Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Gospel According To Losantos

Difficult times over at the COPE, the Spanish radio station owned by the Catholic Church. After a couple of years of rumours about his imminent departure, it does now seem that the Reverend Federico Jiménez Losantos is about to part company with the COPE. It appears that even the bishops have finally had enough of the daily dose of insults and conspiracy theories, the fact that Losantos has recently turned more of his fire on the Partido Popular rather than on the sinners and unbelievers probably hasn’t assisted his cause.

Rather than just sack him directly, the COPE have offered Losantos a move from his prime time morning slot to a less popular evening programme which he would have to share with his big friend Cesar Vidal. Difficult though it would be for this Little and Large of the loony right to share a cramped studio, the offer clearly doesn’t take into account the size of Federico’s ego. Losantos has presented himself recently in his morning sermons as the man who saved La Cope from destruction. The lost army of anonymous commenters who endlessly roam the plains of Castilla y Leon will no doubt be out and about ensuring that we hear of his "legion" of admirers. Some of the more fanatical have even gone a bit too far for the Reverend himself, with threats to withhold their contribution to the church on their tax declarations. However, what becomes clear above all is that the number one fan of Losantos is Federico himself.

So far the man beneficiaries of the tussle look like being the lawyers, as Losantos attempts to extract whatever he can in return for surrendering his contract. We don’t know yet whether Vidal will join him in abandoning the ship. The latter is a prolific author, and has definitively overturned the maxim that quality should come before quantity, he seems to produce a new book on something every week. The proposed replacement for Losantos, Ignacio Villa, has clearly taken all the Libertad Digital dog eat dog, everyone for themselves, philosophy a bit too seriously for the liking of Federico, and has now been frozen out of the inner circle as a result of being tempted by the offer from the COPE

Not to worry. Losantos, after so long spent praying at the shrine of Santa Espe de Mumbai, has received his just reward. In the knick of time the heavens have opened and a radio frequency for the holy city of Madrid has fallen into the hands of Losantos and his other good friend Pedro Jota Ramirez. Whilst some believe that Fede has been cast out into the wilderness because of his decision to place PP leader Mariano Rajoy in the nationalist/terrorist/socialist camp, there are those who argue that setting up a rival radio network to that of your current employer doesn't necessarily help your future employment prospects. The heretics will soon be harangued from a new pulpit; at least once the lawyers have finished having their say.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unos simples comentarios para aquellos ingleses (o gentes que sepan inglés) y tomen lo que se dice en este blog como una aproximación a las cosas que pasan en España

- Federico Jiménez Losantos no es "Reverend", ni siquiera es cristiano o religioso. Hay varios libros escritos por él donde explica su recorrido intelectual y político que le costó bien caro. Ahí está su "Gospel"

- Federico Jiménez Losantos no ha salvado a la Cope de su destrucción. Lo que ha hecho es un trabajo de años que ha situado a la emisora Cope en segundo lugar tras la todopoderosa Cadena SER, la emisora oficial favorecida por el todopoderoso socialismo. Aparte de lo cual, FJL tiene una larga carrera en el periodismo escrito y electrónico, hecha a partir de su esfuerzo, iniciativa e ideas propias.

- El líder de la derecha, Mariano Rajoy se ha pasado al campo de la resignación. Es algo parecido a lo que se dice de Blair y Tatcher (no sé si será cierto), Blair aceptó los éxitos de la política conservadora y no cambió sus medidas económicas. Mariano Rajoy ha aceptado los hechos políticos de ZP que no son éxitos sino chapuzas en la organización del Estado. Mariano Rajoy no cambiará nada para lo cual ha cambiado la línea política y la organización de su partido, eso le lleva a poner buena cara ante el nacionalismo oficializado, buscar un apaño para los terroristas y tragarse la política socialista. a la vez que da ilusiones de que va a arreglar no sé qué, España, la crisis, vete a saber. De momento arregla lo suyo.

- Saint Espe de Mumbai es Esperanza Aguirre, la Presidenta de la Comunidad de Madrid que salió viva del atentado islamista en la ciudad de Bombay.

Graeme said...

Thanks for the clarification Anon, there I was thinking that he was a bishop. As for Santa Espe, I'm afraid that on this blog we have several other titles for her - ranging from La Condesa to plain old Espe, passing through the Pauper President (a bit out of fashion now) and La Lideresa. In exceptional circumstances, such as when we she gives free media licences to her media friends we may even call her the Patron Saint of Todos Losantos.

Troy said...

Congrats Graeme!

A tribute to your popularity! An English speaking PP member found you and 'set us straight'!

Thanks for that by the way Anon, I'm sure FJL thanks you too for recognizing 'su labor'...though the word intellectual may translate poorly here. Indeed, let us recognize his talents as a racist xenophobe behind the mic that has even irked the todopoderoso Vatican.

Again, thanks for setting us straight there Anon.

Tom said...

@Troy - you shouldn't be so hard on Losantos: his relationship with the PP is one of betrayal, lies and toeing the party line to promote utter crap.

...

I get it! Anonymous is oLsantos!

Tom said...

I obv. meant 'Losantos'. Please correct if poss.

Anonymous said...

Ciertamente esto de las palabras y, de propina, las traducciones, suele traer confusión. Acepto la corrección de una palabra y rehago uno de los comentarios:

- Federico Jiménez Losantos no es "Reverend", ni siquiera es cristiano o religioso. Hay varios libros escritos por él donde explica su recorrido personal y político que le costó bien caro. Ahí está su "Gospel"

Es mejor dejar la palabra "intelectual" para aquellos que se la merecen, y son legiones, escuadrones, batallones, cuerpos de intelectuales organizados por intelectuales. Casi no queda nada que no sea intelectual. Sin duda es un éxito intelectual. Lo admito y procuraré no mezclar más la palabra "intelectual" con su verdadero significado.

Graeme said...

More than toeing the party line, I think what Losantos has tried to do is use his position to try and control the PP's positions. Rajoy's great sin is to have got in the way.

Anyway, in search of some "intellectual" exercise, and following Tom's lead I decided to see how easy it is to make anagrams of Losantos. In no time at all I had "not a loss", "soon last" and "toon lass". The third is perhaps the least promising. With "Reverend Losantos" I'm sure we could get much more

Tom said...

Toon Lass is muc better than oLsantos. Still, I wrote that comment after returning from night 2 of Primavera Sound, so you're lucky that it didn't consist entirely of 'anagrams' :-)

Loan Toss.

Graeme said...

Solo ants

The possibilities are almost endless.