Boris Johnson

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

He's giving a live briefing right now and sounds rather breathless IMO.  He handed over to health expert rather hastily too.  On now on R4 (and possibly on some news channels, for those who prefer TV).

[JQW 282]

Bumped off by Manchester gangsters by the end of the month, perhaps?

[TQR 14,395]

1 hour ago, JQW said:

Bumped off by Manchester gangsters by the end of the month, perhaps?

[YoungWillz 21,044]

This statement to the people of Englandshire is taking forever. Maybe he is busy wiping the lobster and caviar from his tie?

 

Anyway, if he delays the start of Strictly, the people of the UK will never forgive him.

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218]

40 minutes ago, YoungWillz said:

This statement to the people of Englandshire is taking forever. Maybe he is busy wiping his cock on the curtains after fucking his housemaid?

 

Anyway, if he delays the start of Strictly, the people of the UK will never forgive him.

EFA.

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

So, anyone on here with more political insight than me, storm in and sort this conundrum

 

The one thing conspicuously missing for me in all this reporting of the ins and outs at Downing St. is Boris himself. Obviously, he's there physically but who the fuck is he? What I get from the various infighting stories is a sense of warring factions all of whom want him  to be the person they think he is. I read something recently that was funny and tragic in equal amount about Labour strategists debating what was meant by some missive Corbyn let slip whilst campaigning a year ago, they couldn't figure it out and Corbyn - in the room at the time - said nothing. Boris seems to have that same cypher like presence. I know there's a biography out atm suggesting he's like Trump (basically an inner child trying like hell to impress a brutal father who has the power to charm in public and terrorize at home). So, I get that Boris is good at fronting campaigns - but what kind of person is in there, anyone have an idea?

[RoverAndOut 4,746]

2 hours ago, maryportfuncity said:

So, anyone on here with more political insight than me, storm in and sort this conundrum

The one thing conspicuously missing for me in all this reporting of the ins and outs at Downing St. is Boris himself. Obviously, he's there physically but who the fuck is he? What I get from the various infighting stories is a sense of warring factions all of whom want him  to be the person they think he is. I read something recently that was funny and tragic in equal amount about Labour strategists debating what was meant by some missive Corbyn let slip whilst campaigning a year ago, they couldn't figure it out and Corbyn - in the room at the time - said nothing. Boris seems to have that same cypher like presence. I know there's a biography out atm suggesting he's like Trump (basically an inner child trying like hell to impress a brutal father who has the power to charm in public and terrorize at home). So, I get that Boris is good at fronting campaigns - but what kind of person is in there, anyone have an idea?

 

Well, there's a question. Let's start with the fact he is deeply ambitious: he's been aiming to be Prime Minister since Oxford and probably since Eton. Whatever nonsense he's said in the past about 'if the ball comes loose from the back of the scrum...' he's been planning to become Tory leader for years and probably seriously since he became Mayor of London. He backed Leave in the referendum essentially because he saw it as his best chance of getting the leadership (the base were Eurosceptic, even in a losing campaign, which he assumed it would probably be, he'd be a hero among the grassroots). Gove knifed him in the back but May still gave him the Foreign Office, a ludicrously high office of state which only underlined his support among the parliamentary and wider party - she needed him. He was planning his leadership campaign from the moment he resigned from government probably and seriously I'd imagine from around the end of 2018, when May faced her no confidence vote and started losing her Brexit votes.

 

He also has a burning desire to be liked. By everyone. It's why he tries to avoid taking opinions on things to appeal to everybody and even when he does take positions, he tries to laugh them off and keep opponents on side. I think that's the issue that's come to a head this week: he's been trying to juggle all these different factions he's got on his side currently and it eventually becomes untenable as decisions need making in particular directions. He originally sided with Cummings and Cain but then was talked around by his girlfriend and her supporters. This is the other part of this: he isn't especially a conviction politician, he'll change tack according to the prevailing winds. And my understanding is that he's a 'big picture' kind of guy who doesn't like detail. He'll come up with the headline (e.g. "Garden Bridge in London") and then let others worry about how to make it happen. It's why his Operation Moonshot idea announced months ago is still looking like pie in the sky and why he agreed a Brexit deal with Varadkar last October and spent much of this summer trying to break his own treaty. He also yearns to go down in history. He loves history, he loves Churchill and he wants his own page. That requires some great achievement: taking us out of the Brexit shadows into a brave new world, permanently rewriting the electoral map, defeating the Nationalists and strengthening the Union, launching the Johnson age of innovation and prosperity. Take your pick - whether he can do any of it is severely in doubt.

