This may not be any more relevant to the rest of the world outside the UK than the US elections are to all of us inside it - in other words, it's quite relevant to anyone who has a 'special relationship' with the Old Country, especially if that relationship is kept fresh by the BBC and it's offshoots.
The BBC TV program 'Newsnight' has got itself into trouble twice in quick succession recently - the first time for not reporting the foul activities of the unconvicted and deceased 'celebrity' Jimmy Savile, by pulling an investigative article at the last moment - for reasons not yet explained.
It seems they have tried to make amends for this unfortunate omission by implying that a prominent Conservative figure in the Thatcher government was guilty of visiting an orphanage and raping a young boy there, and the boy - now a man - gave them the name of the paedophile who - he said - was still alive and active in politics.
The Newsnight editor did not make any checks as to the authenticity of the accusations, nor did he contact the accused to put the allegations to him, but instead put out a notice on Twitter saying that 'if all goes well' a senior Conservative politician would be named and shamed on the program, so stay tuned!
Not watching TV, I don't know if it was on Newsnight that a piece of paper was thrust in front of our Prime Minister by the presenter, which had the names of suspected paedophiles in the Conservative party printed all over one side of it, but that is not really important. The camera 'accidentally' homed in on the paper long enough for a British newspaper to freeze the frame and take the image with the 'damning' list, and a witch-hunt had started on the internet within a matter of hours. All very good for the Newsnight ratings...
David Cameron (the P.M.) was put on the spot by this unexpected bombshell, and said - live on air - that he did not want to participate in bringing about a witch-hunt against 'gays'. Poor old Cameron is not the brightest button in the box, and - for want of advice from his press office - instantly branded all gays as paedophiles with his shockingly bad choice of words, made on the spur of a heated moment. That's another mess he now has to sort out.
A matter of hours later, the Guardian newspaper named the accused as Lord McAlpine, saying it was merely reporting what was already being widely circulated on Twitter and other social media forums, and the damage - massive damage - was done.
Lord McAlpine - being entirely innocent - put out a statement saying that he had only been to the town where the assault took place ONCE, and then it was with his press-officer, who would have noticed if he had slipped away to an orphanage to mess about with young boys.
The 'boy' in question was undoubtably abused, but when he was shown a photo of the accused, he was also wrongly told that the person in the picture was McAlpine. When he finally did see a picture of Lord McAlpine, he realised that this was NOT the person who had raped him all those years ago, and put out a statement saying so. For some stinking reason, the police did not correct this blindingly obvious case of mistaken identity, and they have yet to explain why not, and if they let the accuser carry on with the false information deliberately.
So poor old Alistair McAlpine's life is in now ruins, and it is doubtful that he will ever be able to 'remedy' the situation as his solicitor is trying to do right now and maybe months into the future, at great cost to himself and the tax-payer.
There are two things going on here, but only one of them is - at the moment - being talked about.
The nation is impotently furious that Sir Jimmy Savile got away with molesting hundreds of vulnerable children without being convicted before he died, and is now looking for other people - complicit or not - to kick in his place. Whether through laxity or cover-up, the BBC appears to have turned a blind eye to his little antics, and are now expected to shoulder the blame for all of it - or at least that is what we are told by the rest of the media.
Hundreds of people who were abused by non-celebrities are now coming out of the woodwork, and the justifiable hatred of paedophiles is starting to reach fever-pitch. If there's one thing that sells newspapers, it is a nation in fever-pitch.
Don't forget the innocent paediatrician in Portsmouth who - being listed in the Yellow Pages as such - was forced to move home because of dyslexic mobs throwing bricks through his window a few years ago.
You may also remember a certain media tycoon who was disgraced in this country a few months ago for the phone-hacking scandal. Prior to this scandal, the tycoon was constantly in his own papers and TV programs, saying that the publicly funded BBC should be dismantled and given out to private corporations like... er... his.
I thought at the time that this 'humbling' moment when the tycoon faced a public inquiry would - eventually - lead to some sort of revenge by manipulation, which would also open the market for a private take-over which has been longed-for for decades.
The BBC's funding is also directly controlled by the British government, and they will not take too kindly to their leader being ridiculed live on air, over a matter so deeply affecting the entire nation right now, either.
"LOL" - as Cameron would have said to the tycoon's right-hand woman in a text message. Lots Of Love, or Laughing Out Loud - all the way to the bank!
