{"id":8218,"date":"2012-10-15T10:04:08","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T17:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8218"},"modified":"2012-10-15T10:04:08","modified_gmt":"2012-10-15T17:04:08","slug":"rupert-murdoch-calls-the-celebrities-he-hacked-scumbags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=8218","title":{"rendered":"Rupert Murdoch Calls The Celebrities He Hacked ‘Scumbags’"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s hard to know whether this is a case of a bitter and repugnant old man lashing out at his perceived enemies, or an example of TWS (Tweeting While Senile). This weekend Rupert Murdoch Tweeted<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Told UK’s Cameron receiving scumbag celebrities pushing for even more privacy laws. Trust the toffs! Transparency under attack. Bad.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Rupert<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

Murdoch was referring to a group of people connected with Hacked Off<\/a>, an advocacy group concerned with the unethical practices of the media, particularly with regard to the invasion of privacy that was at the heart of Murdoch’s British newspaper operation. The News of the World was shuttered as a result of these practices following the disclosure that it’s staff had hacked into phones of hundreds of people, including a murdered schoolgirl.<\/p>\n

Among those who spoke with Prime Minister David Cameron were actor Hugh Grant and singer Charlotte Church, both of whom were Murdoch’s hacking victims. For him to have unlawfully violated their privacy and now call them “scumbags”<\/em> says a lot about his abhorrent lack of decency. What’s more, his use of the slang word “toffs”<\/em> demonstrates a massive level of hypocrisy (according to WikiPedia, a toff<\/a> is “someone with an aristocratic background or belonging to the landed gentry, particularly someone who exudes an air of superiority.”<\/em><\/p>\n

This bizarre behavior by the head of a multinational media conglomerate is even more disturbing when noted that he is resorting to this childishness as an attack on efforts to reform the media so that abuses like those he engaged in cannot harm others in the future. When Murdoch was summoned by Parliament to answer for the hacking conducted by his company, he seemed to offer an apology. But the sincerity of that has to be called into question when he now calls his victims scumbags. In what other business would a CEO be permitted to get away with that and not be compelled to resign? [Note: The News Corp annual shareholders meeting will be held later this week in Los Angeles, where Murdoch is expected to be under more pressure than ever<\/a> as many U.S. pension funds and others are voting against his bid to remain CEO is challenged]<\/em><\/p>\n

On a side note, Murdoch also had an interesting Tweet<\/a> yesterday:<\/p>\n

“Extreme inequality bad, and worse over last 4 years. Close tax rackets ((eg carried interest) and improve opportunity for all with schools. “<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Rupert<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

Really? One has to wonder then, why does Murdoch support Mitt Romney, a candidate for president who is the embodiment of “extreme inequality;”<\/em> a candidate who personally benefits from “carried interest”<\/em> tax loopholes; a candidate whose position on taxes would continue to advantage the wealthy who exploit carried interest and capital gains rules in the tax code; a candidate who espouses “trickle down”<\/em> economics; and a candidate who proposes huge cuts to programs that help schools and increase educational opportunities?<\/p>\n

Perhaps if Murdoch’s Fox News was not so fervently engaged in opposing reforms that would reduce inequality and help schools, we could make some real progress on those fronts. Murdoch takes disingenuousness and hypocrisy to new heights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s hard to know whether this is a case of a bitter and repugnant old man lashing out at his perceived enemies, or an example of TWS (Tweeting While Senile). This weekend Rupert Murdoch Tweeted: “Told UK’s Cameron receiving scumbag celebrities pushing for even more privacy laws. Trust the toffs! Transparency under attack. Bad.” Murdoch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[152,1,16],"tags":[260,30],"class_list":["post-8218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election","category-general","category-wankery","tag-mitt-romney","tag-rupert-murdoch"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-28y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4832,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=4832","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":0},"title":"News Of The Whirled: What’s Rupert Murdoch Up To Now?","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/8\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The hacking scandal that has embroiled Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is one of the most stunning ever recorded. The News of the World is not some backwater rag with a handful of readers. It is one of the largest circulation Sunday papers in the UK. Well, it was. As of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19914,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=19914","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":1},"title":"Get To Know Rupert Murdoch, The Man Who Wants To Buy Time Warner","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/23\/2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week there was a surprising announcement that international media baron Rupert Murdoch had made a bid to expand his empire even further. He submitted an offer to acquire Time Warner in an $80 billion stock transaction. Be Sure To \u201cLIKE\u201d News Corpse On Facebook This would be an atrocious\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Big Media"","block_context":{"text":"Big Media","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rupert Murdoch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/notw-murdochalypse11.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6228,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=6228","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":2},"title":"Rupert Murdoch Calls Blogosphere Terrorists For Opposing SOPA","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/18\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It's good to know that the Chairman of the parent company of Fox News isn't a histrionic panic-monger who wallows in absurd hyperbole. No, it is perfectly reasonable for Rupert Murdoch to call members of the Internet community terrorists just because he disagrees with their position in opposition to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7416,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7416","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":3},"title":"Mitts And Hisses: Rupert Murdoch Has Lost All Touch With Reality","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/25\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The allegedly \"fair and balanced\" Fox News Channel's patriarch, Rupert Murdoch, has revealed his preference in the presidential contest, as if it was ever in doubt. Yesterday, however, he made it clear that he favors Mitt Romney, even though he's concerned that Romney isn't being sufficiently dickish. Murdoch Tweeted: \"Easy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1328,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1328","url_meta":{"origin":8218,"position":4},"title":"Rupert Murdoch Running Criminal News Enterprise?","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/8\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Guardian has a story that simply must be read: Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers has paid out more than \u00c2\u00a31m to settle legal cases that threatened to reveal evidence of his journalists' repeated involvement in the use of criminal methods to get stories. 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