Oh, This is Rich

You might remember media mogul, 'Reptilian Rupert' Murdoch, as the guy who denied any personal responsibility whatsoever for the criminal enterprise he operated, the deservedly late News of the World.  For Rupe, the buck stopped just short of himself.  Right, you rotten old bugger and why haven't you taken a dirt nap by now anyway?

Now the crotchety old fart has come out to contend that all Muslims - the lot of them, the overwhelming majority of peaceful Muslims included - must share responsibility for the Paris massacre at Charlie Hebdo.

Bill Maher last night took his own shot at blaming the entire Muslim world for this outrage.

“Obviously, the vast majority of Muslims would never do anything like this,” said Maher. “But they share bad ideas. This is the thing that caused the big ruckus when Ben Affleck was here. Sam Harris said, ‘Islam is the motherlode of bad ideas,’ and everyone went fuckin’ nuts on this side of the panel. But it is. These two guys who shot up the cartoonists the other day, they were avenging the prophet, they said? A bad idea. Martyrdom? A bad idea. Women as second-class citizens? A bad idea. And unfortunately, the terrorists and the mainstream share a lot of these bad ideas.”

I guess by Maher's logic that would make him personally responsible for every Afghan wedding brought to an abrupt end by a Hellfire missile launched by some bored guy sitting in an air-conditioned trailer 20-miles down the road from Vegas.  Of course Maher is quick enough to criticize that sort of thing but he seems not to hear the criticism of moderate Muslims who denounce atrocities like the Paris massacre.  To him they're all steeped in these same extremist ideas. Except that, if they were the people Maher makes them out to be, he wouldn't be alive today.

Cornering Rupe With His Own Words

Poor Rupert Murdoch, will his demons never go away?  Unfortunately, for him, no because the demons plaguing him at the moment poured out of his own mouth at the Leveson inquiry.

The focus now is on contradictory statements Rupe made about his lunches with Margaret Thatcher.

Robert Jay QC, counsel for the inquiry, highlighted the issues on Thursday as he opened its third module - dealing with relations between media figures and politicians.

 

Referring to Murdoch's statement last month that he had "no recollection" of the event, Jay said: "One does at least have to question whether this is selective amnesia. Mr Murdoch told us in evidence that he did not enjoy frequent encounters with Baroness Thatcher.

"The acquisition of the Times and its associated titles must have been one of the most important in his commercial life.

"This was a time of heightened emotion. Could an intimate lunch at Chequers really have been forgotten?

And then counsel employed a rhetorical device that I find quite brilliant - 

"Human recollection is notoriously patchy and unreliable, we all know that. The fact that I, for example, would be 100 per cent certain of being able to remember an event such as this occurring 30 plus years ago is not going to assist you in coming to a conclusion either way."

Oooh, ouch!

Jay said if the inquiry accepted Mr Murdoch's evidence the "point goes not further".

"But if you do not the consequences are capable of being wide ranging," he went on.

"Not merely would the selective amnesia appear to be convenient but inferences might be drawn as to Mr Murdoch's true motives and intentions seeking out the prime minister's ear in January 1981.

"Furthermore this case is capable of bearing on Mr Murdoch's integrity."

If, in fact, the inquiry decides that Rupe did indulge in a bit of highly-selective memory, a very delicate term for lying, then straight out the window go his other self-serving denials about not knowing anything about the voice-mail tapping or corruption of police officers and on and on and on - the sort of stuff most of us have long assumed he was lying through his teeth about.

Rupe Murdoch's Morally Bankrupt News Crews

E-mails are surfacing that show how extensively Rupert Murdoch's operators in the UK corrupted government and police officials.  News International had claimed that the voicemail hacking was a "rogue" operation.   Apparently not.

The head of the police inquiry into phone hacking, Detective Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, said police were investigating ''a network of corrupt officials'', some of whom had been placed on retainer by The Sun.

She said payments were authorised at a senior level on the paper and emails indicated journalists recognised it was illegal, ''reference being made to staff 'risking losing their pension or job', to the need for 'care' and to the need for 'cash payments'. There is also an indication of 'tradecraft', by hiding cash payments to 'sources' through making them to a friend or relative of the source.''

