I can just imagine the assignment desk editor at The Spectator saying, "McKinstry ! Write something on this genealogy business. My brother-in-law is obsessed by it and I can't stand the bloody blogger. You know what to do, put genealogy down and make the people look stupid. I don't need it good, I need it Tuesday."
So dutifully McKinstry sets out to write as he is told. It reminds me of Rex Reed some years ago determined to make a name for himself as a movie critic being flamboyantly obnoxious and cutting about the people he was reviewing, much like the English chap on American Idol whose name I am proud to say I do not know.
If you are a young fashion designer determined to make a reputation and set your new career on an upward course, you might contrive a more flamboyant fashion trend. Or, you might try to make a name for yourself by wittily burlesquing the garments of celebrities for television viewers. You might even publish a worst dressed list.
It's cynical and it cheapens us all.
