Sir, - Last January, Rupert Murdoch, the king of the gutter press, was honoured with a papal knighthood and given the title of Knight Commander of Gregory. Last February, the Vatican confirmed it had made representations to Britain in favour of the former Chilean despot, General Pinochet. Who knows, they may get it right yet?
Now, Sir Rupert is pontificating on Tibet. He says that the Dalai Lama is "a very political monk shuffling around in Gucci shoes". But what does he really mean? This was no gaffe. Murdoch knew exactly what he was doing. He is prepared to do or say anything to get what he wants. He wants to curry favour with China and belittling the Dalai Lama and Tibet is all part of his game plan. Blaming the victim is a favourite ploy of tyrants.
According to Murdoch, the Tibetans should forget all about the genocidal occupation they have endured for decades. They should stop complaining about the loss of their ancient culture. Don't they understand that they are so much better off under the Chinese? They would know this, of course, if they watched Murdoch's Star TV, where they would not see anything objectionable about the Chinese government.
As for Murdoch's comment that Bill Gates wants to take over the world, this is a classic example of projection, and just what one would expect from a megalomaniac. - Yours, etc.,
Myles Crowe, Old Brewery Lane, Clonakilty, Co Cork.