As the Rupert Turns

Here's a summary of what happened yesterday in Rupert's testimony to Parliament.

I watched a lot of this testimony yesterday, and I have to say I'm very disappointed with the coverage by the American press. Fox News was a joke. It must be tough to cover your boss with any sense of objectivity, but under the circumstances was it really necessary to so blatantly kiss his ass? CNN was focused on the mention of their night time star Piers Morgan (a former News of the World editor), and what they considered to be an outrageous claim that he also hacked phones. And MSNBC had an anchor covering this that completely misunderstood what was going on. When the "creampie" incident happened, he said that it interrupted pretty uncompelling testimony. (What?) And virtually all of the newspaper and online coverage focused on the creampie incident.

Really?

Did you guys watch the same thing I watched? Yes, it was interesting that somebody slammed a creampie in Rupert's face. Yes, his wife Wendy does have quick reflexes. But did anybody else notice that Rupert was pretending to be a doddering old man that has no idea what happens in his own company? Anyone that knows anything about News Corp knows that he rules it with an iron fist. He must be pretty scared to pull a Junior Soprano.

This case isn't going away. It's just beginning. The News Corp stock may have survived because Rupert didn't say anything that caused him to be arrested on the spot, but the entire British establishment is in danger. This case involves bribing police. The top two men at Scotland Yard have resigned for cryin' out loud. It involves criminal activity. The top editors and former editors have been arrested! It involves huge payoffs of hush money (approved by James Murdoch himself). It involves the British PM directly--his former spokesperson has been arrested--and an e-mail from his assistant to Scotland Yard implicates the Prime Minister himself. The main whistleblower was found dead this week. And the FBI has even opened an investigation into whether or not the voicemails of 9-11 victims were hacked here in the United States.

This story is not about a creampie. It's not about Piers Morgan. And it's not about Rupert's wife.