Nation-rape - by Richard... Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Nation-rape - by Richard... Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The New York Post is having fun. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is entitled to the presumption of innocence, it says, but the rape charges against him symbolize the IMF: an institution of privilege that routinely acts to the disadvantage of the vulnerable.

Which is, of course, why the political establishment wants it off the front page ... hence the utility of the Fox spat, which has come at a very convenient time. With the Cleggerons pumping billions into the IMF to finance the EU bailouts, the last thing they want is the sheeple questioning the value of this institution, or British involvement in it. That is far too close to home.

Thus, to students of this popular technique, we see a quite transparent attempt to re-assert control of the agenda, with the other media piling in. The reason why the technique is so popular though is because it is extremely successful. Give the dogs a hare to run after - even if it is artificial - and they'll chase it. Mindless Я us.

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The Jamesmobile - by Richard...

In another fine piece, Dellers pimps the Turnballs Report. And therein lies prestige ... when we do feed-in tariffs, many times, we are lucky to get the occasional link. But when the Great Lord does it, the grateful plebs are swarming all over it:

The feed-in tariff mechanism is fast becoming a scandal. Those lucky enough to own buildings large enough on which to install solar panels or enough land for a wind farm have been receiving 30-40p per kwh, for electricity, which is retailed at only 11p. The loss is paid for by a levy on businesses and households. It is astonishing that the Liberals who attach such importance to fairness turn a blind eye to this transfer from poor to rich running to £billions a year. If you live in a council tower block in Lambeth you don't have much opportunity to get your nose into this trough.

That we should have more publicity for what is in fact just a legal way of picking pockets is extremely welcome, so this is not a complaint. And it is most certainly not a swipe at Dellers. He has been extremely generous with his links – unlike the other schissen in the Failygraph, who will rob you blind without as much as a word of thanks. 

But it is a reflection of the way the world works ... and an important reminder of how campaigning has to be done. Prestige is everything ... attack the prestige of the enemy, not his message. Likewise, even if through gritted teeth occasionally, one must enhance the prestige of one's allies, if they are contributing to the fight.

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A spat in the corner - by Richard...

The clever and sophisticated Mr Tim Montgomerie is trying to tell us that "the big political story of the day is a leaked letter from Liam Fox to David Cameron". It isn't at all. 

The big story is DSK, and the Fox story is even less so as it is snug behind The Times paywall, where it just happens to be the lead item. One wonders how much and precisely what Mr Murdoch is dropping ConservativeHome in exchange for the occasional puff ... another article for Tim over the weekend, to assist in his burgeoning career as a political pundit, a few more plugs for the website ... ?

The background to Tim's tiny titbit, incidentally, is the military looking enviously at DFiD funds. It believes the MoD can waste the money far more efficiently than the High Commissioners and their associated luvvies - an assertion that is probably true, as DFiD will only spend it on Ferris wheels and similar delights. Thus has the MoD manoeuvred 13th Century Fox – a bear of very little brain – into sending a letter of complaint to Dave about the plan to lock the spend 0.7 percent of gross national income on foreign aid into law.

Then, in the way of things, the MoD PermSec passed the word on to a minion – but somebody senior enough to believe that The Times is still a newspaper – instructing him to leak the letter and start a little spat going in the near corner of Whitehall. 

This will make absolutely no difference to the aid programme – which is set in stone – but it might yield a few more billions for the MoD swimming pool fund. It might also provide some extra bombs to keep the jolly in Libya going for a few more months.

Summer in the Adriatic Riviera is such fun and it would be such a shame to miss the full season, especially as visiting rights for MoD senior civil servants are so much under scrutiny. Was it reallyso necessary to send so many to inspect the pool facilities?

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So sad - by Richard...

Strauss-Kahn checked into Rikers Island's West Facility, the smallest of the 10 jails in the complex and designed to care for inmates with communicable diseases, the spokesman for the New York City Department of Correction said. Like every new inmate, Strauss-Kahn was given a psychological and physical exam. Guards look for tattoos or other signs of gang affiliation ... 

There is the makings of another of those famous adverts here. Heineken doesn't do schadenfreude, but if it did ...

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Second-time lucky? - by Richard...

This from The Daily Failygraph. Having missed the last one, Brown is in a good position to recognise the next one, I suppose. Which seems to be more than that moron Cameron and his sidekick are capable of doing.

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See you in court, Minister - by Richard...

It looks encouraging. They schissen him here, they schissen him there, they schissen him nearly everywhere. But there is no truth in the rumour that DSK is going to hire Mr Huhne as a chauffeur.

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Give us more! - by Richard...

The Kermits are getting seriously wound up about one of their own – one of their élite - being treated like a common criminal. And to explain it all, theNew York Times enlists Max Gallo, a prominent historian and commentator.

Says Gallo, "It’s the first time in the history of France that a top-level figure is treated like a common criminal whose guilt is already established". He adds: "But it also manifests an egalitarianism in the American justice system that surprises us in France". 

Nevertheless, Gallo poses the question on many lips: "Was it really necessary to do that?" The images struck several commentators as being more akin to scenes from American television crime dramas – dubbed versions enjoy tremendous popularity in France, including "C.S.I. ", known as "Les Experts", and "Law and Order", known as "New York Police Judiciaire" – than from French life.

"It was images from Greek tragedy mixed with those of American TV series", the centrist politician François Bayrou said at a press conference. "Everyone who has seen these images has had their throat tighten, they were so arresting and confounding. It's the destiny of a man that is toppling, with very important consequences for himself, his party, his country".

In truth, if the man is actually innocent, then what he has been through over the last few days is unconscionable, barbaric even. One can quite understand why the finer sensibilities of the Kermits might be offended. 

But, on the other hand, he is one of "them". Whether he is guilty or not does not really matter. As a representative of "them", the ritual public humiliation and the suffering of DSK serves a greater purpose. It is a reminder of what we would like to do to them all – would do to them all – given a chance.

Just a few days ago, I republished an example of what a crowd could do when things turn really ugly. Over the last couple of days, we've seen a restrained example of institutional abuse of the élites. Finding DSK guilty will now be just a bonus. The pictures have already have sent their message – and, barbaric or not, our spirits soared when we saw them. And in minds of millions sprang only one further thought: "give us more"!

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Banged up! - by Richard... Monday, May 16, 2011

A Dead Sorry Kermit has been remanded without bail by a New York Court, awaiting trial on a series of sex charges. Prosecutors had asked the judge, Melissa C. Jackson, supervising judge of Manhattan Criminal Court, to remand Dominque Strauss-Kahn, 62, contending that he was a flight risk. They also indicated that a similar attack may have occurred.

Benjamin Brafman, one of Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, argued that "there is a very, very defensible case and he should be entitled to bail", denying that his client was trying to flee when he was arrested on an Air France aircraft that was about to take off from Kennedy International Airport. It was a local sightseeing trip?

There is nevertheless some comfort in this tale for DSK. Having enjoined the citizens of so many countries to practice austerity, he has swapped his $3,000-a-night hotel room for the budget accommodation provided by New York City. No one can now accuse the head of the IMF of not doing his bit.

The next court hearing will be on 20 May, when the Dead Sorry Kermit will have saved $12,000 on accommodation costs. He will also have had the opportunity to make some interesting new friends, so things are by no means all bad. He might even learn, first hand the meaning of the "Greek way", experiencing for himself the process he has been applying to the Greek people.

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