Don’t Menshn Breitbart London

The attempts by those at the batshit collective otherwise known as Breitbart London to garner more traffic on the back of Michael Fabricant’s unwise dig at Yasmin Alibhai-Brown have had one unintended consequence: they have alienated someone who they might have thought of as being a friend. Yes, former Tory MP and now self-promotion specialist supreme Louise Mensch is not happy.

(c) Doc Hackenbush 2014

Taking time out from another of her chosen occupations, that being her own brand of professional trolling, the representative for the distant constituency of Manhattan Upmarket considered the less than subtle intervention of James “saviour of Western civilisation” Delingpole and decided this was one combination of “red meat Conservatism” and free speech from which she had to distance herself.

“So sad to see [James Delingpole] descending to this crap. Breitbart UK becoming misogynistic joke. The UKIP of sites” she concluded. And, as Jon Stewart might have said, two things here. Del Boy didn’t “descend” anywhere, having been a resident of the gutter for some years now. And Breitbart London (note correct terminology) has been a joke more or less from day one.

Then Ms Mensch, surprisingly, decided to distance herself from the kind of person loved by the likes of Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse): “Breitbart think that being some bargain-basement Ann Coulter is going to work in London. It so isn’t. Sod off”. She is correct that Delingpole likes to be thought of in the same way as Ms Coulter. But that won’t play at all well with Roger Ailes.

And Fox won’t be the only ones disappointed by this Mensch rant: “Desperate reaching by the too-smart-for-this [Raheem Kassam] to suggest that using ‘clobber’ means actually hit. Er NO ... ‘Clobber’ is in the dictionary as to ‘criticise harshly’. ‘Punch her in the throat’ however is not”. She’s wasting her breath: the only smart thing about “Call me Ray” Kassam is his fawning over those useful to him.

Meanwhile, Ms Mensch was reaching out to Ms Alibhai-Brown, whether the latter wanted it or not, telling her “although Delingpole is UKIP and not Tory, I am mortified by the abuse you are receiving from right-wing men”. Why “mortified”? That’s exactly the kind of unpleasantness that her one-time pal Kassam and his pals revel in encouraging – against those they don’t like.

Anyone would have thought that Ms Mensch had expected Kassam to have some kind of principles. He does not. He’s with Del Boy all the way. So when she concludes “such violent misogyny and the excusing of violent fantasies against women make me sick. [Breitbart] should fire Delingpole” she might as well include “Call me Ray”. Either way, it looks like the end of a beautiful friendship.

Breitbart London – not making friends, and so not influencing people either.