I do not share the sense of shock-horror that some circles are expressing after the leaking of the list, put together in the FCO, of things that might be included in the papal itinerary. I find it essentially reassuring that the sense of humour of the secularist generation is thereby revealed as so lacking in sophistication and real old-style satiric wit. A condom factory, indeed. Oh, ha and ha and ha. When I was teaching as recently as the 1990s, even a 4th-form set could have come up with something funnier.
What would be disquieting would be evidence that this generation of young brain-washed secularists were capable of clever, revealing, subtle satire ... such as that of Ronnie Knox or G K Chesterton or Q Horatius Flaccus.
Good to know that our enemies can only hoodwink the intellectually challenged members of society. Worrying, however, that these dim robotic twits are being employed at public expense.
It seems that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can no longer find recruits who are of the intellectual stature of a Sir Humphrey Appleby. The FCO now has to settle for recruits with the intellectual stature of Winnie the Pooh instead.
ReplyDeleteI see from the paper today that the FCO dolt who wrote this is a product of a university located in the same city as the church of which the world's most celebrated compiler of liturgical notes is the priest-in-charge, a characteristic he shares with such great luminaries as the Mayor of London and that great statesman our alleged future Prime Minister, Mr Cameron. Oh tempora, o mores.
ReplyDeleteNow, now, AndrewWS, the sins of the son shall not be visited upon the father…!
ReplyDeleteI’m sure that if the dolt in question had had a modicum of instruction from our esteemed Father H. he would have seen the error of his ways much earlier and would have a better appreciation of what constitutes acceptable humor and sarcasm.
And yes, Flying Dutchman, I’m sure Sir Humphrey would have been aghast at such a faux pas and would have ensured that the offending memo was appropriately filed and the miscreant dispatched to more appropriate endeavors in the bowels of the Civil Service bureaucracy.
Father,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it was a ptitful attempt at less than sophomoric "potty humor". It's infortunate because with a little creativity they could have produced a list that Noel Coward might have enjoyed.
What troubles me more is that the tacky media found it newsworthy and simply couldn't wait to "dish the dirt".
It all began going downhill after Oxford University dropped the compulsory Latin paper as an entrance requirement.
ReplyDeleteIt turns out the "dolt" was a Balliol man. Probably much rejoicing in the Trinity JCR tonight (or then again, maybe not.)