Is he Rabbitte-ing on again or is he right?

So Rabbitte got his comeuppance, much of which was undoubtedly due. But let’s, for a moment, separate the messenger from the message. Did he say anything at all that was worth considering? The media (hold the front page!) are not flawless. Neither should they be above criticism.

PAT Rabbitte has been getting it in the neck for the last week or so, since he offered another of his frequently entertaining opinions. Rabbitte had a cut at the media, a hazardous business at the best of times.

“You are dealing with a very cranky media, who advocate tough decision-making, and when they get tough decisions they start piddling around at the edges trying to unravel it,” he said in an interview with the Irish Times. “There is an all-pervasive negativity in the media that is not helping the mood of a people that is in distress and difficulty. I don’t think the media give a damn about where this is going to bring politics. It is worthy of some thought on where the constant denigration of politics is going to bring us.”