Lucy Mangan on the people in the media spotlight in the past seven days
Remarked down
Oliver Letwin
It was alleged that a government minister had argued against airport expansion plans on the grounds that "we don't want more families from Sheffield flying off on cheap holidays". The minister was rapidly media-determined to be Letwin (pictured) ? mainly, it seems, because he has that kind of face.
It was Boris Johnson, lobbying for said expansion, who disclosed the remark, which does put the observer in a quandary. Believe the most disingenuous man in politics outside the cabinet? Or disbelieve and squander the chance to throw a bucketful of hate in That Face? Difficult times. Difficult, difficult times.
Stop talking
Glenn Beck
Beck, the former swivel-eyed darling of Fox, is being "transitioned off" his slot there after advertisers and even viewers started staying away in droves. Yes, apparently even among Fox News aficionados, it appears that there is a limit to the number of controversial remarks they will stomach. And it is somewhere between claims that Obama is "a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture ? a racist" and a description of Hungarian-born financier George Soros as "a Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps" ? both of which have been among the most recent pearls of wisdom dispensed by the "news" "caster". Bye bye, Beck, bye bye.
He gets knocked down ?
Charlie Sheen
The "Inexplicably Hitherto Unassailable Section" of the US celebrity market seems to be having quite a clearout. The wheels appear finally to be coming off the rampaging Charlie Sheen vehicle. He crashed and burned during the opening night in Detroit of his My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not An Option tour of the US. People found the toothless, coke-addicted, wife-assaulting, permanently rambling former star of Two and a Half Men unprepared and "not funny enough" in the show, and demanded refunds.
He did, however, receive a standing ovation in Chicago the next night, when the format had been tweaked into a Q&A session. Structure, you see, that's what the addict needs. After that, it's all plain sailing.
Enjoy your Saturday.
What we've learned
? The number of solicitors in England and Wales has tripled over the last 30 years
? The average commuter carries �1,700 worth of gadgets with him
? Bed bug infestations in the UK have increased by 40% since last year
? Adele has ousted Madonna as the longest UK chart topper ? 10 weeks and counting
? and what we haven't
? What happens when you release 11,500 tonnes of radioactive water into the sea. But we're about to.
What they said
"Don't leave it. You might be the one who steps in it the next time you walk this way." One of the notes stuck into abandoned dog mess by the mysterious Pooperman, current scourge of Lincoln's befouled streets.
"Our family dog has a thing about the post and, of all the letters he could have got his teeth into, he went for the royal invitation, so it's got a corner missing." Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
"To me, it's Downton Abbey with fellatio, really." Maureen Lipman capsule-reviews the BBC's adaptation of The Crimson Petal and the White
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/apr/09/this-week-oliver-letwin
George W. Bush Hillary Clinton Bill Clinton Rudy Giuliani Jimmy Carter
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