She said that nearly all of the payments to public officials related not to stories in the public interest but to ''salacious gossip'' and breaches of trust and privacy.

...The critical email that reveals News International was leaked information about the police inquiry into its malpractices undermines the company's initial claim that hacking was confined to a single rogue reporter.

The email was written by the head of legal affairs, Tom Crone, to the News of the World editor Andy Coulson on September 15, 2006, and was based on what Mr Crone had been told by Rebekah Wade (later Rebekah Brooks), then editor of The Sun, who had been given a police briefing.

News International is beginning to take on the appearance of a true criminal organization.   From the top down they seemed to have known what they were doing, that it was illegal, and that they should even employ 'tradecraft' techniques to conceal their activities.  They sought out and then corrupted public officials including police officials.

Is Mutiny Waiting in London for Rupe Murdoch?

What happens when you have a newspaper mired in scandal, several of its key personnel arrested, and a gaggle of unruly journalists suspicious that you're about to throw them to the wolves?  That's the predicament that has Rupert Murdoch winging his way to London to supposedly rescue his beleaguered Sun newspaper.

The Murdoch conglomerate has stumped up tens of millions of dollars in compensation payments in an attempt to contain the phone hacking scandal that besets the empire, but the impact of the latest arrests in the highly sensitive areas of the Defence Ministry and the military are expected to inflame opposition to Murdoch and News Ltd in Britain.

...the anger was almost palpable among journalists because the arrests were reportedly the result of millions of emails that News Ltd had given to the police investigation into the phone hacking scandal and payments to police. Paying police for information is illegal in Britain.
Journalists and the National Union of Journalists interpreted the arrests - 10 staff from The Sun so far - as tantamount to staff being thrown to the wolves in an attempt by the company to distance itself from practices that were said to have been widespread across all British media for decades.

Murdoch, of course, has demonstrated his ease at dodging blame and laying it all at the feet of his trusted employees when he appeared before a Parliamentary committee over the News of the World scandal.   As far as Rupe is concerned, "the buck stops here" principle in no way applies to himself, never, ever.  Team Rupe has good reason to be leery of the bossman.

Rupe, Thou Protesteth Too Much

There's one thing about ritual sacrifice.   Do too much of it and you'll look scared, maybe even guilty of something.  Rupe Murdoch has been shamelessly abusing the rite of sacrificial cleansing lately as he seeks to squirm his way out of the News of the World, Sun, and now Sunday Times phone hacking scandals.

First he shuttered News of the World, probably hoping that would be enough to let him go through with his takeover of BSkyB pay TV system.   When that didn't work he walked away (even if only temporarily) from the BSkyB gambit.   Then he purged News International CEO Rebekah Brooks from the boardroom and hot on the heels of her departure came the "resignation" of Les Hinton, former News International CEO and now publisher of Murdoch's Wall Street Journal and chairman of Murdoch's Dow Jones.   The blood doesn't have time to dry on the altar before Rupe's tossing up another sacrifice.

Today Rupe went on bended knee and apologized to the family of a murdered little girl whose voice mail account Rupe's crews also hacked.  It was an extraordinarily odious affair, even by Murdoch standards, but is it even something that Rupe can be allowed to apologize away?  No, it plainly isn't.

All the sacrifices and the apology don't distance Rupe from these abuses, they bring him ever closer in to the direct responsibility he so totally deserves.  Corrupting British police, invading the personal privacy of innocents, this stuff has been going on for years.  Rupe had at least six years to put an end to it.   One angry rebuke from him and it would have stopped immediately.   People, especially Rupe's employees, don't run afoul of that old bastard.

