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5/9/10 LATEST ARTICLE: 'ONE COULSON OF A BITCH'
Does the Andy Coulson affair, revied this week really matter? are the questions it raises valid? If So, why is the media so quiet on this story? Why it does, What Cameron should do, and what it means for the media in Britain.

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7/9/10 COULSON AFFAIR: A CONSPIRACY THEORY IS BORN.

Well Downing Street’s alert system may have gone from high (orange) to elevated (yellow) and its staff, and one man in particular, may be tempted to breathe a sigh of significant relief. But the danger is not over yet. Coulson and Cameron have ran the gauntlet, correctly summing up the situation on Saturday, the press were lackluster (mainly because sections of it had been implicated, and the majority were pro Cameron anyway) and that magic bullet was still elusive. A New York Times investigation, throwing up new sources, and fresh allegations, was never going to be enough to push Coulson out of office if he did not want to go. But all this was at best a pyrrhic victory, and at worst a massive tactical error on the PM’s behalf.

Something has happened this week, and it is significant. A new meme has been created: ‘Cameron’s government is sleazy and corrupt’. It is still some what embryonic, but it has not been killed off, and from here on in, it will only grow, potentially into a monster. Why? Firstly, it has been said that no one really cares about this issue (the Conservatives would have us believe it is a Labour dinner reheated) beyond the lefty loons that are desperate for Coulson’s scalp. And there may be some truth in this, although it is frankly insulting to Tories who have the sense to see beyond narrow tribal interests and recognize a stench when they smell one, and can see the potential folly of allowing Mr. Toxic to stay near the Prime Minister. But these kinds of meme’s tend to start on the left anyway, look at Blair over Iraq for example, who, from the moment war was being discussed were opposed to it for seemingly hysterical, typical, leftist reasons. They became, over time, the mainstream-few now believe Blair did it for the right reasons, and suspect some murky conspiracy for oil was at work. So it was with Tory sleaze in the 90’s. And Cameron has had to battle hard to drag the Tory party’s image of being institutionally corrupt, in the public consciousness at least, and it should be noted, that he risks undoing all that has been achieved here, and quickly, in the months ahead.

It’s not all about Coulson though. But the defensive batting of the Tory party over the last few days, smacks of a party as devoid from the ‘new politics’ they proclaimed to have ushered in when the Coalition came to power, as they accused the last government of being. What is so bad about a new inquiry, whatever form it takes, if Coulson is completely innocent? And if he isn’t, and Cameron knows it, why did he hire him in the first place? Either way, the new politics is a million miles away- the only hope of maintaining the illusion, is to repeat the stale mantra that ‘no new evidence has emerged’ even though that is not true, and more importantly, the original evidence, it is alleged, was never investigated properly in the first place. Given the seriousness of the allegations, the desire to sweep this affair under the carpet, an affair that goes to the heart of the connection between the media and police, two great power structures in our society, and, by proxy, that other great power structure, that is now implicated, the government. The need for clarity is paramount, and it risks tainting the government in all its future activities regarding reform and civil liberties. We know, Tories get irked by the supposed media bias at work here. But that is a charge that can be more strongly applied the other way, due to the Murdoch blackout over this affair for days on end. But this is not really the point, the gravity of the implications of what is possibly at work here is immense, and needs to be discussed.

But even if it is, it will only serve to reinforce the belief that Cameron’s Coulson directed government is corrupt, and tarnished, and that Murdoch controls it. A conspiracy theory yes, but humans have an incredible capacity to cling to them. The underlying logic is this, the further you go with it; the more you try and dispel it, then the stronger the feeling is that you are trying to cover it up. Look at 9/11, for example, and its conspiracy has spread like wildfire. Ignoring it is not an option either. You are accused of a cover up. And you lose all authority, because you have refused an inquiry to clarify matters. Cameron is dammed either way then, because he has kept his man. But this is at the expense of a chunk of his credibility, which, while it may not be currently obvious, may be in the future. You can trace the true rupture of Blair from Iraq, will you be able to trace the rupture in Cameron’s reputation from the Coulson affair? Is he worth it? The dynamism of the Coalition has been largely expended. Cameron should have known that the balance of positives and negatives regarding Coulson, has tipped, irrevocably into the negative. It was, probably always going to happen, and he should have jettisoned him at the election, or asked him to step aside for an investigation (bringing him back if he was fully cleared) some time early this week. It would have stopped his personal entanglement, as well as his governments, in a conspiracy theory that will grow and grow, over months and years, mutating and developing alongside other events, the spending review, meeting corrupt government, well, that will become ‘Tories don’t care about the poor only dancing to Murdoch’s tune’ the rich get richer first during any recovery? Well then, ‘Tories make us feel the pain while their rich friends like Murdoch prosper’ and it will start to stick.

What is most strikingly stupid on Cameron’s part is that Coulson was obviously not worth it. He is a dead duck, has damaged the reputation of the Coalition, and cut short the honey moon period. This is a make or break year for Cameron, dismissing Coulson now, brining him back, say, for the next election, would have been a smarter move. But huge cuts, economic slow down, rising unemployment, a possible double dip, an AV referendum, battling unions, and all this tarnished with the suspicions of a cover up and collusions with the Met and Murdoch, this is a tactical mistake, this is just not worth it. You really should have sacked Coulson, Dave…

Cool as a Cucumber, but is Coulson a dead man walking?

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