888 Get Rupert!
It’s like when they put Al Capone away for tax evasion. Here’s this guy and everyone knew what he did, but they couldn’t throw him away for being a louse, so they threw him away for not paying his taxes. If he’d been a little quieter about it all, they probably would have ignored him.
Now, comes Rupert Murdoch, another sleaze of a character whom the politicians and others want to “get,” and they’re approaching it all like they approached Capone. It’s called Kill the Big Man with Liittle Things.
Murdoch owns and runs this vast media empire, filled with sensational newspapers, wildly right wing television and lots of other stuff that helps people in power and some people who want to be in power grow their insecurities and insomnia. For the record, he also runs the world’s greatest trade paper, the Wall St. Journal and a few other respectable rags like the Times of London.
And all the time, like Capone, he gets up there and looks innocent, and he counts his money and tries to stay above the chaos his empire creates in the US, in Europe, in Asia and in his native Australia. Jolly Aussie pirate, Midwestern ex-New York mobster, all the same.
So his newspapers commit crimes while reporting on guys who commit crimes, and occasionally commit crimes against the innocent. But that really doesn’t bother all the people with their noses in the air and their holier than thou attitudes. What bothers them is that Rupert is Rupert. And they’re trying to bring him down for that.
Notice what happened when they put Al in jail? Did organized crime die in Chicago or anywhere else? Is it dead now?
Rupert is a 21st century fella and they’re using 21st century means to try to put him down. They figure they can’t just get him for being who he is, so they’ll attack his sources of income and starve him to death.
Did the Murdoch papers cross the line? Certainly. Should they be punished for it? Yes, of course. If NewsCorp were accused of making lead-painted dolls that killed little girls, they’d sign one of those consent agreements, the kind say “we didn’t do anything wrong and we’ll never do it again.”
That’s not going to happen here. They’re going to pound on Murdoch until he dies, which, given his age, might not take long.
In the meantime, ask where the money he makes comes from. Or better, WHO it comes from. You want to starve the beast? Get people to stop buying “the Sun,” the New York “Post” and get people to stop watching Fox TV.
(Disclaimer: your correspondent is a life-long journalist, does not now and never has worked for any Murdoch property, doesn’t know the guy from Adam and generally abhors his politics.)
Shrapnel:
-- A friend, Mark, rented a Ford Crown Victoria for a vacation drive. It -- and every Crown Vic -- looks like an unmarked police car. So if Mark is driving the unmarked car, is it still unmarked?
--Sheryl Crow the crow update: There now are five sunflowers blooming on the stalk. That means by this time next year, there will be free sunflowers all over the place. This will not sit well with the local flower shops where they charge big bucks for the blooms they sell.
--Little Ricky Sanatorium has raised half a million dollars for his presidential campaign. A princely sum that would have done him good in the 1780s. Which is where what passes for his thinking remains.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com.
© WJR 2011
It’s like when they put Al Capone away for tax evasion. Here’s this guy and everyone knew what he did, but they couldn’t throw him away for being a louse, so they threw him away for not paying his taxes. If he’d been a little quieter about it all, they probably would have ignored him.
Now, comes Rupert Murdoch, another sleaze of a character whom the politicians and others want to “get,” and they’re approaching it all like they approached Capone. It’s called Kill the Big Man with Liittle Things.
Murdoch owns and runs this vast media empire, filled with sensational newspapers, wildly right wing television and lots of other stuff that helps people in power and some people who want to be in power grow their insecurities and insomnia. For the record, he also runs the world’s greatest trade paper, the Wall St. Journal and a few other respectable rags like the Times of London.
And all the time, like Capone, he gets up there and looks innocent, and he counts his money and tries to stay above the chaos his empire creates in the US, in Europe, in Asia and in his native Australia. Jolly Aussie pirate, Midwestern ex-New York mobster, all the same.
So his newspapers commit crimes while reporting on guys who commit crimes, and occasionally commit crimes against the innocent. But that really doesn’t bother all the people with their noses in the air and their holier than thou attitudes. What bothers them is that Rupert is Rupert. And they’re trying to bring him down for that.
Notice what happened when they put Al in jail? Did organized crime die in Chicago or anywhere else? Is it dead now?
Rupert is a 21st century fella and they’re using 21st century means to try to put him down. They figure they can’t just get him for being who he is, so they’ll attack his sources of income and starve him to death.
Did the Murdoch papers cross the line? Certainly. Should they be punished for it? Yes, of course. If NewsCorp were accused of making lead-painted dolls that killed little girls, they’d sign one of those consent agreements, the kind say “we didn’t do anything wrong and we’ll never do it again.”
That’s not going to happen here. They’re going to pound on Murdoch until he dies, which, given his age, might not take long.
In the meantime, ask where the money he makes comes from. Or better, WHO it comes from. You want to starve the beast? Get people to stop buying “the Sun,” the New York “Post” and get people to stop watching Fox TV.
(Disclaimer: your correspondent is a life-long journalist, does not now and never has worked for any Murdoch property, doesn’t know the guy from Adam and generally abhors his politics.)
Shrapnel:
-- A friend, Mark, rented a Ford Crown Victoria for a vacation drive. It -- and every Crown Vic -- looks like an unmarked police car. So if Mark is driving the unmarked car, is it still unmarked?
--Sheryl Crow the crow update: There now are five sunflowers blooming on the stalk. That means by this time next year, there will be free sunflowers all over the place. This will not sit well with the local flower shops where they charge big bucks for the blooms they sell.
--Little Ricky Sanatorium has raised half a million dollars for his presidential campaign. A princely sum that would have done him good in the 1780s. Which is where what passes for his thinking remains.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com.
© WJR 2011
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