Brand Spanking

The Brand and Ross farce continues to take up space in the newspapers and on the TV as the media find that they have another story other than the credit crunch to concentrate on.

As Anton Vowl has already pointed out when the story broke, the case does provide a bit of a dilemma given the two main protagonists.

I think my view can be summed up in a few points:

1. Russell Brand is an over-rated fool.
   
2. Jonathon Ross is an over-paid (though more talented) fool
3. The prank was offensive and harassment
   
4. The BBC bods were fools to air the pre-recorded item on their programme
5. The BBC has done a great disservice to those that defend it to the hilt and its local presenters
6. The Daily Mail and The Sun show rank hypocrisy in criticising this whilst publishing scanty panty photos of the grand-daughter.
7. ITV shows its second-rate self in carrying the story as a main item, whilst failing to inform its viewers of the DM's vested interest in ITN. Similarly, using liar and scumbag Kelvin McKenzie on News at Ten to criticise moral standards is like asking Ronaldo to complain about players diving.
8. Sky News also neglected to mark up their link with The Sun's coverage
9. The BBC, to its credit, also discussed the issue locally and nationally. ITV and Sky would not be so open
10. These cretins have handed the moral high ground to papers like the Mail and allowed the Licence Fee to be questioned.

There is a time and place for prank calls. Many of us have piled into a phone box to ask a stranger if there were any Walls in his house, or phoned the pub to ask the barmaid to shout out for Mike, Surname Hunt. Bart Simpson, Victor Llewis-Smith and other comedians have made good use over the years. This was not funny, however. If an ordinary citizen had done it, he would be risking a criminal reprimand, not a stiff letter from the DG.

The BBC should make its own decision on this matter and not pander to the politically motivated complaints. Either this was a good idea or it was not.