The Media & Brian Lenihan

[dahamsta]

Like spudulika's post, I guess this could have fitted in elsewhere, but I think this really could do with a thread of it's own. I'm honestly baffled at the soft hand Lenihan is getting from the media, and I mean that very nearly literally: they might as well be giving him a handjob with the way they're treating him. Now on some level it's understandable that they'd lay a good portion of the blame with Biffo, after all he is the boss; and let's be honest, pig ignorant and an easy target.

However although Biffo is the boss and he does sign off on Lenihan's policies, the policies are Lenihan's. He's the one that decided to prop Anglo up when it becomes clearer every day that it was absolutely the wrong decision, he's the one that employed "consultants" to help make that decision without fixed fees, he's the one drip-feeding billions upon billions of our euros to the banks when it was clear to anyone with a brain in their head that each €5b wasn't going to be the last €5b. And he hasn't made a single proactive decision, every single step has been reactionary.

Yet the media continues to either skip past his involvement, or worse, parade him around as an economic genius; and genpop swallows it as gospel. How is this possible?

adam

[Mr A]

I was thinking something similar yesterday during his prime time interview. He bullied O'Callaghan completely, didn't answer legitimate questions and actually managed to blame RTE and the opposition for the state of things without ever admitting FF fecked it all up. It was astonishing to see him let away with some of the crap he came out with, especially considering that he has been consistently wrong throughout the crisis. He whines about negativity and yet he keeps underestimating how bad things are.

Was disappointed in Burton's performance, she didn't manage to nail some of the crap that had been spouted by Lenihan, although in fairness the discussion had moved on.

[Billsthoughts]

I thought he dealt with O Callaghan easily enough. She seemed to ask the hard question, then when he answered forcefully she backed away and moved on to the next one. Which would suggest she wasnt 100% sure of her facts.

I would have liked to have seen her push him a bit more on some things. He feigned indignation when she raised the issue of prosecutions for politicians and she should have called him up on this. At the very least his current boss was deeply involved in all of this.

[Macy]

Well O'Callaghan has her own "tendencies" - she's never been good at giving FF people a hard time.

But I'm completely baffled since the initial guarantee how Lenihan is portrayed as some FF White Knight by the media, which feeds into some popularity amongst the public. We've seen it on here, with posters criticising his policies and then talking him up as leadership material!

He's as responsible as Ahern, Biffo et al for the position we now find ourselves in. He might not have been in a position to influence how we got here (he did vote for the measures, and was a super junior at the Cabinet table), but his dealing with it has been a disaster.

[dahamsta]

Thank christ I'm not the only one!

[OneRedArmy]

1) He's a Lenihan. He's part of the political furniture.
2) He's got cancer, so another reason not to be mean to him
3) Our meedja is full of chumps, by and large

Disagree that he's as responsible as Biffo and Bertie, but I'm blue in the face arguing that one.

P.S. That wasn't an endorsement btw.

[dahamsta]

2) He's got cancer, so another reason not to be mean to him

Sadly this is problably one of the big factors when it comes to the pussies in our media.


Disagree that he's as responsible as Biffo and Bertie, but I'm blue in the face arguing that one.

I'd agree with you that he's not as responsible as Biffo and Bertie for getting us into this situation in the first place. However I'd argue that he's equally if not more responsible for exacerbating* it. He certainly hasn't handled it like the economic whizkid the idiots in Irish media are painting him as.

It's the international media make me laugh the most though. Irish media are credulous at best, but when you see the FT and WSJ completely flipping their opinions on Ireland with absolutely no reference to their earlier fawning articles, you have to laugh. To be expected from the "new" WSJ though I guess.


* I actually spelt that right first time!

[Mr A]

That hoorbag McCreevy gets off far, far too lightly in my opinion.

[Lim till i die]

Vincent Browne gave him a much tougher time of it.

The cancer is a huge, huge, factor IMHO.




Also, on an aside, how on the ball would France 24 be considered with regards to European opinion and what not?? Ireland was the lead on their business news last night and the correspondent seemed fairly full of contempt about the whole thing.

[Dodge]

France, the French, and most francophiles are full of contempt for everything

[Lim till i die]

France, the French, and most francophiles are full of tentempt for everything

Contempt to the power of ten??

That does sound very French tbf. :D

[Dodge]

Jaysus that wasn't even close to being right (and I didn't say the French are wrong btw)

[dahamsta]

Ireland was the lead story on Channel 4 News yesterday too, couldn't believe it when I saw it.

McGreedy's got away with murder alright, and now he's riding the EU having left for private business. He's the consummate FF scam and bullsh*t artist.

[Kingdom]

We wouldn't have CA discussions in the family home all too often, but a few weeks ago I was there after a match talking about something Ireland Inc related and referenced Lenihan, the cancer, being allowed to remain as Min. Finance and the soft ride he was getting from media. The father was incredulous, and the mother was disappointed that I could be so cynical. I wouldn't say they're the only ones that think that way.