 

He's also an unashamed liar. He won't admit this, but he is shameless about it to get what he wants. He made his name writing absolute bullshit for the Telegraph's EU column, talking about them banning prawn cocktail crisps, classifying snails as fish and ensuring manure smelt the same. At best they had a grain of truth but were taken to ludicrous extremes with the sole purpose of riling up the Tory base. All the nonsense about bendy bananas and burgundy passports comes from that blond moron's lead. Then there's the fucking bus, which he insisted in the face of all evidence to the contrary from Robert Peston was true (but you can clearly see on his face he thinks it's all a game and knows he's talking out his arse). It's all about winning. By any means necessary.

 

Oh, and he likes women. Alot.

 

So in short: he's a great campaigner, rubbish leader, ambitious, narcissistic, lying, scheming and doesn't like detail. I don't personally liken him to Trump: Trump is completely egomaniacal at the expense of all others, lacks any empathy and is just plain nasty to most people. Johnson, to me, essentially still thinks he's at prep school - he's still in the Bullingdon Club in his head and nothing has any real consequences. Sooner we get a grown-up back in charge the better: but I doubt it will be for a while, this is a guy that turned London blue twice - he's not going to lose an 80 seat majority in one election.

 

Finally, so this isn't just an anti-Boris rant: he self-isolating again after coming into contact with a COVID-riddled MP. Sounds like they reckon immunity doesn't last more than about 6 months in that case.

[CoffinLodger 1,248]

Anyone think that maybe Dominic Cummings sent a false test  and trace alert to Boris to get his revenge on him? 

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

6 hours ago, RoverAndOut said:

 

Well, there's a question. Let's start with the fact he is deeply ambitious: he's been aiming to be Prime Minister since Oxford and probably since Eton. Whatever nonsense he's said in the past about 'if the ball comes loose from the back of the scrum...' he's been planning to become Tory leader for years and probably seriously since he became Mayor of London. He backed Leave in the referendum essentially because he saw it as his best chance of getting the leadership (the base were Eurosceptic, even in a losing campaign, which he assumed it would probably be, he'd be a hero among the grassroots). Gove knifed him in the back but May still gave him the Foreign Office, a ludicrously high office of state which only underlined his support among the parliamentary and wider party - she needed him. He was planning his leadership campaign from the moment he resigned from government probably and seriously I'd imagine from around the end of 2018, when May faced her no confidence vote and started losing her Brexit votes.

 

He also has a burning desire to be liked. By everyone. It's why he tries to avoid taking opinions on things to appeal to everybody and even when he does take positions, he tries to laugh them off and keep opponents on side. I think that's the issue that's come to a head this week: he's been trying to juggle all these different factions he's got on his side currently and it eventually becomes untenable as decisions need making in particular directions. He originally sided with Cummings and Cain but then was talked around by his girlfriend and her supporters. This is the other part of this: he isn't especially a conviction politician, he'll change tack according to the prevailing winds. And my understanding is that he's a 'big picture' kind of guy who doesn't like detail. He'll come up with the headline (e.g. "Garden Bridge in London") and then let others worry about how to make it happen. It's why his Operation Moonshot idea announced months ago is still looking like pie in the sky and why he agreed a Brexit deal with Varadkar last October and spent much of this summer trying to break his own treaty. He also yearns to go down in history. He loves history, he loves Churchill and he wants his own page. That requires some great achievement: taking us out of the Brexit shadows into a brave new world, permanently rewriting the electoral map, defeating the Nationalists and strengthening the Union, launching the Johnson age of innovation and prosperity. Take your pick - whether he can do any of it is severely in doubt.

 

He's also an unashamed liar. He won't admit this, but he is shameless about it to get what he wants. He made his name writing absolute bullshit for the Telegraph's EU column, talking about them banning prawn cocktail crisps, classifying snails as fish and ensuring manure smelt the same. At best they had a grain of truth but were taken to ludicrous extremes with the sole purpose of riling up the Tory base. All the nonsense about bendy bananas and burgundy passports comes from that blond moron's lead. Then there's the fucking bus, which he insisted in the face of all evidence to the contrary from Robert Peston was true (but you can clearly see on his face he thinks it's all a game and knows he's talking out his arse). It's all about winning. By any means necessary.

 

Oh, and he likes women. Alot.

 

So in short: he's a great campaigner, rubbish leader, ambitious, narcissistic, lying, scheming and doesn't like detail. I don't personally liken him to Trump: Trump is completely egomaniacal at the expense of all others, lacks any empathy and is just plain nasty to most people. Johnson, to me, essentially still thinks he's at prep school - he's still in the Bullingdon Club in his head and nothing has any real consequences. Sooner we get a grown-up back in charge the better: but I doubt it will be for a while, this is a guy that turned London blue twice - he's not going to lose an 80 seat majority in one election.

