The Media & Brian Lenihan

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.

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.

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.

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."

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.

Conclosure. That's a new word surely?

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).

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

and despite her brother's position I don't think she's ever shown a political bias.

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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.

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...

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.

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Originally Posted by 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...

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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......)

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

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...280400401.html

Quote:

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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.

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

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