This isn't something for which Rupe can muster up an acceptable apology.   It wasn't somebody else who did it.   It was somebody else with Rupe's and his key management's acquiescence.  Rupe and Brooks and Hinton and many other senior people in News Corp facilitated this.   By not intervening all those years they enabled this to continue and seemingly get worse, much worse.   We are all deemed to intend the logical and foreseeable consequences of our acts (and omissions).   Rupert Murdoch and his son, James, and our Ms. Brooks and Mr. Hinton and a good many other senior members of Rupe's crew have to be considered morally and possibly criminally culpable in this.  By all indications, while in senior managerial positions, they allowed News Corp and News International to become criminal enterprises.

The swine who created FOX News to confuse, mislead and manipulate the American people and their political institutions and, on whose watch, his British operations ran amok, deserves everything coming at him.

Connie Black Slams Rupe Murdoch

A big h/t to Matthew Steeples of London, apparently Knightsbridge, who brings us a glance behind the paywall of the Financial Times for a look at how the lordly Conrad Black views rabble like Rupe Murdoch:

“All his instincts are downmarket; he is not only a tabloid sensationalist; he is a malicious myth-maker, an assassin of the dignity of others and of respected institutions, all in the guise of anti-elitism. He masquerades as a pillar of contemporary, enlightened populism in Britain and sensible conservatism in the US, though he has been assiduously kissing the undercarriage of the rulers of Beijing for years.”

“… Although his personality is generally quite agreeable, Mr Murdoch has no loyalty to anyone or anything except his company. He has difficulty keeping friendships; rarely keeps his word for long; … and has betrayed every political leader who ever helped him in any country, except Ronald Reagan and perhaps Tony Blair.”

Ouch, Connie!  That's a tad harsh now isn't it?  Be nice to Rupe.  He may be the next guy to occupy your bunk in the GreyBar Hotel.

Finally, A Good Rupert Murdoch Cartoon

From The Guardian's Steve Bell:

Apparently Rupe has decided to duck this invitation.   Not to be outdone, Hugh Grant staged this puppet show featuring Ol' Rupe, David Cameron and Nick Clegg:

Is Rupert Murdoch's Empire a Criminal Enterprise?

If you asked former British prime minister, Gordon Brown, he'd tell you that the Murdoch newspapers have "links with criminals."   In particular, Brown is referring to the venerable Sunday Times, not the News of The World. 

Brown accused the paper of getting his bank details, saying he was "genuinely shocked" by its methods.
The allegations widen the scandal that brought down Britain's best-selling newspaper, the News of the World, to other newspapers also owned by Murdoch's News International media group.

Brown expressed dismay at the allegations Monday night and has given investigators "all relevant evidence" he has about the matter, according to a statement from his office.

"The family has been shocked by the level of criminality and the unethical means by which personal details have been obtained," the statement said. "The matter is in police hands."

Murdoch, his son James and NOTW editor Rebekah Brooks have been summoned to testify before a parliamentary committee next week.

Can Labour Topple Cameron's Conservatives Over News Corp?

Could Rupert Murdoch bring down the coalition Conservative government of David Cameron?  Or, put another way, would David Cameron be willing to save his own skin by flaying Rupert Murdoch's?

Cameron's government depends on the support of Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats.   Word is out that these LibDem MPs want Murdoch's head and would support Labour against the Conservatives if that's what it took to get it.

Labour leader Ed Miliband would like nothing better.   Miliband was recently threatened by News Corp executives who said there could be 'repercussions' if he didn't stop calling for NOTW editor and Murdoch protege Rebekah Brooks to quit.

A guy like Rupert Murdoch makes a lot of enemies but always buys enough friends.   To him it never occurs that the day might come when he can no longer bully or buy his way out of troubles that finally overtake him.   For Murdoch, that day may have arrived.

Investor Sues News Corp

Sorry Rupe, It's Your Money She Fancies

 Amalgamated bank has Rupert Murdoch right in its crosshairs.   As an investor, Amalgamated is suing News Porn Corp. in a class action suit alleging egregious corporate mismanagement.

The claims, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, allege that recent developments at News of the World in the U.K. demonstrate "a culture run amuck (sic) within News Corp. and a Board that provides no effective review or oversight."
"News Corp.'s behavior has become an egregious collection of nepotism and corporate governance failures, with a board completely unwilling to provide even the slightest level of adult supervision," Jay Eisenhofer, co-lead counsel to shareholders, said in a statement. "The result has been a piling on of questionable deals, a waste of corporate resources, a starring role in a blockbuster scandal, and a gigantic public relations disaster. It is way past time that the News Corp. board step in and initiate serious changes to the company's corporate governance."