 

Finally, so this isn't just an anti-Boris rant: he self-isolating again after coming into contact with a COVID-riddled MP. Sounds like they reckon immunity doesn't last more than about 6 months in that case.

 

 

Thanks for this

 

So today's front page is a very Boris state of affairs, then

 

[Toast 16,140]

9 hours ago, RoverAndOut said:

Finally, so this isn't just an anti-Boris rant: he self-isolating again after coming into contact with a COVID-riddled MP. Sounds like they reckon immunity doesn't last more than about 6 months in that case.

 

I read (or heard) recently that people who contracted and recovered from the SARS-CoV-1 virus in 2003 still have antibodies.  So that gives some reason for optimism.

[Bentrovato 1,088]

Boris. Bendy Buses. A legacy to be proud of the world over.   NYC bendy bus left drooping from overpass in Bronx - BBC News

[Ulitzer95 12,619]

7 minutes ago, Bentrovato said:

Boris. Bendy Buses. A legacy to be proud of the world over.   NYC bendy bus left drooping from overpass in Bronx - BBC News

Think you're giving him too much credit. They've been in the States in some places since as early as the 1930s!

[Bentrovato 1,088]

2 minutes ago, Ulitzer95 said:

Think you're giving him too much credit. They've been in the States in some places since as early as the 1930s!

You are sadly right.

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Poor misunderstood Boris Johnson. 

[time 8,602]

I've been vaguely following the latest Boris Johnson controversy - the £58k redecoration of the flat. Please tell me I've misunderstood and this isn't the 'after' pic.

To be honest, I'd prefer the skip.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

4 minutes ago, time said:

I've been vaguely following the latest Boris Johnson controversy - the £58k redecoration of the flat. Please tell me I've misunderstood and this isn't the 'after' pic.

To be honest, I'd prefer the skip.

 

Is that Jerry Garcia top right?  

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

4 minutes ago, DevonDeathTrip said:

 

Is that Jerry Garcia top right?  

 

If it is that's because Boris regards his life as a long strange trip!

 

[time 8,602]

1 hour ago, DevonDeathTrip said:

 

Is that Jerry Garcia top right?  

 

56 minutes ago, maryportfuncity said:

 

If it is that's because Boris regards his life as a long strange trip!

 

Do you think its wise to mention Boris, Grateful & Dead at the same time?

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

41 minutes ago, time said:

 

Do you think its wise to mention Boris, Grateful & Dead at the same time?

 

 

Aye, just avoid wallpaper or buses

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

Trending on Twitter as we go about our Deathlist business, Carrie Antionette

 

This'll do no favours to the poll ratings

 

[time 8,602]

10 hours ago, maryportfuncity said:

 

 

Aye, just avoid wallpaper or buses

Boris is liable to be thrown under one.

[maryportfuncity 10,646]

4 minutes ago, time said:

Boris is liable to be thrown under one.

 

 

Indeed, a conversation I was having a couple of days back after one commentator suggested he'd be there after winning the next election and I suggested he wouldn't be there at Christmas. Johnson rose on the certainty that pragmatic Conservatives would appoint someone they considered capable of winning an election regardless of misgivings about his character. The moment they think he's incapable of getting them elected next time he might discover his "friends" are too busy trying to back, or be, the next winner to support him. 

 

Anyone seen Michael Gove come out to back Boris yet?

[arghton 6,737]

13 hours ago, time said:

I've been vaguely following the latest Boris Johnson controversy - the £58k redecoration of the flat. Please tell me I've misunderstood and this isn't the 'after' pic.

To be honest, I'd prefer the skip.

Looks like an opium den.

[time 8,602]

14 minutes ago, arghton said:

Looks like an opium den.

I'm not familiar with opium dens, but if you say so 

 

Someone posted some other work by the same designer, on Twitter.  All much in the same vein. It was asked why they all looked so 'colonial'.

[Ulitzer95 12,619]

1 hour ago, maryportfuncity said:

Trending on Twitter as we go about our Deathlist business, Carrie Antionette

 

This'll do no favours to the poll ratings

 

Elections are not fought or won on Twitter – it's an echo chamber composed of cliques of people who by-in-large keep their "bubbles" comforting and insular by only following/being followed by folk with the same views/interests as them.

If you went off what Twitter was saying in 2017 and 2019, you'd have expected Corbyn to have won 2 landslides.

On the contrary, a new poll on "Preferred PM" released today by BMGResearch has Boris up 5 points, Starmer down 4. It's almost as if our mainstream media is once again so out of touch they don't realise that nobody gives a flying fuck who paid for that flat renovation, as long as it wasn't the taxpayer!