Implausible Deniablity

Rupert Murdoch's sycophants and brownnosers are all over the place claiming that Rupert is just a senile puppy who would never do anything the least bit naughty. They claim that this man who bragged for decades about being a hands-on newspaperman is now lost and out of touch. Poppycock!

What is known:

• For a long time Rupert has used his media empire to build a political power base.
• He has used his news organizations to promote his friends and slander his enemies.
• His people have wiretapped others for a very long time both to get information to extort political concessions and to attack rivals such as former British PM Gordon Brown and MSMBC host Keith Olbermann.
• His people have bribed policemen in the UK and probably the US. The big unasked question is whether Murdoch successfully bribed Secret Service agents during the Clinton Administration. The answer is almost certainly yes.
• Rupert has been active in trying to loosen anti-bribery laws.

What can be deduced:

• Rupert does not get detailed reports from his employees of their criminal enterprises. Call it plausible deniability or effective delegation, he need only pass his desires along to Roger Ailes and Rebekah Brooks and they'd see to it that his wishes were fulfilled.
• Rupert knew illegal activity was widespread partly because he tended to hire people with limited scruples but mostly because it is the cultivated atmosphere of News Corp.
• Everyone involved from Murdoch to Scotland Yard to PM David Cameron have a vested interest in limiting any bribery investigations. The true scope will never be known.