I have a job, so I didn't get to see all of Rupert Murdoch's unsworn testimony before the British Parliament. But what I did see was simply astonishing.
Rupert Murdoch was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the 13th most powerful person in the world in 2010. And yet, we are supposed to believe that he had no idea that his hand-picked people in the UK - people he says he trusted and still trusts - were bribing public officials and hacking people's cell phones.
It's easy to see how he can be so influential, what with having half of Scotland Yard in the pockets of his henchmen. Does his denial of EVERYTHING have any credibility at all?
It's like Emperor Palpatine claiming he had no idea that nasty Darth Vader killed those poor Jedi younglings.
(I know it's a bit childish, but be honest. There is a resemblance.)
In the aftermath of this scandal of criminal invasions of privacy and influence peddling, the commissioner and assistant commissioner of Scotland Yard have resigned, though claiming no knowledge of the bribes. But they acknowledge that they were responsible and failed to uncover and stop the corruption.
But not the Emperor. No. He denies any knowledge and insists that he is NOT responsible, despite have hand picked and groomed the culprits himself.
The most amusing part of this tragic story is that Murdoch's own FoxNews has hardly mentioned this scandal. When it was mentioned, it was brushed aside as just another hacking story. Oh, well.
The thing is, it's not just another hacking story. It's a story about criminal conduct being encouraged, condoned, and profited-from by one of the world's largest media empires, including its CEO, one of the most politically influential people in the world. When Emperor Rupertine pulls strings, powerful people in the US, the UK and Austrailia sit, stand, jump, run, bow and scrape at his command.
Ironically, the very audience who need to know that the people bringing them what they think is news are influence-peddling, cell-phone-hacking, criminal-enterprise-building liars have no idea - because their sole source for "news" hasn't told them.
I wonder if he will personally be held responsible in any way (beyond a few material losses)? In the stratisphere where he resides justice is often denied. I hope not in this instance.
ReplyDelete