Littlejohns Magnum Opus
Littlejohns House of Fun. 13 years of [Labour] Madness is probably the most epic paradigmatic revolution of modern literature since Chris Moyles anecdote about comedy Dave inserting pound coins in a pub urinal, in his autobiography (Oh look I'm nicking lines of Stewert Lees Comedy Vehicle.) From what I've seen from the excerpts printed in the Mail in an attempt to flog a few books, it's pretty much par for course from "Britain's most biting Satirist" )
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At first I could have made this article a bit by bit, bullet point refutation of all the "claims" he makes (banning conkers, yooman rights. The usual crap.)
(Tabloid Watch does a good job of this). But that would be missing the point of the book, it's preaching to the converted, it knows what its audience wants and duly gives it to them
. House of Fun is the literary equivalent of a fortnight in a dingy B&B in Blackpool, it doesn't matter if the snotty hoi poloi think it's tacky and in bad taste, it knows it's niche. It simply sets out to give its punters what they want, who cares what the critics say about it.
Yeah I'm going to hate the book like most leftish bloggers would, and Littlejohn would probably use that as a selling point anyway. It's not too much of an exaggeration to say that the fearful and disenchanted frustrates that make up most of the positive comments to Littlejohns web articles; take comfort in the illusion that they are the last line of defence against the ZanuLabour tyranny. That they are like William Walaces army in "Braveheart", the silent few persecuted by the PC brigade. Perhaps it gives a sense of empowerment to some who are big on self worth, but short on influence, to think you are the victim of some vast conspiracy, rather than just being a distant side player with no real say in the greater scheme of things, having opinions no-one wants to hear. If the world is against you, you matter. If the world passes you by, you don't.
So that lies at the heart of what I really don't like about the book. Course it's full of shit, what else would it be? But as the "Voice of the silent majority" it doesn't even attempt to "undo" 13 years of "madness" It just alienates the people it claims to speak for. What are they but a downtrodden mass, unable to empower themselves against a tyrannical, politically correct Reich of concensus. On this point alone the book fails its objective (big surprise). No, if a pundit wants to really kickstart a new change of political direction in a time of such voter apathy, we need to reassess our real role in bringing about change, to really delve to the roots of how to get out of the economic mess. We need to re-invigorate the democratic process, and not expend so much time perpetuating idiotic urban myths against red herring targets, that distract from real problems we face.
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