AndyBlog

Something to shove up your newspipe

It's been a major source of annoyance to me that I have not really written anything of consequence in this Blog of late. To redress this balance, I shall write about  a couple of things here about the stuff going on in the news. I will confess to being interested in what you think of what I think. My opinions always appear to be simple and wholesome common sense - but maybe only to me. Here goes.

Our dear home secretary

Mr. Blunkett seems to be under some considerable fire at the moment. As far as I can tell, he had an affair with a woman who was not his wife, and now the relationship has ended, the woman he has spurned (or who spurned him - I really don't know) is using every tool in her power to make trouble for him.

I think this is a sad state of affairs. (pun intended) Our David has a pretty tough job to do, and I do believe he is doing it tolerably well. He is a man who has high ideals and takes his work seriously. When he was given the office he said: “As new Home Secretary I will be looking to listen and learn.” Well, he certainly has an opportunity to do just that now. The lesson seems to be that it really does not matter how good a job one does in government, if anyone whatsoever can rake up some muck, however trivial, it is sufficient to end a useful career.

Out of this, two truths seem to suggest themselves:

1) Never attempt to achieve high elected office.
2) Never have sex.

I have, so far, achieved 100% compliance on both counts.

Northern Ireland

Once again, talks hit the rocks in this old chestnut debate. The impossible task is to get two sides which fundamentally disagree about nearly everything, to agree about something. It's very easy to criticise the two sides for having deeply entrenched opinions, but these leaders have to be sure they can carry their electorate with them when decisions are made. That said, they seem almost happy to give up - and eager to blame each other for the failure of the talks.

I'm beginning to wonder if this uneasy stand-off isn't a more honest statement of how things really are, and perhaps we should embrace it. The violence seems to have largely ceased, businesses are doing better and tourism is way up, with Belfast becoming a popular place to go to on the Ferry. We've been to Northern Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed it. The people were very friendly indeed in Londonderry.

Out of this, two truths seem to suggest themselves:

1) You'd be an idiot to be a political peace negotiator.
2) By all means visit Northern Ireland, but don't talk politics there.

I have, so far, achieved 100% compliance on both counts.

More Bush

Naturally, these Bush and Osama dolls are selling like hot cakes in the USA. They form a perfect part of the fabric of misinformation that has been touted by Mr. Bush and his colleagues since they entered government in the year 2000. In a recent poll, over 70% of US citizens believe that operations in Iraq are geared toward catching Osama Bin Laden. That's all the proof I need that something is very wrong.

Anyway, now he is back for his last four years. He has achieved what his father did not, a second term. He will never have to hit the campaign trail again, because America has cleverly limited their Presidents to two terms. I can only think that this law was put in place for exactly this sort of situation.

So, away he goes, happy to have won such a convincing majority, content with all he has done to date, and keen to go on leading America in the same way for another four years.

May God have mercy on us all.

I know what you’re thinking...

One out and out political and serious journal entry and there I go - unable to follow it with anything that seems appropriate. You’re right, of course. I’ve been dithering about what to write next.

On the Hutton front, it did occur to me that if I were the noble and fair Lord, and I had had my arm twisted to get the government off the hook, the only way I could fight back would be to make them appear so completely blameless that people had to be suspicious. Of course, he could never admit this, but I saw his downbeat demeanor and hunched shoulders, not looking at the camera. Everything I know about body language says that here is a man who is not at ease with himself. There may have been other reasons for this, but we must all draw our own conclusions. Or not.

On other, far more boring fronts, my life has, once more, entered that stage of confusion where all the various jobs I am responsible for are vying for my attention. I have to delicately juggle them and try to keep everyone happy. Not always easy. Those of you who do AndyCam will know pain levels have been high recently. This seems to be because I have a misbehaving muscle in my right leg, to add to the problems there. I am able to do most stuff, but not without cost. Appearing normal is sometimes the hardest thing. I’ve probably blown that, because a client will find their way here sooner or later - but never mind. I’ll deal with that as and when I have to.

That may be enough for now, or it may not.

I guess we’ll never know.

Hutton

It’s impossible to imagine that I could say anything on this subject which has not already been said, and I should admit that I am not in possession of all the facts (who is?), but I felt the need to publicly register a couple of thoughts.

The first is this. In a dispute of this kind between two parties, in this case the BBC and the government, it is my experience that one party is never wholly right, and the other wholly wrong. There is always some degree of balance required when attempting to extract the truth.

It is for this reason alone that I find it wholly remarkable that the heretofore unchallenged fairness of Lord Hutton found that the entirety of the wrongdoing was the responsibility of the BBC and, perhaps, to a small degree the Ministry of Defence.

It is my belief that the Government might have to forgive the British public for smelling a rat, even if there isn’t one. This is only one part of a story that also sees us feeling manipulated into war with Iraq by what appears to be a bogus claim about them possessing active stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

It seems to me that the Labour party, who have been so good at spinning stories in the past are now unable to appear convincing when they smile and say “Trust Us”. Even with the kind words of the Noble Lord and with countless technical victories, I remain unsettled and saddened by a Government who took us into war as the aggressor, based on flawed intelligence.

I am not a pacifist, not by a long way. We must defend our country when it is under threat, of course we must - but if this aggressive and bullying stance represents Britain in the 21st Century, then I am not sure how proud I am to be British.