The Vicious Bite of the Sanctomonosaurus Rex

This week the CBC National's own sanctomonious buffoon, Rex Murphey, sounded off again after it was announced that Bono was moving U2 to the Netherlands. Learning that the reasons given were tax-based, Rex's instinct for apparent hypocrasy set him to salivating faster than Pavlov's dog after the bell. He began licking his journalistic chops, fired up his Microsoft Word and got ready to pounce. He tore into not just Bono, but Madonna too. How dare they, these pretentious and insincere superstars, how dare they presume to pass themselves off as altruist, do-gooders. All they really want, is to save their fortunes, appear nice and maybe hang out with Bill Clinton. Rex's mean-mindedness shows how truly reptilian journalists wanting to make a splash, can actually be.

Here's my letter to the National:

I am a huge fan of the National. It is great news programming and our Canadian sense of fairplay and objectivity is well represented in almost all of the programme's editorial perspectives. I say almost, because the shrill, weekly whinny offered up by Rex Murphy is the sole exception. Rex Murphy is a big hot wind bag. Having sat quietly, for years, fuming through the tirades of the Sanctimonosaurus Rex, I finally have to speak. What a rich irony it is that cynical Rex tells Bono to “lecture us no more.” Rex, after all, has made a career out of the gaseous ballyhoo. Now he chides Bono for his band's decision to move from Ireland to the Netherlands, a move apparently based on the tax policies of the latter. Rex would have us believe that making a sound business decision is at odds or is inconsistent with being philanthropic. Fame and success are one thing, says Rex; but one mustn't be seen attempting to hold onto that fame and success, whilst also using it to speak out about world crises and horrors. In Rex’s moral universe, it is apparently illegitimate for Bono to protect the very platform that has allowed him to call the worlds very fickle attention to these same crises. Meanwhile, one might well ask what snippy intellectual snoots like Rex have done lately for the world’s destitute. Either do as much for the wretched as Bono has, or pack away your thesaurus, Rex.

The National's Executive Producer, Jonathan Whitten responded:

Dear El Moe,

Thanks for your e-mail. Your points are well taken, particularly throwing the "lecture us no more" line back at Rex. I'll make sure he sees your comments.

Jonathan Whitten

Executive Producer

The National