The results of the inquiry into the death of weapons expert David Kelly are out. Oxblog has the scoop, and the news is not good for the BBC. Tony Blair is exonerated, and the Beeb... is not. Chairman Gavyn Davies has finally done the honourable thing and fallen on his sword.
Of course there's also a quick set of links from Instapundit, who shares my view that the BBC's political tin ear has finally caught up with it. As it should. Their reporting from Baghdad during the city's fall was every bit as blatantly dishonest as Saddam's infamous Information Minister, and often simply repeated "Comical Ali's" material. Even before that point, things had reached such a state that British sailors turned the BBC off and switched to Sky Cable. Nor is Iraq the only example of blatant BBC bias.
This report may or may not convince Calpundit et. al. But will it lead to a real change at the BBC itself? Personally, I doubt it. Forcing the Chairman's resignation is a positive step, but real change won't come until Britian's Parliament begins to seriously discuss repealing the BBC's "TV tax" and forcing the Beeb to compete for subscribers like everybody else.
It is only today, after all these months of watching the drama unfold across the sea, that I came to fully realize what has been going on. Until today, the Beeb had held a knife to the Govt's throat, and had Hutton's report turned out a different verdict, they might well have slid it in. In other words, the BBC had set itself up as an alternate power base, beholden to no one and funded by the British taxpayer. Astonishing! Do we have anything comparable in this country? Nothing even close. Thank God. It's the last thing a fractured, excitable superpower like us needs.
It is only today, after all these months of watching the drama unfold across the sea, that I came to fully realize what has been going on. Until today, the Beeb had held a knife to the Govt's throat, and had Hutton's report turned out a different verdict, they might well have slid it in. In other words, the BBC had set itself up as an alternate power base, beholden to no one and funded by the British taxpayer. Astonishing! Do we have anything comparable in this country? Nothing even close. Thank God. It's the last thing a fractured, excitable superpower like us needs.
The bloodletting won't stop with Davies' resination. Other heads will roll. Davies simply took the clear choice, quit before getting fired.
BigFire,
We can only hope.
This couldn't have happened to more deserving people.
(grin)
You mean the BBC couldn't be deserving of a damning report? Or Tony couldn't be more deserving of vindication on the war? Or the British people, having once again lived up to their historical role as a force for the good and an enemy of slavery, couldn't be more deserving of a shaking out of this anti-British propaganda service that has grown arrogant on their coerced licence fees?
Kelli, I think you are exactly right.
Trent,
let me take this one...
Yes, yes, and yes. Our thanks go to Mr. Blue for the excellent question/observation. A great day.
(big grin)
/bleeding obvious
One more slap against Howard Brush Dean.
"But will it lead to a real change at the BBC itself? Personally, I doubt it."
No kiddin'
C'mon, Gavyn Davies gave his "life" so that others might live and continue the "struggle." Nothing will change.
I agree completely with Kelli (and David Blue). I had the same epiphany on what the BBC was doing. So I'm amazed to read several statements from blogs, comments, and large media new stories along the lines of: "Of course Hutton would side with the Government, he's one of them." What sad irony... Isn't the BBC funded by the same government thanks to the TV tax?
Leland,
Yes, but by the same token, wouldn't BBC attacks on the British government be some form of organizational suicide? The whole situation at the BBC is incestuous, which is why it ought to be privatized, ASAP. Let's see how the Ba'athist Broadcasting Corporation does in the free market. shark grin