Tim Blair

NEVER PUBLIC

Julie Burchill’s excellent and widely-noted piece on her departure from The Guardian to the Murdoch-owned Times -- I like Joanne Jacobs’ line: “Columnists don't write like this in America. It just isn't done. Except on blogs, of course” -- contains but one thing with which I disagree:

[At the Times], I will compose as many love letters to the likes of Mr Murdoch and Pres Bush as my black little heart desires, leaving those who have always objected to my presence on such a fine liberal newspaper as this to read only writers they agree with, with no chance of spoiled digestion as the muesli goes down the wrong way if I so much as murmur about bringing back hanging. (Public.)

Public hanging? No, no, no. That won’t do at all. I prefer the view expressed in this cartoon. And in other illustration news, Lileks is right: you don’t see this in cartoons anymore. Those degenerate Jetsons were even more subversive than South Park.