C’s Judgement Was Right
One of the characters on the periphery of the phone hacking was well known by C, my late wife. They sat on a committee together and she had a very low opinion of him and felt he wouldn’t rise to the level everybody said he would. He hasn’t! He did at least write me a letter of condolence when C died.
Censorship
The Times today has been censored, just like papers used to be in Eastern Europe and still are in places like Iran.
It’s because they were talking about a sex scandal involving a well-known footballer. Apparently to mention his name in connection with scandal is now against the law.
Would I be guilty of contempt, if I put a list of all current footballers in this post, which on the law of averages would include him?
It doesn’t matter, as the truth will surface in a few days about who had the relationship with a former Miss Wales, Imogen Thomas, who appeared as a housemate on Big Brother.
But I’m totally against censorship, as it the tool of preference for every dictator since Stalin and Hitler. No-one should fear the truth.
Hawke, Nelson and Terry
It is fascinating to compare two of the naval heroes of the past, Admirals Edward Hawke and Horatio Nelson with John Terry. Both Hawke and Nelson were strong leaders, who won battles by leading from the front. It could be argued that John Terry has won matches by using exactly the same tactics, although his were undoubtedly lesser actions.
To compare Hawke with Nelson is interesting. Both were professional and their courage could not be doubted. But whereas Nelson died in battle and was famous for his mistress, Hawke lived a more sober life and died in his own bed. Hawke also refused a burial in St. Paul’s Cathedral, preferring to be buried alongside his late wife in the parish church at Swaythling near Southampton.
So what of John Terry. He has committed an indiscretion and various parts of the press are having a right go at him.
He has been stupid, but it could be argued that he has done nothing more than Nelson did. On the other hand, those that live and benefit from their status, should perhaps behave with a bit more dignity. But we can all name, others in the past who have been less than faithful and have not suffered at all in popularity.
So perhaps the public actually condone scandal. After all, history says that the British have enjoyed various indescretions through the ages.
Gategate
We have had a lot of scandals lately in the UK. Two major sporting ones; Bloodgate involving Harlequins Rugby Club and Crashgate involving Renault have come to light in the last few months. There’s even a list of “Gate” scandals in Wikipedia. I haven’t counted, but there are a lot that occurred in the UK.
We need a Gategate! It’s a pity an MP didn’t guy a set of ornamental gates and stick them on his or her expenses.
I just wonder how many people who use the suffix ‘gate’ with impunity, even know the story of the original Watergate scandal. The burglary that started it all was on June 17th, 1972.
The Anonymous Widower 