Aaronovitch Blusters to a Well of Silence 1213


Why Rupert Murdoch considers it worth his while to pay David Aaronovitch a large six figure sum for such puerile antics as tweeting that I am insane, is a conjecture I find difficult to resolve. Today this exchange occurred on twitter:

David Aaronovitch: This suggestion that if elected Corbyn could be quickly ousted is utter bollocks. Democracy allows Labour to commit Hara Kiri.

Mark Doran: @DAaronovitch I hope everyone is watching how these servants of the micro-elite try to paint “attracting popular support” as “committing suicide.”

Mark Doran: @DAaronovitch Craig finds the elite-serving contortions every bit as funny as I do

David Aaronovitch: @MarkJDoran I tend to find Craig Murray unpersuasive on the grounds of him being unhinged. I can see why you like him, though.

Mark Doran: Says the man who managed to find Bush and Blair credible. I can see why you liked them, though.

It is remarkably ironic that on being referred to an article which argues that views outside a very narrow neoliberal establishment narrative are marginalised and ridiculed by the media, the Murdoch hack’s response is that the author is unhinged. Aaronovitch could not have more neatly proved my point.

But something else struck me about the twitter record. Aaronovitch’ twitter account claims to have 78,000 followers. Yet of the 78,000 people who allegedly received his tweet about my insanity, only 1 retweeted and 2 favourited. That is an astonishingly low proportion – 1 in 26,000 reacted. To give context, Mark Doran has only 582 followers and yet had more retweets and favourites for his riposte. 1 in 146 to be precise, a 200 times greater response rate.

Please keep reading, I promise you this gets a great deal less boring.

Eighteen months ago I wrote an article about Aaronovitch’s confession that he solicits fake reviews of his books to boost their score on Amazon. In response a reader emailed me with an analysis of Aaronovitch’s twitter followers. He argued with the aid of graphs that the way they accrued indicated that they were not arising naturally, but being purchased in blocks. He claimed this was common practice in the Murdoch organisation to promote their hacks through false apparent popularity.

I studied his graphs at some length, and engaged in email correspondence on them. I concluded that the evidence was not absolutely conclusive, and in fairness to Aaronovitch I declined to publish, to the annoyance of my correspondent.

Naturally this came to mind again today when I noted that Aaronovitch’ tweets to his alleged legion of followers in fact tumble into a well of silence. I do not even tweet. The entire limit of my tweeting is that this blog automatically tweets the titles of articles I write. They are not aphorisms so not geared to retweet. Yet even the simple tweet “Going Mainstream” which marked the article Aaronovitch derided, obtained 20 times the reactions of Aaronovitch’s snappy denunciation of my mental health. This despite the fact he has apparently 10 times more followers than me. An initial survey seems to show this is not atypical.

In logic, I can only see two possible explanations. The first is that my correspondent was right and Aaronovitch fakes twitter followers like he does book reviews. The second is that he has a vast army of followers, nearly all of whom find him dull and uninspiring, and who heartily disapproved en masse of his slur on my sanity. I opt for the second explanation, that he is just extremely dull, on the grounds that Mr Aaronovitch’s honesty and probity were never questioned, m’Lud.


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1,213 thoughts on “Aaronovitch Blusters to a Well of Silence

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  • Anon1

    I have just discovered that the terrifying dogs that are to be unleashed on the traumatized migrants are in fact English springer spaniels.

    As a longtime owner of this breed, I can only laugh at the notion.

  • glenn

    “But it has to be a default left-wing position though doesn’t it? You can never say anything to oppose mass-immigration, no matter how excessive it gets.

    As usual, Anon1, that’s utter BS and you know it. Mass immigration is a right wing dream, because of the cheap labour it provides. As you well know, having a huge labour pool who are desperate to work, will accept poor wages without complaint, terrible conditions and hire&fire practices, is a dream of the investor class and their stooges.

    Which is precisely why you are so keen on it.

  • Anon1

    “If I was in a war-torn country I would seek asylum in a country that I perceived safe.”

    Italy? France? Spain?

    “We created the problem in the Middle East/North Africa. We should take responsibility for our actions. The Czech president has got it spot on.”

    No we didn’t. They are coming from countries that are shit places to live, like Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia. They are for the most part not in any danger. Hence you can see them calling back home on their iPhones to let their family and relatives know they have arrived (and to encourage them to follow). Genuine refugees should seek asylum at point of entry into the EU. These people are coming to Britain for a better standard of living.

