Spectator Ukraine Deflection A DISGRACE

Former Murdoch editor Andrew Neil is terribly sensitive to any criticism of his role as the ultimate boss at the increasingly alt-right Spectator magazine, and yet more so when the mag’s love-in with the far right is pointed out to him. Brillo is swift to tell those passing adverse comment that his mighty organ carries many political viewpoints, and ever ready to shout FREEZE PEACH, characterising his detractors as advocates of censorship.

So it was that, when The Great Man told his adoring followers “Ex-German leader Angela Merkel condemns Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in ‘strongest possible terms’. Hypocrisy on stilts. Nobody did more than her to faciliate Putin aggression with her energy policies (huge dependence on Russia) + refusal to spend more on Germany’s ailing military”, and there was a significant dissenting voice, he was not at all happy.

Steve Peers pointed out to him that the Speccy had just published “We blew our chance to befriend Putin” by Rod “a smile, a song and a four-pack of Stella” Liddle, to illustrate a little more hypocrisy. Brillo came over all defensive. “So what? It’s his view. Not mine. I don’t agree with it. Doesn’t mean Rod shouldn’t be free to write it and the editor to publish it”.

Jonathan Portes had seen enough. “‘Editor-in-Chief’ of the Spectator [Andrew Neil] once again denies he has any responsibility at all for his magazine's continued advocacy of virtually *every* fascist and racist political movement in Europe, from Putin to Golden Dawn to Zemmour to Thierry Baudet to …”. This caused The Great Man to lose it.

“You're so right. Let's burn R Liddle at the stake. Along withe the Editor. And me”. To which Portes observed “Is [Andrew Neil] genuinely so stupid that he thinks saying ‘The Editor in Chief has responsibility if articles in his magazine repeatedly endorse and platform racists and neo-Nazis’ is the same as calling for state censorship? I doubt it. So he's just lying”.

Which leads on to the Speccy’s deputy editor Freddy Gray attempting to deflect from the mag’s far-right fascination (much of it under his by-line) by suggesting that the 46th President of the United States has done something wrong, before admitting he hasn’t. “Why the silence over Biden’s links with Ukraine?” he demands.

There's always a suitable image

What links might those be? After sneering that Biden’s speech last week was “one of his now all-too-familiarly infirm attempts to sound firm” (laugh? I thought I’d never start), he segues into “just because Trump dug for that dirt doesn’t mean that dirt isn’t there … when it comes to Ukraine and Biden it’s a game worth playing”. Joe had visited Ukraine SIX TIMES when he was Vice-President. Big deal. But then the Hunter Biden card is deployed.

Smearing him benefits one person right now ...

Gray wastes no time in telling us he was “a drug addict”. That’s the deputy editor of the mag that regularly platforms the loathsome Toby Young, ejected from the Groucho Club for drug dealing, and which gives a regular column to Taki Theodoracopulos, characterised by Private Eye magazine as Taki Takealotofcokeupthenos.

... no prizes for guessing who that might be

After more of that sneer-turned-up-to-the-max which will no doubt impress Gray and all those other clever people who talk loudly in restaurants, he admits “Let’s be clear: there is no evidence that the Bidens have been corrupt in their dealings with Ukraine”.

Which confirms that this was just lame deflection all along. We see you, Spectator people.

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