Here goes…
For serious coverage of the California circus, which also happens to be a State not far away from having an economy the size of Britain’s, Mark Steyn’s essay ‘A state too far’ is available here.
There’s no denying though that the Beeb has a great sense of humour. Take a look at an example from David Bamford
Note the gentle indulgence of George Bush’s mental flailings over Israel’s recent actions. Poor George it seems can’t help but contradict himself as a matter of custom. This despite the fact that they are merely fleshing out ‘formal’ policy. The US do not seem ’embarrassed’ by Israel’s strike meanwhile, not that I can think why they should be since they say they had no prior warning of the decision, and therefore no real say in the matter, which has elsewhere been described by the Beeb itself as a ‘response’ to the Haifa bombing. Stop putting ideas in my head, you Beebies!
The real issue involved here is the lumping together of the US and Israel as a solid block engaging in violence and intimidation of countries and groups in the Middle East. In reality, the bombing of the camp in Syria was an act of self-defence, one way or another, against a group (Islamic Jihad) which engineers the slaughter of civilians, and its supporter Syria. To try and pull the ‘stupid Bush’ wool over the moral understanding of these events seems to me despicable. In ridiculing Bush the BBC do a disservice to a proper understanding of events, however funny a character he presents. Actually, they are just boringly following the queue of satiricists from Slate magazine onwards. In my view, there is rarely contradiction in Bush’s words- merely a straightforwardness which fails to pander to journalists with their desire for ‘nuance’.
Have a look at the rest of the article for a carefully worked attempt to make us join in with a denunciation of US/Israeli policy. It begins with us being bored with the ‘same old, same old’ US/Israel schlock. Then we get the cynical BBC hackism of ‘reasonable’ supposition about the raid. Finally, this is topped by the assertion that this act, of which the US (we are assured a little disingenuously) is not embarrassed, is really a coded warning to Syria. In other words, the US was as much behind the attack as Israel. They’re in it together! Conspiracy! Conspiracy! Oh, and by the way, have you forgotten, in all the excitement and wit, what caused this much-hyped shooting match, the other day, in Haifa? I hope not.