Trump Will Fix It
I can’t believe that I’ve just seen the title of this post, emblazoned across Trump’s stage.
The phrase doesn’t have the same connotations and odious ring, that it does in the UK, but because of its associations with Jimmy Saville, it is probably better not used.
All the world can now do, is wait for the result.
- It does appear that in the US, female voters have a high turnout.
- According to the Guardian, nearly a third of voters are black.
Certainly, if I were black or female, I wouldn’t feel, I could vote for Trump.
Savile And Margaret Thatcher
The recently released papers show lots of details of meetings between Jimmy Savile and Margaret Thatcher. The details are here on the BBC.
It would appear that Margaret Thatcher did nothing untoward. In fact some of things that were suggested by Savile, were being thought of by the government anyway.
So there doesn’t seem to be much guilt by association here!
The Dead Can’t Enter A Plea Of Not Guilty
The media has already found Jimmy Savile and Cyril Smith guilty, but under British law and in fact in a lot of countries, defendants are not guilty until proven to be guilty. Daniel Finkelstein had a long and measured opinion about this in The Times yesterday. He finishes with a plea that everybody has a fair trial and as he says, not being taken to court in their coffin.
But we all tend to be hard on the dead and their perceived crimes.
In a post yesterday, I was being very hard on the man, who decided to electrify the trains south from London using a third rail. I know design faults are not as serious as child abuse, but I’m not alone in condemning the dead.
Why Drive With Idiots Like This About?
High-powered black cars always seem to be driven by idiots, like the drivers in this report from the BBC. If I’m nearly run over at my local lights, it’s usually a black car. The last was a Bentley. Luckily for him, my shopping bag didn’t contain anything to throw at him like tomato sauce in a plastic bottle.
But the guys on the M1 weren’t so lucky, as two of them died.
At least on my trip to Bolton at the weekend, I was totally out of the way of idiots like this. In some ways it’s great not to drive any more and let the train take the strain. Or can’t we say that now after Savile?
Newsnight In A Twist
The BBC’s flagship news program has really got itself in a twist lately.
They may or may not have libelled a politician and they really got it wrong with Jimmy Savile.
When she was a pupil, C did one pupillage in chambers specialising in libel. Every night, someone from chambers used to read the next day’s copy of a well-known tabloid to make sure they hadn’t defamed anybody.
Where was that check in Newsnight?
Simon Jenkins In The Guardian On Jimmy Savile
I don’t seem to be the only person, who thinks that the reaction to Jimmy Savile and his undoubted crimes is a bit over the top. Read this by Simon Jenkins in that sensationalist tabloid, the Guardian. Here’s the last paragraph.
We now have a new form of accountability, to an “inquiriat”, a cackle of inquisitors and lawyers jumping to the bidding of public opinion, flapping round every executive’s head and piling accusation on every error. This can only lead to ever more defensive behaviour in every sphere of public life. It is the paranoia of the modern state. Every document is “open”, every conversation “on the record” and your friend today is tomorrow the witness against you.
Very soon, no-one will do anything because of fear!
In some ways the forces that protected Jimmy Savile are not unlike those that protected the abusers in some of the worst child and other abuse cases of recent years.
More Savile and Fallout On The Phone-In
I’m getting sick to death with the problems of an eccentric and the troubles he left behind.
Usually, I listen to the phone in on Radio 5. But today, I’ll do my shopping early and have a coffee.
On another subject, my father was abused by the Police in the Battle of Cable Street. Who do I complain to?
Some things are better forgotten. We should pass on after making absolutely sure they won’t happen again!
Jimmy Savile
Everybody seems to have it in for Jimmy Savile these days.
I won’t defend him, but as the guy is now dead, and no recompense can be made from the man or offences charged, surely it is one of few cases, where to let sleeping dogs lie, may well be the best thing to do.
There have been similar cases in the past, including murders that might have involved a much-loved and dead at the time boxer. These have been forgotten by most.
But the bigger you are, the more likely it is, that the tabloids and the general public will want to cut you down.
I saw Jimmy Savile once walking down Portland Place by the BBC, with a big cigar clamped in his teeth and a couple of blonde young ladies about twenty or so on his arms.
Is This A Surprising Omission?
With the sad passing of Sir Jimmy Savile, the UK has lost an iconic character, who gave more pleasure and did more charitable works than anyone else in recent years.
He was also well-known for his adverts for British Rail, where he promoted the iconic Inter City 125 or High Speed Diesel Train. There’s one of the adverts here.
So why has none of the nearly 200 power cars been given his name? Especially one on the London to Leeds service.
On the other hand, Sir Jimmy may have been asked and said no! Or do we not name trains, whilst people are still alive?
The Anonymous Widower 