Ralph Miliband and the Daily Mail

The whole affair has affirmed my view that the Daily Mail is not a pleasant paper to read.
Why bother dragging up and insulting the memory of a dead man?

Others have said that Cameron's and Osborne's upbringing has similarly been questioned.
But I don't think that's right.
Someone said they've been accused of being 'posh boys' - that was actually an accusation levelled at them by Nadine Dorries, a tory. And in my opinion, the front bench on either side of the House is equally posh. So that doesn't wash.

The fact that Cameron's and Osborne's status has been questioned, I agree with. People have said they are products of Eton and they don't know how people on benefits live, that the laws they pass benefit people like them. I agree with that as well.
But I don't know Cameron's father's name, or his views, nor do I know Osborne's father's name, or views. I know he ran a paint company and became fabulously wealthy.
I don't believe any journalists have completed a widely-published hatchet-job on Cameron's or Osborne's father.

On the other hand, I don't think I'll ever forget Ralph Miliband's name, or the diary entry he wrote when he was 17.
Nor will I forget that Ralph Miliband served in the Royal Navy for three years while Rothermere sucked up to Hitler.
Nor will I forget that the Mail's attempt to smear Ralph Miliband, and Ed by association, backfired spectacularly and kept news from the Tory conference off the front pages.

The article published last week, and still causing bad feeling, shows more clearly than ever that British newspapers are merely the mouthpieces of their owners / editors, a way to promulgate bilge (in the case of the Mail).

You can love a country and question where it is going at the same time. You can question the necessity of the institutions and direction of political travel. That's because we live in a democracy.

The reason Ralph Miliband is so despised by the Daily Mail/Dacre, is because he questioned things.
The Daily Mail doesn't want you to question things.
It wants to tell you what's wrong with this country, and have you accept it wholesale.
It wants you to follow blindly its worldview.
You can't stop to think about this.
If you stop to think, you might notice the little man behind the curtain, telling you that this country is going to hell in a handcart.
What? No, there's no man there, don't look over there, look here, look at how Labour will screw up the country.
Look at how the country is falling apart because women don't stay at home to look after the children any more.
Look over here, and see how immigration is bringing this country to its knees...
Just don't look over there - there's nothing to see.

It's almost enough to make you vote for Ed Miliband, just to prove to Paul Dacre and the rest in charge at the Mail that this sort of crap won't wash.
If you deal in dishing dirt for long enough, you'll end up smelling of shit.