Dacre’s Daily Downfall Delivers

As if yesterday’s thunderous front-page denunciation of the deeply subversive Guardian were not enough, the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre has ordered his shock troops over the top once again this morning, under the wholly dishonest pretext that Young Dave has endorsed an attack on Alan Rusbridger and his team, although he hasn’t, because his chief spook hasn’t.

Who f***ing called me Hitler, c***s?!?

All of which makes one wonder why the Vagina Monologue has dedicated so much space to what is, in effect, a recycling of the same rant as yesterday, only this time with added spite and more pundits. Oh, and the obligatory blaming of the BBC. Well, there’s a very good reason for the Dacre onslaught, but it has little to do with the news value or relevance of the MI5 chief’s recent speech.

That today’s Guardian bashing marks an escalation in hostilities can be seen by there being a whole five articles dedicated to it: first comes the main story, “PM backs spy chief's attack on Guardian: Security expert warned leaks risk 'widespread loss of life' but BBC buries criticism of Left-wing paper” (the “security expert” was one of Cameron’s staff. That’ll be another veracity fail, then).

This was backed up with “How the BBC buried the story: MI5 attack on Left-wing paper's leaks played down”, with the frankly paranoid idea that, because Newsnight’s editor used to work for the Guardian, there is some kind of conspiracy in play. Daily Mail Comment, the authentic voice of the Vagina Monologue, piled in with “The paper that helps Britain’s enemies”.

In support were not just one, but two pundits, the first wave of righteous flannel being supplied by Stephen “Miserable Git” Glover, with “Stupendous arrogance: By risking lives, I say again, the Guardian is floundering far out of its depth in realms where no newspaper should venture” and then Douglas Murray (no, don’t laugh), with “Why all this country's enemies will be grateful for the schoolboy vanity of the Guardian”.

Copyright Steve Bell 2013. More at the Guardian

It is an assault that is leaving Mail readers in a state of bewilderment. But Guardian readers – at least, those who also check out the cartoon strips – will need no explanation: this week, Steve Bell has dedicated his IF ... series to a Dacre-as-Hitler Downfall parody. The Vagina Monologue will have read it, and be all too aware of his paper’s 1930s association with Nazism, and Oswald Mosley.

And the Bell cartoons are even funnier – and more grim, in turn – if you’ve seen the Hitler rant from the Downfall (Der Untergang) film. So Paul Dacre has resorted to accusing the Guardian of treachery, to divert attention away from the Daily Mail’s past, er, treachery. Sadly, all that this has achieved is that a lot more inhabitants of the Northcliffe House bunker have been shouted at this week.

That’s in addition to his paper becoming a laughing stock. He should have retired.