I watched the attempted shaving cream “pie attack” on Rupert Murdoch as it happened today, and the same thought crossed my mind that Alec Baldwin tweeted, that it was a staged event… staged for Murdoch’s benefit.
I’m sure we’ll find out who the guy is who rushed Murdoch, and I seriously doubt he’s a Murdoch operative, but isn’t it curious that with all of the security at the hearing he got through? Because Murdoch’s organization has a history of having police on its payroll, there’s at least a semi-reasonable doubt it was a true protest born of outrage.
In fact, that was what today’s hearing was all about. Credibility. Does it seem reasonable that the entire problem of phone hacking and police payoffs was caused by irresponsible underlings, in a corporate structure that’s as top-down as Murdoch’s is?
Murdoch insists he’s the best person to deal with the situation, which he still doesn’t seem to feel is an actual crisis, except for the furor being raised by his media competitors. But he’s failing to see how the situation looks from the outside. If Rupert and his son James are going to claim they aren’t guilty of any wrongdoing, then the only alternative is that they must be incompetent, and they should be removed by the board of directors.
Follow-up: A statement by the confessed shaving cream pie guy is at this link.