By Vladimir McTavish
Copyright scotsman
Days after Keir Starmer sacked Lord Mandelson for being a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, he was rolling out the red carpet and welcoming another of Epstein’s buddies with open arms. Of course, there’s nothing unusual in Peter Mandelson getting the sack. When he was first appointed as UK Ambassador in Washington, the clock started counting down to an ignominious exit. Over the last 25 years he has made a career out resigning in disgrace. And always because of shady connections to some very dodgy people. Yet, don’t bet against him rising Lazarus-like from the dead in the future, in some other government post. And while Starmer may have chosen to ignore Trump’s connections to Epstein, it was heartening to see that this did not wash with the great British public and their great sense of humour. While the whole state visit was held behind closed doors for fear of provoking rioting in the street, some wags from the group Led By Donkeys projected a picture of Trump and Epstein onto the walls of Windsor Castle. Four people were later arrested for the stunt, presumably under the new crime of having a bit of a laugh. It was somewhat laughable to witness a state visit without the usual pomp and carriage parades through the streets. Like watching a football game played in an empty stadium during the Covid pandemic. And while Trump was enjoying the first-ever state visit to be held behind closed doors, America was still losing its collective mind over the shooting of Charlie Kirk. The far-right are already holding him up as a martyr. Flags have been flown at half-mast. Late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel has been taken off-air for comments that riled Trump supporters. Charlie Kirk was an odious man with some disgusting opinions. He himself glorified in the deaths of others, most notably celebrating the killing of George Floyd. Did he deserve to die? Of course not. If people were to be killed for having disgusting opinions, there would have corpses piling up on the streets of London last weekend after the Unite The Kingdom rally. People have been saying he was a family man and we should feel sorry for his wife and kids. I do. But guess what? I felt sorry for them when he was alive. Imagine living in the same house as that guy. However, the most bizarre reaction had to be Bob Dylan stopping mid-concert for a minute’s silence for Kirk and the victims of 9/11, as if they were one and the same thing. Of course, many people think that old Robert Zimmerman lost his marbles some decades ago, but really? Comparing thousands of innocent victims of terrorism to the shooting of one leading figure in America’s MAGA movement is hardly the sign of sanity. We live in strange days when the conscience of liberal sixties America holds a minute’s silence in honour of a racist right-wing thug. It’s hard not to recall one of Dylan’s most famous lyrics. He once sang that “the times they are a changing”. You can say that again, Bob.
