Brown's health:
still in the volcanic magma, but about to blow the lid off New Labour
Throughout Thursday (10.9.09) this week, the 'mainstream' media edged nearer and nearer to openly discussing the story broken by nby last Friday 4th (Brown's worsening health).
The most overt version was written by Matthew Norman at the Independent ('Pass the Pills'), but the Telegraph's Heffer also got on the bandwagon. Rather in the manner of hopeful kite-flying, Macer Hall at the Express ran a piece about wannabe MPs jostling to get The Trouser Snake's soon-to-be-vacated seat 'for health reasons'.
Yesterday early evening, every lobby correspondent at Westminster was trying to stand the story up with on-the-record corroboration - as indeed is nby. Our lead into this remains good, but the person involved may lack the courage (or outrage) to act. In the meantime, I have it on good authority that two major Sunday titles are putting features together - we shall see.
Back in the Blogosphere, you can catch up with the better cartoons on the subject at In the Picture . As of this morning (the fateful 9/11) REAL typing into Google (advanced) reveals 2,980 sites primarily discussing the issue. And I can confirm that medical opinion emailed to me here at
is running at 7-1 in favour of the maoi diagnosis being probably correct. Surgical opinion on his second eye is unanimously in agreement with nby's line, but the relative inattention to this very serious disability does demonstrate once more how the old bigotry about mental illness is alive and well in this country. For a man NOT born blind, holding the office of Prime Minister with that condition would be unthinakable: but the media prefer to focus on depression (a treatable condition) as opposed to Brown's eyesight deterioration, which isn't.
This is not me back-tracking: my view has always been holistic: a severely depressed man with failing insight would be retired with Permanent Health Insurance in any other profession. The very last job he should be doing is running a country.
Stay abreast of developments....and email me if you come across anything you think might be relevant.