Dalrymple’s writing for the Daily Express is always a little more pedestrian than his usual stuff. No long and syntactically tortured sentences here. These pieces also seem to be a little more populist in tone, usually criticizing MP’s or government bureaucrats on behalf of ordinary citizens.
This piece from last week discusses MP’s who apparently were not sufficiently chastened by the exposure of their outrageous expense claims.
UPDATE: I want to make this more clear. The “syntactically tortured” comment is a sarcastic reference to this satire on Dalrymple’s new book Spoilt Rotten wherein the writer criticizes Dalrymple’s writing style. Obviously I don’t think Dalrymple’s writing is syntactically tortured, or I wouldn’t positively gush about it (as I did here).
Or created this website, for that matter.
The Guardian review doesn’t surprise me in the least. The best bit is the sign off about Make Poverty History – especially the inference that the best way to deal with poverty is for well-meaning Westerners to simply give money to the world’s poor.
This wretched belief is typical of the Guardianistas of this world, about whom Daniels often writes. They rather like the idea that the only way of solving the problems of mankind is for morally outraged urbanites to Do Something About It. For thse morons, to suggest for a minute that people are better off, or even capable of, improving their own lot is callous – like kicking a man when he’s down.
The real reason for such beliefs is that it allows its advocates to feel that they are on the side of the angels – a feeling that would be denied to them if their cherished worldview (with victims on one side, selfish Daily Mail readers on the other and them in the middle bravely defending the former from the latter) was ever threatened.
Unfortunately, as long as these cretins maintain the moral upper-hand with their stupid, black-and-white verson of reality, it’s very hard to argue against them.