Guido pictures BBC correspondent and R5 presenter Anita Anand in her Obama hat.
Squander Two asks if “some banks and a couple of car manufacturers being in trouble are stiffer challenges than September the 11th ?“
And Dumb Jon reckons that “on the plus side, this does mean the week after the death of Princess Di is no longer the stupidest moment in modern pop culture“.
ALL MULTILATERALISTS NOW.
I caught the wretched Lord Patten on Today this morning. He’s a BBC favourite! He was there to make all the usual talking points about the great joy of now having the “President we wanted” but he did not miss the chance to have a good old swipe at Israel, insisting that it would have to deal with Hamas just as “we” had to deal with the IRA. This completely false analogy is consistently pushed by BBC talking heads and it blithely ignores the fact that whilst the IRA were indeed homicidal vermin even they did not seek to wipe every Protestant off the map. The BBC never gives space to those who hold this view although I know that the gospel of appeasement runs deep within the British political Establishment, and is an article of faith for the BBC.
Interesting to consider the treatment afforded to the great orator Obama when he a/Firstly fluffed his inauguration oath and then b/Had to take it again, but this time without a Bible. The BBC coverage plays it up with gentle humour but can you imagine the treatment Bush would have got had he made such a gaffe? I wonder, for example, what the left-wing BBC chorus of “comedians” will have to say about this? In the age of Obama, the media whores comply with the narrative.
Did you see Newsnight shilling for the complete nationalisation of British banking? It strikes me that as this financial crisis deepens, those such as the BBC are taking the opportunity to advance their own agenda that the State should own everything, just as it owns the BBC. That way, the BBC secures its own parasitic position. Also, is it just me or is John McFall omnipresent on the BBC these days since he espouses the Statist values the BBC places such value upon.
Need I say more? Hat-tip to Pete Moore on ATW.
I see that the BBC have been carrying the thoughts of the political leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, as he declares victory over Israel. If you scroll down to the last few sentences of the article, you will get the Israeli point of view. Fair and balanced – we’re all Hamas now? I also noted that BBC’s grovelling coverage of Ban-ki Moon’s blethering from yesterday – did you catch that?
… for repeating some of David’s post, but it’s 22.13, we’re watching the 10pm news, and I have a bet with my son as to when the BBC producers will turn away from the magical fairytale in Camelot and address the possibility that the United Kingdom economy may be about to collapse. 10.17 is our current guess, but it could be later – perhaps in the “and finally …” segment.
22.16 – “And now Middle Eastern reaction to the inauguration …”
(I have another bet – that tomorrows 6pm news will tell us what Obama had for “his first White House breakfast”)
UPDATE – 22.19 “And here, more grim news on the economy“.
(I see the BBC are bigging up our current “low inflation” and the prospect of “increasing the money supply“. Invest in wheelbarrows now !)
I’m afraid I wasn’t paying complete attention during the inaugural speech. Too busy scanning the skies waiting for the mothership to descend. But it seemed pretty inclusive. Bush was thanked for “his service to our country.” Lots of mention of “our forebears” and George Washington, to make it very clear that Obama knows what country he is president of and, despite certain unfortunate remarks, fully identifies with it. Yeah, there was some slightly partisan stuff about “We are ready to lead once more” but, look, you can scarcely come in as a new president having campaigned on a slogan of “change” then say, “well on second thoughts, I am now firmly resolved to run things in exactly the same way as the previous administration,” can you?
It was all so nice. (I also liked the bit where there were no explosions.) I’m not sure I didn’t have a sentimental tear in my eye as I wandered out into the kitchen to inaugurate a celebratory packet of digestive biscuits.
So twenty seconds after the man calls it a wrap with “… and God bless the United States of America” down stomps the BBC in size eleven hob-nailed Doc Martins. The first, the very first, thing that comes out of the post-speech commentary just had to be that Obama’s comment blah blah blah was “a missile into the heart of the previous administration.” Something like that anyway, and I think, but only think, it was Huw Edwards doing the idioting. Like I said, by this time my attention had wandered. So after all that I missed the moment when the prophecies were fulfilled: because, surely brothers, the BBC was destined to speak thus.
Obama did no more than indulge in some standard “new dawn” rhetoric. The man may be an economic ignoramus but – and this skill at performance may bring us good or ill – he knows very well indeed how to vary his demeanour to match the mood of the occasion. The BBC doesn’t.
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Sorry to interrupt the Obama-fest the BBC is indulging in today but I thought that after the Great Leader announced his latest financial wheeze to save the world yesterday, it would be interesting to see how are things are now looking? Well, RBS share price has collapsed by more than 70% so ensuring that the prospect of the socialisation of this institution grows more likely by the day. The Pound has plunged further the Dollar and the Euro. None of this is evident on the main BBC news portal however which cheerily informs us that inflation is due to fall later today. Hurray – Gordon’s plan is working – if you look very hard! Never mind the economic tsunami, get back to watching the coronation in DC….
