Comment is Free?

Once again, I'm fucking narked with the Grauniad's CiF section. Why?

Because I read an excellent Catherine Bennett piece about David Cameron, his wife and family, and their blatant marketing of the various products they sell when they're out on the stump. I felt the need to comment on this, as I thought there were parallels to be drawn with Gordon Brown's nauseating cosying up to the City and the arms industry, and ultimately a point to be made about personality politics and the paucity of choice facing the average voter. The article, and those comments which were published, can be found here.

I was one of the earliest posters, so was fully expecting to see my comment, and was hoping for some responses to it, but it didn't materialise. At all. It is possible to imagine all sorts of reasons why this happened. Perhaps a shadowy figure from MI5 or SIS was standing at the right elbow of the moderator and grumbled darkly when my comment arrived in the inbox:

"This one cannot go through, it is too dangerous." Before flipping open his mobile phone and getting on to GCHQ.

Maybe even now, my keystrokes are being monitored by Putin's boys as part of a plan to use me in their ongoing plans for world domination.


Perhaps Emily Bell is being held against her will in a backroom at Farringdon Road, being prevented from allowing publication of the truly subversive material she really wants to by a gang of organised criminals working on behalf of Downing Street.

Or, even less credible than the scenarios above, the temp appointed by the Grauniad to moderate comments forgot to hit the publish button.

Who knows? It just really gets on my tits that the Guardian, OR ANYONE ELSE, can decide whether or not what I say is published or not.

Anyway, I'm very happy for Doris Lessing.