tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323167987164959411.post1574448156276985838..comments2024-02-11T08:44:50.489+00:00Comments on Peter A Bell: Salmond and MurdochPeter A Bellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14204261467942498747noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323167987164959411.post-88673959442573665172012-03-03T21:57:12.174+00:002012-03-03T21:57:12.174+00:00You inevitably get your knickers in a serious twis...You inevitably get your knickers in a serious twist if you start from the assumption that Murdoch is evil incarnate and Salmond a political naif pathetically susceptible to the blandishments of this Svengali. Such is the stuff of graphic novels - the only place where pure good and evil exist.<br /><br />The truth is that Murdoch is pretty run-of-the-milll as far as international business tycoons go. He ain't no angel, that's for sure. But angels don't get to run global media empires. The frenzied demonisation on the man has resulted in a caricature as divorced from reality as any cartoon character.<br /><br />Murdoch is undoubdetly ultimately responsible for the misdeeds of his employees. But the extent to which he is personally culpable is questionable. As things stand, he is not accused of any crime, far less convicted.<br /><br />And Salmond? What exactly is his crime here? What has he done that is wrong? Nothing! Unless you accept the caricature of Murdoch set out above and maintain that it is unacceptable for any elected official to ever have any contact with any person who has been portrayed in a negative light by his political enemies and business rivals.<br /><br />The very idea is ridiculous.<br /><br />If Salmond is ever shown to have acted improperly, I will be the first to castigate him. But I will not be drawn into some hate-fest promoted by the British establishment. It is absolutely not true that "anything is justified". There's the smear campaign against Salmond for a start.Peter A Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14204261467942498747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3323167987164959411.post-58070858808763465242012-03-03T21:13:58.040+00:002012-03-03T21:13:58.040+00:00"I am not suggesting that the SNP should reso..."I am not suggesting that the SNP should resort to the kind of self-serving and principle-free expediency that characterises the old parties of British politics."<br /><br />But cultivating such a close relationship with Murdoch is just that. In exactly the same way that it was with Blair and Murdoch.<br /><br />How is it appropriate that right now when New International is being exposed as a corrupt bunch of gangsters, that Salmond should have a relationship with the man that sits atop that corrupt, amoral and utterly reactionary organisation?<br /><br />I think your comments here and on my blog expose the central problem of the sort of apolitical Scottish nationalism that you and many of your co-thinkers subscribe to. That anything is justified. It is exactly the same (a)morality that informed New Labour. And look where that got us.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com