The Tory Troll, Adam Bienkov, did a terrific job of work on Andrew Gilligan’s sockpuppetry. The story was quickly picked up by boriswatch (concluding in a devastating analysis of Gillgan’s style, content, manipulations and untruths by “Tom” last Thursday). The result was Gilligan and his clones disappearing from the Guardian‘s Comment is Free website.
Now, we know that Gilligan takes much of his “thought” directly and unattributed from Policy Exchange, who also have Boris Johnson on a leash.
Malcolm is wondering if this vast right-wing conspiracy (ahem: there may be a faint hint of irony in there) has woollen tendrils elsewhere.
Example:
This morning, Simon Carr put up his Parliamentary sketch for the Indy, under the come-on headline:
Carr prides himself on being “the most vicious sketch writer working in Britain today” (cited to Tony Blair) and “poison” (cited to Charles Clarke). He is also one of the internet’s idlers: he has a blogsite, which was last updated in May (after what appears to be just eight posts). His whole piece today made no particular point about Gordon Brown’s mental state, except for this:
The intensity of his politicisation of the situation is, frankly, psychotic. He is creating his own reality. He’s on the way now – but it suits him.
That released the flood-gates:
- Brown is gripped with a manic delusionional aggitation that unfortunately can make him, like many psychotics in the grip of mania, very persuasive. [sic] [sean malone @ 09:31 a.m.]
- Brown is a sociopath. That’s why he’s able to brush off all criticism of him and his reckless policies. [alan @ 10:50 a.m.]
- The vast majority of people who are mentally ill do not understand that they are mentally ill. It is everyone else, not them, damn it! That’s Mr Brown’s position. [Martin @ 12:47 p.m.]
- You are forgetting that a general definition of madness is that which is perceived to be abnormal, Browns stance is that we are all now living in abnormal times (and thanks to him its true), so if you don’t gibber and dance with the Boys of Bedlam, why there must be something strange about YOU. [Benjamin-the-Donkey @ 2.27 p.m.]
Notice a pattern developing?
A suspicious soul, not an benign innocent like Malcolm, might spot the curious regular fag-break intervals there, the use of forenames, a certain similarity of phrasing…].
The content’s the nonsense that Paul Staines (by name, by nature … see below) fosters among his “window-lickers” (again, see below). It should not be the done thing for a respectable, if seriously broke, publication like the Independent to acquire the meme from so shamelessly from Staines [© Sunny Hundal @ Liberal Conspiracy].
The other mystery is why Carr of the Indy (ABC circulation: 165,764 — of which just 94,141 are bought at cover-price) has such a following. Meanwhile, over at the Daily Mail (circulation 2,184,165 — of which 1,774,959 are full rate), Quentin Letts was just as colourful, but (as of the time of this posting):
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