I've been watching TV this evening, I rarely do but I've been getting bored of my Xbox of late and after a long week at work I could do very little other than sit in front of the (other) box. I haven't really just sat in front of a TV for a long time, it generally leads to me ranting a little bit and generally irritating the people sat in the front room with me. That's pretty much what happened again this evening.

For those of you that are not from England, there is a pretty big media storm brewing at the moment. Our nations presses and seasoned hacks are printing out pulp vehemently, furiously in an attempt to maintain the anger of 'the masses' against virtually anyone that earns more than £50K a year.

I am not condoning the actions of a number of politicians that have decided to act liberally about expense conditions and regulations, a number of our MPs have been claiming expenses on mortgages for 'second homes' that have either been paid for already, have been sold on or were merely figments of an over-activeand very rich man's imagination. I believe that the people that have acted in a way that would cause an average man to be slaughtered by the authorities should be punished.

The thing that disgusts me is the way in which the English media seem to take a perverse delight in the 'expenses' witch hunt that is currently taking place.

This brings me back to watching television. As I sat downstairs, sated from my evening meal, lapping up media snippets and adverts like Soma I witnessed a senior journalist ranting and raging about how 'the working clas.ses are being made to look like fools!' I couldn't have agreed more with this initial statement, it was just the rest of his mindless dribble that nauseated me, the media are continually stoking a fire under the working clas.s through their constant baiting and blaming of different groups for the global economic crisis that is managing to affect almost every facet of life. A few months ago it was 'the bankers', these faceless toffs dressed in their saville row, three piece suits, strolling around with their brief cases packed with crisp Sterling and contempt for the 'working man'. So they managed to whip up enough fury to encourage people who have never even looked at the FTSE before in their entire lives to 'protest'. The weeks building up to the protest they warned that violence was expected. In other words, 'go on Joe Bloggs, take your frustrations out on these guys, go on, you love it, these men are taking the food from the mouths of your children... burn your effigies, we want blood'.

So the press got what they wanted,they condemned the protests with their 10 page specials and the 'thugs' that decided to smash up property, riot and provoke the police gave the media just what they wanted; good copy and more coal tostoke the firesof the angry public.

Like the hyperactive, weedy child in the school yard that shouts 'fight, fight, fight' and then blends into the crowd at the sign of trouble, the English press have managed to expertly craft and temper the ability to provoke the masses by picking away at the scabs and sores of the national psyche (the love of building up figures and then shooting them down, the hatred of other people's successes, the refusal to sometimes accept that bad things happen, the need for justice be it poetic or bloody) and then whipping them into a frenzy.

The journalist said that 'we, the common man, are being made to look like fools' and then they put us on television to rant about it. The amount of news and current affairs shows that have featured 'on the street' reports in which elderly and bedraggled pensioners that have long since given up any aspirations are always the first and the last ones to be asked "what do you think of the situation? do you trust x?" (where x is whatever group de jour that the media have decided to direct the public ire towards like a perverse cannon). Naturally these people will say no, they never will again. Brilliant journalism! Absolutely amazing, who would have thought that if you asked a person that survives on a state pension what they think of an affluent group that they'd show distrust?!?

So the media continue to poke the public, to spew out tabloids about this new scandal, they keep you sweet with side stories of famous couples that have 'never been happy together'. Joe Public can sit in his cubical on his lunch and read about these failures and he can feel relieved that the press know just what we, the public, like to hear.

So tell me more about why I can't get promoted. Give me a reason to hate the success of those around me. Give me a glimpse of how different my life could have been if I had a six pack.... Just don't tell me that I can say no to it all. That there may be ways of achieving success and how I could represent my fellow peers and that I could make a differer... oh wait, the next show is on... 'Plastic Surgery gone bad!'... Double plus good.