Murdoch Mea Culpa Too Little Too Late

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Friday was a busy day for both Rupert Murdoch and News Corp.  My hunch is that Murdoch finally realized just how much trouble he was in and changed course from " how dare you"  to " I'm sorry", taking out full page ads in newspapers all over the UK to issue a formal mea culpa.  The ad said in part:

"I realise that simply apologising is not enough. Our business was founded on the idea that a free and open press should be a positive force in society. We need to live up to this.

Yah, sure.  I bet that apology was damage control engineered by Murdoch's newly hired PR and lobbying firm, Edelman.  I bet the same is true of his sudden willingness to appear before Parliament on Tuesday, his  apology to the Dowler family  and the sudden resignations of his right and left hands, News of the World CEO, Rebekah Brooks  and Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal chief, Les Hinton.

Oh, how the mighty are fallen. It is nice to see Rupert writhe, but I am not buying it.  Edelman does good work, but the last thing Murdoch is, is "sorry"

Follow the Money

News Corp is an American corporation, registered in Delaware. It can be prosecuted under United States law.  Furthermore, Murdoch is the owner of Fox News,Twentieth Century Fox, Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post among many other things here in the USA.  The extent of his political and financial power is only beginning to be seen.

  A bit of history quoted here from MSNBC's Powerwall blog and well worth reading in full:

News Corp. is “well into the upper echelon of entities” trying to influence the federal government, says Dave Levinthal, editor of OpenSecrets.org, a Web site that catalogues special interest spending. Its biggest weapon? Lobbying, by far. The company has dispensed more than $42 million since 2001 ..."

and some details from the same source

 The vast majority of Murdoch's money, however, goes to Republican candidates and causes. In 2010, as the GOP was trying to retake the House, Senate and several state houses, News. Corp. donated an eye-popping $1.25 million to the Republican Governors Association and $1 million to the Chamber of Commerce.

 The move angered some shareholders, who demanded more transparency from the company. As the News of the World imbroglio grows, more attention is being paid to that second seven-figure gift because the chamber has been advocating for reforming Foreign Corrupt Practices Act—the very law the Justice Department could use to pursue News Corp. executives for the phone hacking scandal.

 No forgiveness for Rupert in sight..  He is going down.  He's sacrificing the people closest to him as well as a couple of profitable businesses in a last ditch effort to save his image., but now he has NewsCorp shareholders, Scotland Yard, and the FBI on his case. I'm betting his next sacrifice will be his son-- hmmmm maybe he really does think he's God after all.

Mea culpa, my foot.  Rupert Murdoch is as full of hubris as ever and THAT, as the ancient Greeks knew, will be his downfall.