The new claims add to an earlier class action complaint filed in March against News Corp. over its acquisition of Chairman Rupert Murdoch's daughter's television production company Shine Group Ltd. In the original suit, the shareholders, who also include several municipal and union pension funds, claim Mr. Murdoch orchestrated the acquisition at an "artificially inflated price" to enrich his family.


"As he has done without restraint for decades, Murdoch has caused News Corp to spend its own money – in this instance at least $615 million – out of blatant nepotism and without regard for the interests of the Company or its public shareholders," according to the new suit. 

It looks like Rupe is on the ropes.   The old bugger has the British government and Scotland Yard after him which could trigger criminal corruption proceedings against him and his son in the U.S.   Now his company's shareholders are on the warpath looking, by all appearances, for old Rupe's head on a stick.  It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

Scotland Yard Says Murdoch & Co. Subverting Investigation Into Police Corruption

Scotland Yard claims Murdoch's News International is undermining the investigation into police corruption by Murdoch's own journalists.

NI has orchestrated a "deliberate campaign to undermine the investigation into alleged payments by corrupt journalists to corrupt police officers and divert attention from elsewhere", the Met said in a statement.

"[We are] extremely concerned and disappointed that the continuous release of selected information – that is only known by a small number of people – could have a significant impact on the corruption investigation," the statement went on.

Is Murdoch now waging war on Scotland Yard?   According to Scotland Yard, yes.  I guess the Brit Parliament is going to have to decide what will prevail - the rule of law and democracy - or Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch Slams Into a Wall

"We have more visibility perhaps on what we can see coming our way than you guys can, and look I can only, I'm tied because of the criminal investigation in what I can say, but I think in a year's time every single one of you in this room might come up and say, 'OK, well I see what you saw now'."


"Eventually it will come out why things went wrong and who was responsible and that will be another very difficult moment in this company's history."

That's how Rebekah Brooks explained to suddenly unemployed News of the World staffers why their newspaper was unceremoniously put down.  The News International CEO is reeling as British cops arrested a third, senior company man whom The Telegraph won't name yet describes as a 63-year old man.  Brooks is clearly intimating that there's plenty more, "another difficult moment" coming down the pike.

The situation has become bad enough that old Rupe himself is winging his way to London for a spot of damage control.  Meanwhile The Guardian is speculating that Rupe's kid, James Murdoch, could face criminal charges in Britain and the United States.

As deputy chief operating officer of News Corp – the US-listed company that is the ultimate owner of News International (NI), which in turn owns the News of the World, the Times, the Sunday Times and the Sun – the younger Murdoch has admitted he misled parliament over phone hacking, although he has stated he did not have the complete picture at the time. There have also been reports that employees routinely made payments to police officers, believed to total more than £100,000, in return for information.

The payments could leave News Corp – and possibly James Murdoch himself – facing the possibility of prosecution in the US under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) – legislation designed to stamp out bad corporate behaviour that carries severe penalties for anyone found guilty of breaching it – and in the UK under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 which outlaws the interception of communications.

And if that's not enough to sate your appetite for schadenfreude, The Independent is positively giddy over the Murdoch misfortunes.

Rupert Murdoch Shutters News of The World

Scaly Aussie media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is shutting down his London rag, News of the World.  In what is seen as a desperate bid to protect his News Corporation empire from the fallout of the NOTW telephone hacking scandal Murdock is axing (for now) the gutter tab.

The straw that may have broke the Aussie camel's back was the revelation that an investigator working for the tabloid was hacking the phones of bereaved relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It seems unlikely that the move will satisfy British pols like Labour Party leader Ed Miliband who remains keen to see those at News Corporation responsible brought to justice.   The scandal also extends to police corruption on claims the hackers paid police tens of thousands of pounds for information.