Twumbled

The charming old gentleman on whose behalf Daveybloke hopes soon to be ignoring the Leveson conclusions has had another humbling experience. Rupert Murdoch persists in using Twitter to embarrass his minions, despite the rival network set up by one of his cheerleaders, the former part-time Member of Parliament for Corby and virtually embarrassment-proof Louise Mensch publicist Louise Mensch. Three days ago Murdoch complained about "scumbag celebrities" who were conspiring with Daveybloke behind the scenes of the recent Conservative rah-rah, instead of lobbying openly and democratically the way Rupert does himself. "Trust the toffs!" Murdoch gibbered; which may qualify as the most excruciating attempt at a common touch since Daveybloke's flurried yo niggaz just before the election. Murdoch then dug himself even deeper with the claim (phrased and spelled in a manner which would do credit to some guttersnipe pamphleteer circa 1892) that one of the celebrities, Hugh Grant, had abandoned his child. Murdoch has withdrawn the accusation against Grant and apologised to "any who misunderstood" his original gibber. For the benefit of these unfortunate semi-literates, Rupert has made it plain that he "did not say all celebrities were scumbags", only the kind who met with Daveybloke. This, of course, is simply guilt by association - a proud and long-crawling tradition of both the right-wing press and our neoliberal political class. It still remains to be seen whether this latest humbling will induce Murdoch to forsake Twitter for Menshn, which would have the distinct advantage of enabling him to blather out his remaining years without so many people noticing.