Journalistic sycophancy is a common feature of the establishment press. The UK Telegraph’s Con Coughlin provides a masterclass in the genre during his intimate chat with Britain’s criminal-in-chief, Tony Blair:
We met in his private room at the back of Downing Street, a spacious, elegant drawing room with large sofas and an imposing marble fireplace. Unlike the president, who had exuded supreme self-confidence when I interviewed him a few weeks earlier, there was a wariness in Blair’s manner, as though he sensed that whatever he said, there were still large numbers of people who would not believe him.…
Blair must be relieved to a find a journalist who hangs on every word about “democracy” and “human rights”. The PM explains:
Our security lies in the spread of values, which it would be false to say are Western values. They are universal values and it is our job, in our own interests, to help people achieve democracy.…
No mention, of course, about US-sponsored torture, Guantanamo Bay, extraordinary rendition, the murder of Iraqis in the name of “freedom”, false claims about WMD and erosion of civil liberties at home. Blair belongs in front of an international criminal court on charges of war crimes. Give it time.