Hubris….
Steve Bell, brilliant as always......
The public humbling of Murdochs senior and junior, Brooks, Coulson, Stephenson, Yates and the rest has made for a satisfying couple of weeks. I’ve devoured every bulletin, every inch of news print and enjoyed every shiver of schadenfreude. Yet the abiding feeling at the end of all the fun is one of hangover, a nagging sense that while it’s all been enormously entertaining, in the final analysis it was little more than a sideshow, a temporary victory over the ruling class.
Because that’s what we’re talking about here, the hubris of an elite who are genuinely convinced of the primacy of their views, that they are entitled not only to report the news but to shape it. The sheer effrontery of their sense of entitlement is a slap in the face for society at large. While carrying out what we may describe as their core business, they’ve stooped to new lows on a regular basis, fabricating news, indulging in naked prejudice and pandering slavishly to the lowest common denominator. But destroying lives, perverting politics and pedalling smut wasn’t enough for them, they had to ensure that the corridors of power were not just in thrall to the red tops but prowled by News International’s enforcers. It’s a truism to say that governments now wield less power than multi-nationals and the way that Rupert Murdoch and his fawning acolytes have infiltrated the body politic over the last forty years is the very apogee of that platitude. From the moment that Margaret Thatcher deployed her Met bully boys to protect Murdoch’s Wapping investment, the die was cast and Blair’s espousal of the ‘Don’t piss off NI’ doctrine was in many ways the final nail in the coffin, reinforcing Murdoch’s belief that he was as important as elected politicians.
And now? The sight of so many politicians biting the hand that fed them is both gratifying and stomach turning, as they compete to prove that they were least in thrall to the Sun, News of the Screws and Times. But they’re fooling no one. Each of them has kow-towed to Murdoch, invited him into No 10 by both back and front door, massaged legislation in order not to step on his toes, socialised with the Dirty Digger and his faithful lieutenants while we the public watch on, staggered by your venal boot-licking. Will anything change in the long term? Maybe Murdoch’s grip on his empire has marginally loosened but those who invest in NI understand that Rupert is ruthless, that he will take this temporary hit, shape shift in true capitalist style and in all likelihood alter his point of attack, his methods to fit the new, if temporary, moral climate. The sense of entitlement he has built up over all these years will not wither overnight. The body politic is sick and I see no sign of a cure. Rupert’s keeping his head down for the time being, but he’ll be back and politicians, having temporarily bitten the hand that feeds them will soon be back begging for forgiveness.