer who bears more responsibility than anyone except Peter Mandelson for the poisoning of national political discourse these past 13 years. He is also an exceptionally able - because amoral and ruthless - political operator, and while No.10's decision not to put anyone against him on last night's Question Time was perfectly understandable, it would have been better all round if they had. Guido Fawkes has pretty well hit the nail on the head with his blogpost here - which, incidentally, includes the Newsnight footage of Michael Howard disecting Campbell, to Paxman's apparent concern (towards the end, Paxo, in awe of Campbell, tries to defend him from Howard's attack).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The retreat of liberalism goes on
As communism seemingly disappeared from view at the end of the 1980s, in a sudden and unexpected blow-out, there was plenty of triumphal...
-
As communism seemingly disappeared from view at the end of the 1980s, in a sudden and unexpected blow-out, there was plenty of triumphal... -
#200218907-001 / gettyimages.com George Osborne doesn’t strike me as a particularly emotive or soft-headed politician, but ev...
-
It's always a busy time for the Donald. Today alone he is defending his new tariff system and agreeing to meet North Korean dictator ...
2 comments:
Deliciously partisan posting, Giles, and how could I expect less now that your party is back in government?
I love the Howard/Campbell clip, incidentally, because it shows how deluded figures such as Howard are about the years and years of Tory unpopularity they have experienced. His line "the tone and standards of public life in this country have deteriorated radically in those 10 years" is especially laughable given the sleaze-riddled government that Major led; years which Howard conveniently seems to have forgotten.
The truth is that Campbell has helped to gift this country with many years of Labour government and is a giant amongst political operators. His legacy and efforts have endured so well as to deprive the Tories of an outright majority this time, and leave them scrabbling in the dirt with their Liberal Democrat whores. Long may he continue at the heart of the party that I love.
Campbell has little to offer except smears, thuggery and innuendo. It is his most basic modus operandi, it is the oxygen that gives him life, and it squeezes out anything remotely creative, positive or beneficial. He helped Blair lie his way into a war of dubious credentials and calamitous results (and those Tories who voted for it were shameful), his actions over the David Kelly affair were among the most reprehensible of any person in high office in the last half century or more, he brought shame upon No.10, consistently stabbed those politicians who at least had the courage to face the electorate and stand for election, and then made a mint out of prostituting his high placed role through his memoirs virtually as soon as he was out of government employment. He may not be atypical of the unelected political world, but he exemplifies its wretchedness more substantially than any other figure. If that's really the sort of person you think elevates your party, then your party is in more serious need of help than anyone would have thought possible.
Post a Comment