John Sweeney's piece on today's From Our Own Correspondent was ostensibly about the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia but its focus soon shifted to other murdered journalists - from Viktoria Marinova to Jamal Khashoggi. At its conclusion JS pointed the finger of blame firmly at,...yes, Donald Trump:
In the summer of 2016 I visited the home of one of New York's great reporters, Wayne Barrett, who was dying of cancer. In his pomp, working for the Village Voice in the '80s, Wayne used to report on Donald Trump and his links with the mob - the Gambinos, the Genovese, how 'Fat Tony' Salerno had sold the concrete to Trump for his Tower. "What if Trump gets elected?", I asked. Wayne replied", I'm afraid.I'm very afraid".
My old hero was right. The leader of the Free World has demonised journalists time and again, and now, the world over, the butcher's bill is being paid. If you're a troublemaking reporter it's time to be afraid.
No one who is a democrat wants journalists dead or harmed but equally no one wants them turned into politicians at one remove, which is what most have become. If American journalists had pursued the truth about the Clintons and the Obamas in the same way they are eager for the "truth" to come out about Trump, then no one could have complaints. Also, they don't recognise the whole truth about Trump: they are deliberately playing down his achievements: reduced illegal migration, huge GDP growth, renegotiation of NAFTA (in 18 months, please not, Remainers, not 10 years), increased employment, increased real wages, a halt to the NK missile programme and so on. And when was the last time you heard a BBC reporter telling us Trump is doing better than Obama at the same time in the Presidential cycle in the opinion polls, and much better than Macron in France?
ReplyDeleteThe Mob ruled construction in New York back in the day. FBI agent Jules Bonavolonta in his book,The Good Guys,
ReplyDelete“On any cement work in New York over $2 million, only six firms, all of them previously selected by the Cosa Nostra, would be allowed to bid. In exchange for that privilege of bidding on the jobs, the six firms had to pay the Colombo, Gambino, Lucchese, and the Genovese Families two points on every contract…”
I doubt Trump or anyone else had a choice in the matter.
And as for Trump regularly accusing the media of being "fake news" acting as a signal for worldwide murder of journalists, well that's just the patently ludicrous invention of a very biased individual.
It's a bit like accusing Celine Dion or Tom Jones of being in league with the Mafia for singing in Las Vegas.
DeleteLinks. Hah, I could tell you about my 'links' with a north London criminal fraternity when I happened to live there. One of them tried a little something with a gun. Shall I mention my 'links' with a former prime minister who used to live in the next street to my brother?
ReplyDeleteDo tell! :)
DeleteI used to drink in pubs in the East End of London that were open to 2am in the days when pubs were legally required to close at 10.30pm. That didn't make me a partner in crime with the Krays (or rather their successors as it was the 70s), although I was clearly passing money to them when I bought a pint. BTW the pubs were very well run and there was never any trouble in them...can't think why!
Did you ever come across a pub called The Mitre in or around Fleet Street? A man I knew played jazz there at lunchtime and I always meant to go but didn't get around to it. On Saturday nights we'
Deleted go to a pub in Gloucester Road where he was playing, then off to the 100 Club in Oxford Street and after-hours pubs around Tottenham Court Road, getting home about five in the morning. Then it'd be off to the pub again for the lunchtime jazz in King's Cross. Enjoyable times.