[mypost]

Last night's interview was a disgrace.

Not once did Lenihan appear to show any remorse or apologise to the nation for the mess he and his government had got the country into. Lots of talk about how we're going to do this and that, as there has been for the last two years.

In the past two years, he has repeatedly got the bank bailout figures wrong, the budgets wrong, and the deficits wrong. Despite all the taxes and public spending cuts, the deficit has barely closed at all, while unemployment continues to rise. Every sector of society has been hit, and hit hard, everything Brussels has asked has been granted, and it's made no difference to our economy and the state of the nation.

Despite these failings, and lack of contrition for the cause of them, he is the rather bizarre favourite to succeed Cowen as FF leader. What he has going for him is his ability to look and sound Presidential, even if what he says invariably turns out to be a load of bullocks. Surely, it can't be possible to be worse in office than Cowen. Can it?

[John83]

What's the story with Lenihan's cancer anyway? I was under the impression when the story broke that he was not expected to last the year. I ask because I read somewhere yesterday that people want Lenihan to replace Cowen before the next general election. This wasn't it, but here (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jt6BMLbbL353kzg8BK_8Y4-CxMQQD9IIQDT00?docId=D9IIQDT00)'s a link. That makes me wonder if it's been claimed that he's not as sick as was initially reported, or if Irish people are just staggeringly stupid.

[Dodge]

Little from column A and little...

I know e only works 4 day weeks so you'd imagine taoiseach woujld be too mcuh to handle. You'd imagine...

[Macy]

I know e only works 4 day weeks so you'd imagine taoiseach woujld be too mcuh to handle. You'd imagine...
4 days a week, as Minister for Finance with all this crap going on!?!?! FFS...

[Bluebeard]

Would part of the media softness be related to their remorse felt after giving his Daddy a hard time back in 1990, before realising how bad his health was? I felt that they have really polished him into something grander than ever he was. Could the ease his son gets be part of a legacy of guilt on the part of the press?

[hedderman]

1) He's a Lenihan. He's part of the political furniture.
2) He's got cancer, so another reason not to be mean to him
3) Our meedja is full of chumps, by and large

Disagree that he's as responsible as Biffo and Bertie, but I'm blue in the face arguing that one.

P.S. That wasn't an endorsement btw.

4) He's one of the very few Irish politicians who can string a sentence together.



In regard to the Miriam O'Callaghan interview, I don't rate her at all as a serious journalist. At one point she described Ireland as having the "worst economic crisis in the world at the moment." With throwaway comments like that, Lenihan could just bat that back at her and change the focus of the interview.

What I don't understand was all this talk of bringing AIB back to its former "greatness" and restore our banking system to "greatness". It's nonsense.

As an aside,did anyone see that episode of the Savage Eye where one guy did a great Brian Lenihan impression with the caption "Minister for Breathlessness to convey sincerity?"

[Spudulika]

I went to bed before Prime Time came on this Thursday (I was on night feed duty and needed the z's) but I'm not surprised that he has once again escaped scrutiny. When he was asked, as a legal professional, to make a proper statement in the Dail as to the needs of banks etc by Joan Burton, he feigned outrage and was protected, and surprisingly she backed off. Since last Christmas he's been given such a soft landing, and at the time I was disgusted with Cowen, using a sick man to deliver bad news as it would be better received (sure god help him, he's not got long left). Now, this week, and please somebody back me on this, it slipped into the media that he got the cancer all clear! Now, I follow politics and have friends working in the Dail, but I didn't even know he was in remission, nor does he wear a wig - so he mustn't have had radio or chemo-therapy (again I could be completely disproved as I'm puzzled). He has no clue about finance and the people he brought in to help, and those he appointed to oversee banks, are completely unsuited. AIB is in a terrible mess and when you look at the composition of the board I'm not surprised. All the crooks are still in place.

I don't know if how his father was treated means a great deal to the current media, though it can't be discounted, but he too was as big a crook as his boss Haughey, who hung him out to dry. But the Lenihan clan (Mammy O'Rourke, Conor and Brian) are symptomatic of what is wrong with our political system. How many are in the Dail on merit, and how many are there because of their Daddy? Our Taoiseach is there because his Daddy died at a young age (almost the same as Biffo is now), our Minister for Finance is there for the same reason, his Daddy passed on his seat to him. So the two people who can turn the country around have about as much qualification for doing so as any other TD's who get in on the family ticket. And therein lies the problem. We state we're a democratic and advanced nation, but we're no better than the -stans, where you rule the country because you are head of the biggest tribe, and all the public rep's are little more than local yokels who head their tribe.

