What goes around comes around
Returning from my own self-isolation purdah – from about May of 2019 I’ve been sparing in my Rust contributions largely because, the way the world was going, there seemed little point in continuing to air my unflinchingly cynical views upon political matters for fear of boring this organ’s readers.
It hardly seemed worth the bother when day-by-day our lords and masters around the globe seemed embarked upon a relenting and ultimately terminal campaign to “make my point for me”.
I refer, of course, to the basic difficulty with the theoretical concept of Western-style democracy as and when it comes into anything more that the slightest brush contact with human reality.
Not least the sad absolute that is the well-known Murphy’s Law, viz. that if something is technically capable of happening (going wrong) then at some point it almost certainly will.
And that, at the end of the day, we always end up with the leaders we deserve.
There is plenty wrong with the world of media – let’s not list them, else I’ll still be typing the list by the time the Sun rises this morning – not least all manifestations of “fake news” and the rarely publicly admitted ‘unholy alliance’ that exists between all who appear in the glare of public view, their managers, advisers, PR agents, press officers etc. on the one hand … and, on the other, professional journalists (we in the UK refer to them as the “reptiles of Fleet Street”), occupying various places along the spectrum of competence and integrity, who spend their careers (1) re-spewing what is fed to them; or (2) ‘playing by rules of said unholy alliance’ (whatever they be in any walk of life, e.g. embargos upon news being broadcast until a set time even though helpful “crib sheets” have already been issued to journos well beforehand) that the rest of us aren’t aware of; or lastly (3) a much rarer breed, do their level best to ’get behind the story’, chip away for weeks or months researching and speaking to ‘those in the know’ and then do their best, against the odds and often the wishes of their employers, to report the sometimes uncomfortable truths that they uncover to the world anyway.
However, there is also a certain truth in the suspicion we all hold to a degree that, over the course of time, any notable figure of celebrity or general public interest gradually acquires a ‘public persona’ that achieves popular currency in the media.
This public figure is an untrustworthy shit or idiot.
Although that hugely successful pop singer has a “happy go lucky, gushing, friendly image”, in fact, beneath it all, she’s a right little diva.
That TV presenter, reputed to be difficult and demanding, is actually a really nice guy who just cannot abide anything less that high quality if not perfection (and what’s not to like about that?).
That handsome, top Hollywood matinee idol-style ‘silver fox’ A-list actor who appears on some piffling UK mid-morning TV show (to field naff questions from someone not fit to clean his shoes) is actually just as charismatic, charming and personable as he appears in his movies.
You know the sort of thing.
My point is that – although inevitably there are numerous exceptions that reinvent themselves and change their image – as often as not, these ‘personas’ turn out to be accurate.
For example, leaving aside the accusations of her defenders – e.g. her employees, friends and backers – of UK institutional (both monarch-based and national) racism, from very early on the British press had Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex, down as diva-ish, strident, demanding, narcissistic, ‘woman of a certain age’ on a mission to ‘bag a Royal’ as her next career move.
The general narrative now is that for a while she tried to fit in – and then realised it was going to be a much bigger commitment, requiring harder work than she was prepared to put in … so decided to flounce out.
And straight back into the world of ‘Hollywood celebrity’ that she knew pretty well, having now picked up a ‘plus one’ with a useful title and a fairly limited amount of brain power who would go along with everything she wanted.
Given the way things have gone recently, who (looking in from the outside) could possibly conclude that the ‘media take’ upon La Markle was anything but 95% ‘right on the money’?
All the above registered, I feel moved this morning to do no more than reference a couple of articles that appear in the UK press today which underscore what every world leader outside North America – never mind those of sound mind and an IQ score above 87 who live on that vast continent – knows down to their boots.
That the 45th President of the United States Donald Trump is an irredeemable prat and that the threat he might be re-elected in November is real.
See here for further enlightenment:
Patrick Cockburn’s piece that appears today upon the website of – THE INDEPENDENT
Jonathan Freedland’s ditto that appears today upon the website of – THE GUARDIAN
‘Nuff said.
