02/04/2008
NEWS STORY
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Among the many folders in Outlook, I have one simply titled, 'assholes'. I am sure you can imagine what sort of e-mails are filed away in there.
There have been several new additions to the folder in the past couple of days, all from readers demanding to know why Pitpass hasn't been covering the ongoing 'Mosley saga' in any great depth.
By 'great depth' of course, these readers want us to proclaim the FIA President guilty as charged and demand that he walks away from the sport with immediate effect.
Whilst I would not call myself Mr Mosley's number one fan, I do not subscribe to the argument that, like Michael Schumacher before him, he is the worst thing to happen to F1 and the cause of all its ills. Whilst I might be totally against the current engine rules and numerous other regulations that the FIA has introduced under his stewardship I do not regard his as the anti-Christ, the architect of all that is wrong with this world. My god, one reader even compared Mr Mosley to the odious Robert Mugabe!
The notion that one is innocent until proven guilty cuts no ice with some, nor does the fact that there are always two sides to every story. I must admit to being in favour of the return of capital punishment in Britain, but having witnessed the zealousness with which some have approached this particular episode I am not so sure.
If this story is 100 percent true, if the President of the FIA has, in seeking his own self-gratification trivialised victims of the Holocaust, no matter his family name, then he must go, and good riddance. Furthermore, he must go now, without further ado.
However, I repeat, the story must be 100 percent accurate, we must be certain beyond all reasonable doubt that Mr Mosley is guilty of that with which he has been accused, and in honesty, I have to say that this is what is bugging me.
I have to ask, why News Corp appears to have such an obvious agenda. In addition to having broken the story on Sunday in its News of The World publication, the story has been pushed via other divisions of the company, including The Times, The Sun and Sky News.
On Monday morning, The Times was running as many as five different stories on it website, all related to the Mosley saga, while on Tuesday we had Sun journalist Jon Gaunt giving the matter national coverage on Sky News in his role as 'guest' newspaper reviewer.
The Times, in particular kept churning out the stories; 'Mosley to stay at FIA despite 'Nazi orgy'', 'Max Mosley factfile', 'Sex, Nazis and videotape: Max Mosley orgy is big news in Germany', 'Orgies through the ages' and 'Paddy Hitler, Brian Hitler, Max Mosley'.
And just why is it that the related (three) articles - and I write as a webmaster of some experience, so I know about such matters - included a news item from last October, when Mosley dared to suggest that the media was getting carried away with regards Lewis Hamilton. "There is always somebody new," Mosley had said. "If it wasn't him it would be one of the other new stars. There is a tendency to exaggerate the importance of Hamilton."
Why the inclusion here, after all this time? Was it to suggest, allied with the Nazi scoop, that Mr Mosley was really downplaying Hamilton's achievements for racist reasons?
One has to ask, why exactly has this become such a cause célèbre for News Corp.
The case is built upon video of a five-hour sex session, allegedly involving Mr Mosley and five prostitutes. Now as repugnant as that might sound to some, others will treat such carryings on with a 'wink-wink, say no more' attitude. Indeed, Pitpass' very own Mike Lawrence has requested the source of the magical spring that the FIA President drinks from - five hours of rumpy-pumpy at 67 is impressive by any standards.
What sets this video apart however, and what gives this whole saga its sinister edge is the claim that Mosley is enacting some sort of Nazi fantasy, which, although sick in itself, takes on a whole new meaning when one considers his family background.
However, in this regard something is bothering me. I've looked at the pictures and the video - which have since been removed from The News of the World website - and something's missing. It's that iconic symbol that has existed for a couple of thousand years, having been first used in Neolithic India but subsequently made infamous by The Third Reich, the swastika.
Ignoring the fact that, for the most part, Mosley is wearing a white shirt and slacks, we are told that the pictures show a Nazi punishment scene with guards and prisoners. Well, the 'guards' don't look much like Nazis to me, they look pretty much like any other leather/PVC clad dominatrix.
As an example, I did a quick search, and came across the following website Joke.co.uk. I'm not sure what my wife will make of it but under Adult Fancy Dress I found some interesting results, especially under Cops and Robbers (ugh!). However, enter 'Nazi' in the search box and surprise, surprise, look at the results, some nifty little outfits but none of them present in the infamous pictures.
The very fact that this one particular company has Nazi outfits available says a lot about modern society, but then we know from experience that despite the offence such things will cause there are people out there willing to wear them.
Make no mistake, I am not an apologist for Max Mosley, far from it. However, something about this just isn't right. We are told that we are witnessing a concentration camp scene, and therefore this is what we believe. However, based on this one particular website the uniforms shown come straight out of 'Cops and Robbers', whereas there is nothing even remotely similar to the Nazi outfits the very same company has available.
If Max Mosley wishes to spend his time (and money) playing fantasy games with a bunch of hookers, that's down to him. My idea of games in Soho is a p***-up in The French House, The Coach and The Ship. However, while the man might be stupid enough to allow himself to get caught on camera with a quintet of tarts, are we to really believe that he would do so knowing how this would be construed if the Nazi role play allegations are correct.
This saga has the potential to do serious, almost irreparable damage to the sport, and as I have said before if it is 100 percent true then Mosley must do the decent thing and resign, no ifs, no buts.
However, if this is a tabloid newspaper with its own agenda, taking a man's private life and putting its own spin on it in an effort to sell more newspapers, then that is quite a different matter.
For, apart from anything else, one would have to wonder who might be next… maybe even you.
Chris Balfe
Editor