What a difference.

Our present system of government was inherited from the British but whereas the British have been trying to change and improve their system we have not only kept the worst aspects of colonial rule but added to them though experience. Yesterday Lord Justice Leveson delivered his report on his inquiry into the phone hacking scandal precipitated by the hacking of the phone of the murdered teenager, Milly Dowler by journalists at the News Of The World. He recommended that there should be an independent regulator for the press, set up by an act of parliament, with powers to fine or imprison reporters. Presently the Press Complaints Commission is financed by the industry and has no powers to enforce its ruling, making the press self regulated. What is to be noted is that he did not recommend that the government should regulate the press but that it should empower a regulator who would be independent of the press and, presumably, of the government. Within 90 minutes, the Prime Minister, David Cameron was standing in the House of Commons refusing to pass any such act. He said," For the first time we would have crossed the Rubicon, writing elements of Press regulation into the law of the land. We should, I believe, be wary of any legislation which has the potential to infringe free speech and a free press. In this House, which has been a bulwark of democracy for centuries, we should think very, very carefully before crossing this line." Yet members of parliament had to face a torrid time in 2009 when the Telegraph group paid 110,000 pounds to someone to obtain information on claims for expenses filed by MPs and printed them daily in lurid detail. This exposed all politicians to ridicule and fury of the people, several went to prison and many were forced to resign their seats. Cameron himself had to endure an uncomfortable time when he was examined by a barrister at the inquiry about his phone messages to Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the News Of The World. The Guardian, which is a mainstream liberal newspaper, prints cartoons of Cameron with a condom over his head presumably depicting him as, what is known in American slang, a " dickhead ". George Bush used to be shown as a chimpanzee holding a chained Tony Blair as a poodle. No one ever dreamed of objecting. Yet here Aseem Trivedi was charged with sedition, a British era law to control pesky " natives ", when he drew cartoons deriding the parliament. Cameron's pride comes from his personal integrity and a sense of honor. Our lot remind us of the drug gang who abducted Maria Santos Gorrostieta,  the female mayor of Tiquicheo in Mexico 10 days ago. Her body was found on 26 November stabbed, burned, battered and bound at  wrist and ankle. Her crime? She spoke out against crime. What a difference between us and them.