The Story is Bribery Not Phone Hacking

Yes, it is corporate policy at News Corp. to hack and wiretap politicians, celebrates, and anyone else unfortunate enough to become newsworthy. And, yes, that is very illegal. But by far the bigger scandal is only rarely whispered about, News Corp's widespread bribery and blackmail practices.

Murdoch's minions have bribed and blackmailed politicians and police officials on at least four continents. It is kind of hard to tell where  the bribery carrot stops and the blackmail stick begins. Take Scotland Yard, for example. The ties between the Yard and Murdoch are incestuous and it is impossible to tell if the loyalty of Britain's top police officials to Murdoch was bought by money or threats.

Only a blind fool would believe Scotland Yard's story on the death of Sean Hoare. Hoare was the whistleblower in the News Corp scandal. Before bothering to investigate, the police quickly declared the death unsuspicious. Too many powerful people - the Murdochs, the Prime Minister, and Scotland Yard officials - benefit from the death (and a cover up of that death) of Hoare. "Suspicious" should be the default position until proven conclusively otherwise.