Poppycock

Staying in a bed and breakfast for a poetry conference this weekend, I did something I very rarely do, and watched TV. As I tucked into my morning fry-up it was there on the wall, the sound respectably inaudible. Nevertheless, I got the picture. It is Remembrance Sunday on the Andrew Marr show and we start with the news. Shots of a 5000 year old city, exploding in smoke (War is difficult isn’t it?). Graphics of quotes from US statements about terrorists (but war is righteous), shots of radical preacher complete with beard (war is necessary). Brave spies, un-hostaged returning to the US to be greeted by their tearful family. The Berlin Wall, 25 years on. Isn’t freedom great?