  • glenn

    One reason, yes. Another is that the very idea of a nation state (assuming anyone likes the notion anymore) is impossible with completely open boarders. The most innovative and capable people are going to leave countries where unlimited migration is encouraged, when they are exactly the sort who need to stay, to rebuild their countries. The imbalance between the sexes in this sort of migration is bound to cause problems on both sides. There are plenty of reasons, besides weakening the labour position in the host country.

    Basically, what’s the point of having any procedures for visas, residency permits and so on, if all you need to do is leap on board a passing lorry and it’s considered a done deal?

  • Bottom line

    Politics condensed into its essence is simply about how the owners of capital (and their businesses) may be kept in check (by the 99%), for the greater good. Unfortunately ever since the FoI entered the fray in British politics its all gone pear shaped, thats the awful truth. Yes, its all wellbys’ fault.

  • Ba'al Zevul

    You mean the anti-static gizmos,no you buy from the backdoor….etc

    Do you, now? You’re trying to give the impression you know. “You” hop on a plane, head out into the Negev to what is probably the most secure nuclear installation on the planet, knock on the back door and a Zionist wearing a kippah hands you several lethal doses-worth of 210Po? Here you are, he says, accepting a suitcase full of cash, this is what we used on Arafat, and no connection to us will ever be suspected. Then (because the container wasn’t properly cleaned and sealed at this specialist nuclear facility) it drips all over your flight home to prove you’ve been there. Once you’re home, you eat what’s left. Sure.

    Come off it. This was a hatchet job, designed to intimidate others. If anyone not intimately connected with the State had wanted to off Litvinenko without undue mass-media attention, he could have used any of a range of equally lethal and much more available agents. He could have shot him. With an accomplice, he could have hanged him and made it look like suicide. He could have pushed him off a bridge. Polonium was just showing off.

    (Luguvoi was in hospital for five days for checks, btw. He was given a clean bill of health and released)

  • Ba'al Zevul

    …English springer spaniels.

    As a longtime owner of this breed, I can only laugh at the notion.

    I owned one once briefly, and got rid of it. Never again. Its uncritical affection for anyone it met was sadly outweighed by its abject idiocy.

  • Mary

    Wise words here from Joseph Mangano and Janette Sherman. The damage has been done.

    August 3, 2015
    The Atomic Era Turns 70, as Nuclear Hazards Endure

    August 6 marks 70 years since the bomber Enola Gay flew over the Japanese city of Hiroshima, with the atomic weapon “Little Boy” aboard. The mission unleashed devastation never witnessed before, changing history forever.

    Very shortly, a terrifying race to test and stockpile increasingly more powerful nuclear weapons broke out between the United States and Soviet Union. The nuclear component of the Cold War between capitalism and communism raised the question of whether life on the planet could continue. Over 400 bombs were tested in the atmosphere, and tens of thousands of weapons were eventually constructed.

    /..
    http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/03/the-atomic-era-turns-70-as-nuclear-hazards-endure/

  • Anon1

    “As usual, Anon1, that’s utter BS and you know it. Mass immigration is a right wing dream, because of the cheap labour it provides.”

    Which presumably is why Craig is such a big fan? And Clark, Technicolour and your good self? Every lefty you can shake a stick at is having a collective right-wing wet dream are they Glenn? You’ve also discounted UKIP as being right-wing. And me.

    I think you’re confusing “right-wing dreams” with the ambitions of global corporatism, Glenn.

    Ps I love it when a lefty supporter of mass-immigration proclaims, as a sort of last line of defence, that it’s the capitalistics wot done it anyways, yet they still support it. What further evidence do you need that it’s a standard-issue default left-wing position, Glenn? You’ve even joined forces with the investor class!!

  • Mary

    Read on. From the same website. Puts all the guff about immigration, state assassinations ?, etc etc into perspective.

    August 3, 2015
    The Perfectly Nasty Ocean Storm
    by Robert Hunziker

    The oceans of the world are currently experiencing a “perfect storm” that is nasty, real nasty with too much warming, too much acidification, too much CO2, too much fishing, too many chemicals, too much Ag runoff, too much radiation (Fukushima), and too little ice (Arctic Ocean) bringing on too much methane (CH4). Whew!

    How much can the oceans handle?

    The answer to that question may be coming to surface. According to ABC News, May 19, 2014, Mysterious Mass Animal Deaths All Over the World: “Millions of birds, fish, crabs and other small marine life have been turning up dead in massive numbers from the United States, through Europe and down to South America.”

    /..
    http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/08/03/the-perfectly-nasty-ocean-storm/

  • Ba'al Zevul

    You’ve also discounted UKIP as being right-wing. And me. (Anon)

    There I’m afraid, you lose me. That looks like an utterly tenable position. But I may reconsider if UKIP shows any real opposition to the global market concept.

