So poor Jason Arday goes from international hate-figure, cheat, scam-artist, liar, plagiarist and truth-avoiding con-man, to ‘poor fallen hero’, with just one… overdose? rope around the neck?? hari-kiri??? And all because of…

Me.

I am the problem. I wrote a post about Jason and he topped himself. I never knew he read my rants. Ok, a few ‘others’ wrote about him too. Probably more scathing than my sad offering which was more ridiculing his initial selection process and the dim-wits at Cambridge University than an attack on him. But I accept my responsibility. Because collectively, the national press and tv commentators and anyone else who has the barest of ‘platforms’ (like your breakfast table; the water cooler at work; the pub), who all chose to attack the man, quite ruthlessly.

So ruthlessly that no less (an arsehole) than Zack Polanski(!!!) has accused the press in no uncertain terms for Jason’s death and ‘demands’!!! that Andy Burnham take measures to limit what is written and spoken of. In other words, he wants to kerb free speech.

Quite rightly. People speak too much. Especially people I disagree with. Like Zack Polanski. Who only the other week was demanding the rights of Palestine Action due to ‘freedom of speech’. So; if the Green’s get into power (you’ll know because it’ll be the day I move to North Korea; the only country prepared to have me) the rules will be: anything Zack agrees with is ‘freedom of speech’ and anything he doesn’t is ‘fake news and lies’ and will be censored by the write-police. A bit like Trump. A lot like Putin.

There’s a kind of unwritten rule that if its true it can be published; whether hurtful or damaging or otherwise. Obviously ‘trolling’ generally crosses the line when it becomes ‘hateful’ or ‘threatening’ but here its different. The press told the truth about Jason’s life. And when it all came out, and the extent of the duplicity, Jason couldn’t cope with it. It wasn’t the reporting that killed him; it was the exposure to his own truth with no-where to hide.

Still pretty tragic though.

Happy Wednesday

A xxxx