A few days ago, Terry Jones of Monty Python fame penned a funny and insightful piece about the UK-Iran “crisis.” It began as follows:
I share the outrage expressed in the British press over the treatment of our naval personnel accused by Iran of illegally entering their waters. It is a disgrace. We would never dream of treating captives like this – allowing them to smoke cigarettes, for example, even though it has been proven that smoking kills.
The same day Jones’ piece appeared in the Guardian, the following appeared in the UK’s Telegraph:
“It was deplorable,” pronounced our tight-lipped Health Secretary, “that the woman hostage should be shown smoking. This sends completely the wrong message to our young people.”