  • glenn

    Anon1: I’m not here to answer for Craig, he’s quite capable of doing that for himself. On the subject of open-boarder immigration, as with tariff-free imports, I happen to disagree with CM. And Clark, if that’s his position too. Cackle with glee as unpleasantly as you will, just because a few positions coincide (for entirely different reasons, obviously), it doesn’t mean one has “joined forces” – FFS.

  • Anon1

    “I owned one once briefly, and got rid of it. Never again. Its uncritical affection for anyone it met was sadly outweighed by its abject idiocy.”

    And George W Bush was a fan. Yes they are good for welcoming in burglars. Of course, they have the best nose of any dog and that is what they are useful for. Frontline in the War on Terr, the War on Drugs, the War on Immigrants and the War on the Pheasantry. A right-winger’s best friend. I would shit myself seeing one were I a drugs dealer. They are also the only breed I would be comfortable to leave unaccompanied with a small child. In that respect they are better than most politicians.

    Try again, if you can get through the first two years madness, they are the best of all dogs.

  • Anon1

    Well if the purpose of mass-immigration is the import of cheap labour for the benefit of the investor class, then I’m afraid any lefty supporting it has indeed joined forces with that class. I would agree that the left has different objectives (those who aren’t complete hypocrites at least), but the outcome is the same.

  • MJ

    “They are also the only breed I would be comfortable to leave unaccompanied with a small child. In that respect they are better than most politicians”

    Haha. Nice one.

  • Bottom line

    Mary
    Whilst the uranium gun type Hiroshima nuclear attack may even have been justified, the totally unnecessary second Nagasaki strike with a differing plutonium weapon was a stark ghastly test on live human specimens. Thats why the total secrecy surrounding the studies made on the comparative efficacy of the different bomb types.

    The great satan has since been outed for its syphilis and other research on its poor,black and/or unsuspecting citizens too.

  • Ba'al Zevul

    Springers: Agree, great nose, and soft mouth. Got mine during an estuary wildfowling phase, but unfortunately it preferred to chase seagulls at high speed, over great distances, loudly. Ducks are considerably brighter, and I haven’t shot one for decades now…

    UKIP: The impression I am getting is that it would like us to shift our allegiances and interests strongly in the direction of the US once it gets us out of Europe (hypothetically). A national identity at that price is not one I relish.

  • John Goss

    “(nearly shot the bloody dog, though. More than once.)”

    And a few cyclists no doubt! 🙂

    Talking of which, in a training spin about three weeks ago someone threw a Budweiser bottle from a passing car which exploded on my shin. I was going uphill with head down and the car must have been doing 40 mph. At first I thought I’d been shot it hit me at such force. Then I thought it must have come up from the road with the car going over it. It was a passer-by who told me somebody threw it from an open window. The car was round a bend in the road before the passer-by could get any identification.

    There are some kind people around.

  • MJ

    From the businessinsider link:

    “According to Dombey, Avangard was the only commercial producer of polonium-210 in the world at the time of the murder”

    Problem there is that the polonium in question may have been produced some time before the murder. Also it may have originated from a non-commercial producer. If Dombey is to be believed we must assume also that the polonium found in Yasser Arafat derived from Avangard.

  • Anon1

    We can only go on what Farage has said, but he has expressly stated that subservience to US hegemony is as undesirable as EU rule. However, unlike with the EU, there is a certain inevitablity to it and the reinvigorated Commonwealth that Farage envisages would not necessarily be immune to it. I don’t doubt the man’s integrity, but there are limitations. The priority for the time being is getting ourselves out of the EU and anyone who believes in national identity should support that aim which at this very moment is attainable.

  • Mary

    Heath is now (publicly) in the frame for committing child sexual abuse.

    Breaking.

    Who’d have thunk it!

  • John Goss

    “No we didn’t. They are coming from countries that are shit places to live, like Afghanistan, Eritrea and Somalia.”

    Yes we did. A few might be coming from the countries you mention but most are coming from Libya risking their lives to escape from a once prosperous country that we destroyed. You should join Noddy’s class with the nonsense you write.

  • Anon1

    Out of control, though. Cyclists. There seems to have been an explosion of them since Bradley Wiggins won the Tour. And joggers, looking like stroke victims. Leave it to the professionals, chaps. Our roads aren’t built for it. It’s a Euro thing.

  • fred

    “Problem there is that the polonium in question may have been produced some time before the murder.”

    Not too long, polonium 210 has a half life of 138 days so after 7 weeks half your polonium has turned to lead, after 14 weeks three quarters and so on.

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