We should abjure our pathetic obsessiveness with political personalities, and ridicule talk-show-host sensationalism for being what it is: an insult to our intelligence. Surely the media has the duty to report accurately, but also to put things in context. Does the coming of the Tory-Liberal Democrat coalition herald a new age in Britain’s long history? One doubts it, since they in their turn have to grapple with the massive deficits, the overstretched armed forces, the immigration issue and the contorted relationship with Europe. Does Putin’s rule in Russia make much of a difference? What can even his authoritarian government do to alter the mass alcoholism, the demographic disintegration, the mutterings … Continue reading Paul Kennedy