Comments on Aaronovitch Watch: He's baaaack!

MM - if the Observer feels like that, why don't th...

2008-07-15T17:01:00.000Z

MM - if the Observer feels like that, why don't they just bloody employ MacShane? He writes well enough. Roy Hattersley had a long standing gig at the Guardian, probably for similar reasons.

PJ - yes indeed. I'm working on that now.

Can anyone resist Aaro's latest:"I have no idea ho...

2008-07-15T12:23:00.000Z

Can anyone resist Aaro's latest:

"I have no idea how he knew this, but when it comes to the prevailing moral panic, we are all experts now."

We are indeed David, we are indeed.

Yeah, its not as if most of the other columnists a...

2008-07-15T12:05:00.000Z

Yeah, its not as if most of the other columnists are much better.

" ...... his return will only be temporary"I woul...

2008-07-15T08:49:00.000Z

" ...... his return will only be temporary"

I wouldn't be so sure. It's quite possible that the Observer feels obliged to have a column reproducing the talking points of Denis MacShane in order to maintain its access to certain sources or to keep in the Labour Party's good books.

Moussaka Man

If he had a month off and this is the best he can ...

2008-07-14T19:00:00.000Z

If he had a month off and this is the best he can come up with - still borrowing from a very narrow and obvious range of Decent literature, still not thinking very much about his argument - I suspect his return will only be temporary.

OC, the kid's not been watching too much TV: he's ...

2008-07-14T16:56:00.000Z

OC, the kid's not been watching too much TV: he's reading the Guardian.

The incidents [300 claims of assault on asylum seekers by security staff hired by the Home Office to forcibly deport them] include accusations of excessive force, beatings and

In the mid-1990s, Labour Party spin-doctors manage...

2008-07-14T13:03:00.000Z
In the mid-1990s, Labour Party spin-doctors managed to get a number of simple messages across about the Tories: John Major in his underwear, Tory Europhobia, the failure to act in the Balkans and many others. This helped to pave the way for the Labour victory in the 1997 general election.

But that was 11 years ago and many of these messages were soundbites that grossly simplified policy

Yes, the Anthony piece was wretched. I especially ...

2008-07-14T09:47:00.000Z
Yes, the Anthony piece was wretched. I especially like the part where he complains that the BBC stereotype all academics as vain. Now where have i seen academics being stereotyped before - oh yes, in the introduction to 'The Fallout' in which all academics and intellectuals are

True, Nick's column wasn't very good - but it wasn...

2008-07-14T09:23:00.000Z
True, Nick's column wasn't very good - but it wasn't nearly as bad as Andrew Anthony's telly column, a.k.a. 'the Decent guide to what not to watch on television'. It is all about how libruls like Peter Oborne pander to Muslims.

It finishes with an unimprovable bit admonishing people that the real world is a bit more complicated than people who take simple ideological positions seem to

If you ran a competition for the worst argument fo...

2008-07-13T20:34:00.000Z
If you ran a competition for the worst argument for opposing the tories, this one would surely be in the top 10: "Don't let the tories back in, they won't get on as well with the US government as Labour did ". (its not even true, the Conservatives are thoroughly Atlanticist). Where can Nick have got this awful idea from ? The clue is in the piece: Nick's last friend in politics is the idiot

Well, if I didn't know better, I'd think that this...

2008-07-13T17:05:00.000Z
Well, if I didn't know better, I'd think that this repetition of the Rifkind calumny was evidence of a bias against Wee Malky's ethnicity. All together now, why does Nick Cohen (and his sources) hate the Joos?

This is what Rifkind had to say about it.http://ww...

2008-07-13T15:07:00.000Z
This is what Rifkind had to say about it.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/stephenpollard/564181/sir-malcom-rifkinds-sick-irony.thtml

'Malcolm Rifkind
March 18th, 2008 6:33pm

For the record,Simms's story about my alleged remark to Bob Dole is complete nonsense. I was there and he wasn't. My comment to Dole was that Britain and other European countries had troops on the

You have to admire his green credentials. Brown to...

2008-07-13T09:05:00.000Z
You have to admire his green credentials. Brown told us not to waste food; Nick has applied this noble principle to research. Was it really only on Wednesday he said, ".. you may remember the story about Vitol ..." Nick certainly does! "Scandals which would once have led the news - the Tory energy spokesman's links