The tragedy of Smeargate

kinglear

Can't help but feel all the Labour cheerleaders are merely shouting at the wind - it won't work.Most of them are busy running away as fast as they can.

kinglear

and PS putting Cameron on the spot? Ansolutely not. What he SHOULD be doing is what he says he is doing ( and clearly isn't)- running the country for the best, and ignoring party political points.

Death or Tory

And you expected anything different from the appalling Maguire why, exactly?...

Mike, Brighton

Yes but what smeargate shows is that many of the MSMs political journalists were Brown/McBride patsys who merely cut n' pasted the spin into their magazines and newspapers. Kevin Maguire is more than a patsy, he like his Mirror predecessor Alistair Campbell is a willing accomplice. Any of Magure's articles are the view of the No.10 bunker because that is where they were written.

john miller

Kinglear - absolutely. The socialists main concern has forever been to make sure the Tories remain out of power. Even the leftie hacks believe this is their raison d'etre.

It accounts for such polar enemies as Brown and Mandleson sharing the same, err, common ground. Ironic, then, that Brown's philospohy is further from Mandy's than Camerons.

Rupert Boles

Maguire has thrown in his lot with New Labour. He's burnt his boats. There's no going back now.
Presumably the Board of Directors of Trinity Mirror approve of his behaviour or they wouldn't employ him.

Andy

Maguire is bosom buddies with almost all of the guilty parties, no wonder he's trotting out this sort of rubbish. Surely he must realise that no-one takes him seriously anymore.

Peter Wilson

Funny how that article has no comments facility - I wonder why?

In fact the Mirror is the 'only' newspaper that generally has no comments facilities; - moderated or otherwise - the perfect sign of a lost argument I think.

Short the UK

A charmer living in the heart of darkness = Team GB!

Dave

You don't get the nickname 'Toilets' for nothing you know.

The final line of Maguires blog just about sums up everything you need to know about the man -

"6) And just what is the truth of Cameron's alleged embarrassing complaint of a highly personal nature? I, like the drinkers in the Steamboat, Alum and Riverside, would like to know.

Now, what do you think..."

Something he knows there is no truth in and is pure fabrication of the workings of the diseased warped mind of McBride, yet, insinuates there may be some truth in it in a kind of nudge-nudge-wink-wink manner.

To call him vermin would be far to unkind on the rats in the sewers beneath our feet.

Baz Sullivan

The tragedy is that the Tories and LibDems are all into this smear stuff themselves, but it doesn't make any difference to voters who think they are all beyond morons anyway. And of the 3 present party leaders, Cameron is by far the most personally abusive during PMQs.

Denis Cooper

If I thought this was a tragedy, I'd say:

"... the tragedy of Smeargate is that we have a No.10 operation which regards unrestrained unrestrained bullying and innuendo AT PUBLIC EXPENSE as legitimate political methods, and an Official Opposition which is apparently unconcerned that criminal acts may have been committed ..."

But I don't think this is a tragedy in itself, as much as another depressing episode in a long-running tragedy.

We desperately need some politicians who are more than just party politicians - we need statesmen, who would be willing to put country before party.

Justinian

Are there any real adult men in the Labour Party?
Or are they all sorry rancid little imbeciles like Maguire and Draper?

Oscar

Baz Sullivan - What an unutterably stupid comment. Moral equivalence is the last resort of the scoundrel. And comparing Smeargate with PMQs (if that is what you're doing) shows you certainly have no moral compass.

Mack

Mr Sullivan, that is because Cameron has to face the living disgrace that is the Brown every Wednesday!
You don't deal with a deranged liar and borderline loon like Gordon by reciting Keats to him! Poor attempt to defend Labour, straight from the bunker.

George Laird

Dear All

It is truly disappointing that Kevin McGuire has so readily shot himself in the foot, what a misjudgement.

McGuire simply dismisses a blatant conspiracy to destroy people's lives as just "embarrassing emails".

Having dismissed smeargate; he then goes on to justify his defence of those involved by stating the economy is in trouble.

Would that be a suitable excuse in a court of law?

Would it be a suitable excuse in the famed Harriet Harman court of public opinion?

Is McGuire looking for a job at Brown's office,a K or a P?

There is no excuse for this type of behaviour, Cameron put it correctly, these people have been in power too long.

They hold people in contempt and think that they are above the law.

New Labour is dead in the water, the Labour Party is now rudderless and Brown is a dead man walking politically.

What is shocking is that McGuire wants to hitch his star to a loser on the downward slope.

He better take his heart off his sleeve and put it back in his chest as the rest of his organs need blood pumped to them, particularly the brain.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Publius

Baz Sullivan, is that silly 'tu quoque' argument really the best you can do? Give it a rest. What do you want? McBride's job?

Tiberius

"...Cameron is by far the most personally abusive during PMQs".

Verity will love that.

It is because Maguire comes out with stuff like this he can be dismissed by serious commentators. But in the name of free speech, I suppose he should continue his appearances on "This Week".

Alan Phillips

Its not just the politicians who have cast the die of shame is it. Those jurno's chasing the bones thrown by those in Downing Street deserve the careers that they'll be having in a years time, bye bye all those that took the Brown shilling. Apart from being worth no more than the ink that scribs your pads, the hollow words you have peedled to the people of this country is shameful

Private Schulz

How strange that you can't post comments on McGuire's column - fingers burnt, perhaps?

If I'd been able to, I'd have said the north-east (where I also come from) is suffering more from the criminal recklessness of Brown's mismanagement as Chancellor in the good years and as PM which only encouraged the subsequent recklessness amongst the banks.

The sooner this unelected incompetent goes, taking all his lickspittle toadies with him, the better.