Tuesday, February 01, 2011

The deed is done


So, the BBC broadcast the programme. Mercifully, it is not available on line, which means I do not have to waste any life energy looking for a suitable shot for a screen grab. Was it a stitch-up? Well, of course it was. That is what was intended, that is what the BBC paid for and that is what it got. It was never going to be any different.

As to how it was done, the technique was fairly simple and direct. First paint a picture of Armageddon, and agree that this is real and has to be taken seriously. Then pick "mad" climate sceptic – enter Monckton – and build him up as representing the entire sceptic case. Go through the charade of exploring his views, refer to grave scientists who say this loon is a loon, "reluctantly" agree and conclude that the scientists must be believed. Game over.

The BBC used roughly the same technique with eurosceptics. They'd pick the maddest they could find, build them up and knock them down. Now they are at it again, although the one consolation is that very few people must have watched the programme.

One does in fact wonder why the BBC bothers, although probably the real reason why they do is that it gives the warmists fresh heart. They've been taking a bit of a bashing lately and needed a morale boost. Watching a film slapping down Monckton is just the sort of thing they love. It is meaningless, and does not change the facts. But it makes them feel better, and at our expense. They bray ... we pay. T'was always thus.

COMMENT: "STITCHED UP" THREAD