I find myself in agreement with Dr. 'Teabag'. Where did I go wrong?

I blame that Oliver Kamm!  You see, there has been a very minor kerfuffle in Blogdom because The Times decided to 'out' an hitherto anonymous blogger who was a serving police officer given to spilling stories highlighting the inefficiency and stupidity of our so-called justice system.  I confess that I had never heard of him until this story broke following his appeal to the Law Courts in an attempt to stop The Times from publishing his name.  No one will drop dead with shock when I tell you that the Judge agreed with The Times and 'PC Blogger' was duly 'outed', given a reprimand by his bosses and, I guess, made aware that his future prospects as a policeman were, shall we say, stunted!

A huge amount of smelly stuff was directed at The Times from Blogdom and in due course my e-pal Oliver Kamm felt moved to defend the actions the newspaper for which he helps write the leaders.  Now, I have 'known' and admired Oliver for as many years as I have been blogging and I am exceedingly chary of ever crossing swords with him because I know him to be both highly educated and a ferocious debater if crossed.  I need hardly add that merely being "highly educated" has never been a bar to coming to utterly daft conclusions but in Oliver's case it is necessary to have a very strong defensive position if you choose to take him on.  In this case it is necessary because Oliver's stance in defending The Times is disgraceful coming from, first of all, a newspaper man, and secondly, a man who prides himself as a liberal.

Even so, I, and a goodly number of others, have taken him on here, and here.  Amongst 'the Forlorn Hope' assaulting the Heights of Kamm was the gallant, cheeky, chirpy figure of Dr. 'Teabag'.  (Normally I would link to his disreputable site but following his recent marriage he has been reduced to one post every six months so it's hardly worth visiting these days.)  However, finding oneself on the same side of the ramparts as the good Doctor gives one pause for thought!  It made me think through again my instinctive dislike of the action taken by The Times.

I agree with Oliver's point that all civil servants should be governed by rules forbidding them to divulge government business but even so, I expect them to do it if they believe it is justified.  Of course, sometimes, in my opinion, they will not be justified but I would not wish the practice to end.  I heartily disapprove of the silly Lefties who occasionaly spill some scuttlebutt concerning GCHQ or MI5 and I would jail them if their actions led to a serious breach of our security but I always remind myself of the late Major Morton of MI6 who secretly provided Churchill with details of Germany's growing threat which he in turn used to embarrassing effect against the governments of the 1930s.  Would Oliver have defended The Times if they had 'outed' Maj. Morton?  The long, long list of whistle-blowers, some honourable, some dis-honourable and some downright venal, is too long to rehearse here.  Suffice to say that in a democracy there must always be a place for them.  Even more important in a democracy, the media must cherish and protect them even if they are providing information to other outlets.

The action of The Times was mean and spiteful and motivated, I guess, by the fact that 'PC Blogger' was not providing the information exclusively to The Times and Oliver has demeaned himself, in my view, by adding his weight to their clumping fist.

There is a further wrinkle to this story which arises from Oliver's re-action to Guido's suggestion that if anonymity is no longer thought worth preserving at The Times then perhaps they should start signing their leaders so that we may judge the worth of their pronouncements.  I will return to this later.

Comments

[North Northwester]

Welcome back. Hope you had a good time. And I agree about much that you say, though I don't like the idea of looking over my shoulder for my employer's disapproval of my blogging.

However, one thing still puzzles me, Inspector.
Why are you referring to the censored scuffer as PC Blogger, when PCBloggs">http://pcbloggs.blogspot.com/">PCBloggs is going strong and might be having her blog televised as a comedy, and it's poor old Nightjack">http://nightjack.wordpress.com/">Nightjack who copped the Blighty one?

[David Duff]

Quite right, 'NNW', I was in a hurry last night and couldn't be bothered to look up 'Nightjack's' proper title. My apologies to 'PCBloggs'!