Unspun

There is something very unsavory about how former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is positioning himself as the Blogger’s Best Friend – and how some bloggers are swallowing his ruse hook, line and sinker.Look at his track record. Mahathir has never been one to even tolerate free speech. His only instance of doing so was to allow Malaysiakini.com to continue existing, even though then his government made it hard for the organization.

Of course Mahathir would cozy up to bloggers now and say soothing words like they are responsible. By doing so he achieves three things: 1. gives the Badawi administration a slap in the face for their attacks on bloggers, 2. secures some newspaper coverage and 3. have bloggers disseminating his messages in a positive manner.

The truth is that if Mahathir is in power today, prominent bloggers like Jeff Ooi and Rocky would not only be sued; they would probably be slapped with the ISA.

So let’s have some justified skepticism please among bloggers writing about Tun M. The man’s a spinmeister par excellence.

clipped from www.smh.com.au Malaysia’s former premier Mahathir Mohamad Wednesday emerged as an unlikely champion for the country’s bloggers, arguing they provide a valuable source of news.Mahathir, who in recent months has complained he was being censored by mainstream media, said people were turning to blogs and online news journals because of Malaysia’s tightly controlled media.”There is no doubt that bloggers have provided us with an alternative source of news. By and large, they have been responsible,” Mahathir said after speaking at a conference on the media and national development.