We won't progress once the media continue to toe the line from FF. Is it a surprise that one of the most embarassing international incidents (the Leno show) was whitewashed from RTE TV? Then again, our national broadcaster is populated with the grinning goons and buffoons who are either from political clans or who are the latest in a long line of civil servants doing their duty in RTE. We're too small to change and even a full scale revolution will still see status quo restored.

[Spudulika]

Just watched the interview on Primetime, am I alone in thinking he was being given a free ride by Miriam? I mean, when she asked about worst case scenario - he repeatedly refused to talk about it. His fake outrage is a simple technique used by the guilty or troubled, and he's a disgrace. He has to go, he hasn't a clue and repeatedly mixed up concepts. There is an unbroken of discredited and corrupt Ministers of Finance leading up to Lenihan, who is simply a suit with a name. I can't believe this is being allowed happen.

[Noelys Guitar]

Francine Lacqua interviewed Lenny for Bloomberg on Thursday morning. She made him look a complete spoofer. Unlike O'Callaghan she had all her facts straight. Every time Lenihan answered a question he wasn't asked she would just return to the question shakng her head until she got him to answer.

[hedderman]

Just listening to the interview with Lenihan on Bloomberg. I think there is far too much emphasis on restoring Ireland's banking system to its "greatness."

[dahamsta]

http://www.bloomberg.com/video/63376088/

Lenihan looks like the newsreader in Batman when Jack Nicholson's joker forced Gotham to take all cosmetics off the shelves. I think he needs a few days off for himself. Australia's nice this time of year. Bog off Lenihan.

[Kingdom]

Conclosure. That's a new word surely?

[Charlie Darwin]

The cancer is obviously a big factor. I think the media are as confused as the rest of us of how to deal with it, but I suspect they have the added pressure of, god forbid he does take a turn for the worse, taking the blame for his worsening condition.

I think Miriam did OK, actually. She's one of the few political journalists on TV in this country who's not obsessed with getting her face in front of the camera and despite her brother's position I don't think she's ever shown a political bias. But Lenihan is a very forceful speaker and has the ability to stun interviewers, but I think a lot of people around the country will have come to similar conclusions as people here and thought he came across as a bully. Personally, I suspect if the interviewer had been a man we wouldn't be hearing words like "bully" thrown around, but that's another discussion.

I think Lenihan's name is bandied about as being a potential statesman not because he's a particular credible politician (contradiction in terms perhaps) but because he is very decisive and, as we saw in the Prime Time interview, has the ability to win a debate despite clearly being in the wrong. A lot of successful leaders around the world have the same qualities (but not the same handicap of being in Fianna Fail).

[Macy]

and despite her brother's position I don't think she's ever shown a political bias.
Hmmm, don't agree with that, I think she's very soft on Government Ministers imo. Her production company's "documentaries" on Haughey and Ahern hardly dispelled any accusations either.

I think Lenihan came across just as bad in the interview with Vincent Brown. Not sure I'd say bullying, just a pig ignorant spin merchant trying to rewrite his own history.

As for the wider media, a lot of the main commentators are basically FF supporters. They simply have to have someone in FF to champion, even if the evidence doesn't support their case. Interestingly, I detect a slight shift from Lenihan to Martin in recent weeks as their saviour.

[Dodge]

Because they all know that Martin is the next leader. Lenihan simply couldn't handle the job (physically). They've started to lay the groundwork that Martin is the new hope...

[Spudulika]

I didn't think Lenihan won on Primetime, he just looked like a complete cretin, the type you find in a pub who has about as much intelligence as a saturated barmat. His refusal to look at the worst case scenario - and the manner in which he did it, was embarassing. Miriam could have been stronger, but RTE are in fear of their lives and are not going to bite off the hand that is feeding it.

[OneRedArmy]

Because they all know that Martin is the next leader. Lenihan simply couldn't handle the job (physically). They've started to lay the groundwork that Martin is the new hope...In fairness, Martin is the "old" new hope. He was the new hope a decade ago before his star fell at the height of the 'Bertie, Biffo and jobs for cronies' period. Isn't the generally accepted view that Biffo doesn't like him as he's thought of as being a bit over-intellectual? (recognising that in FF-world, its all relative......)

[osarusan]

He takes a bit of a hit in today's Irish Times:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2010/1005/1224280400401.html


Unable to admit putting his country in this hideous mess, Brian Lenihan has turned further and further away from reality, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE

WHEN SOMEONE says a thing once, it may be a slip of the tongue. When they repeat it, it is an indication of the way their mind is working.

Thus it is with a phrase that Brian Lenihan used twice last Thursday, when he was explaining why “the cheapest bank bailout in the world” has turned into a €50 billion nightmare. The glimpse it gives of what is going on at the back of his mind is truly terrifying.

EDIT: As I re-read it, actually he's being savaged throughout the article.

[Spudulika]

Cue an article in his defence somewhere else, plus another one about FG in crisis!