The Draper-Staines mudfight: Staines won
I wasn’t going to comment on yesterday’s very unedifying willy-waving contest between Derek ‘Labour List‘ Draper and Paul ‘Guido Fawkes‘ Staines as it was, predictably enough, a deeply unedifying slanging match. Everyone has pointed this out and a few people have pointed out that it did particular damage to political blogging and that we don’t want another Paul Staines.
Unfortunately, no-one has pointed out that slanging matches act in Staines’ favour. Whether you accept his professed, apartisan libertarianism or see him as a movement conservative, he is profoundly anti-politics. Anything that makes politics look ineffectual, makes politicians look remote and makes the politically interested look like a bizarre, obsessive sub-class who are more interested in point-scoring than in improving the lot of their fellows acts in his favour is a result for Staines – even if it’s him being made to look like a bizarre politico hack. Even when he loses, he wins.
All this extends beyond the interview on the Daily Politics and on to the dossier, accusation and counter-accusation bouncing round on blogs. In fairness to Derek Draper, he’s done well to push himself back into public life with Labour List. However, he is taking on a mantle for himself as a ‘left wing Guido’; that suggests to me that Staines has won before he’s started.
That’s enough metablogging for now…
xD.
March 27th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Would you not say that Draper is becoming a little too obsessive w/Guido? Sure, you could argue the same the other way, but Derek is meant to be behind a blog for the Labour movement. Guido has no movement.
As I’ve blogged before, LabourList – which has published some good pieces of late – may never reach its potential as Derek Draper continues to use it for his own personal battles. That’s why he set up his own personal blog. But if you see his posting yesterday, the man just can’t help himself.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
I absolutely agree with you.
xD.
March 28th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hurrah!