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“Johnson is … the most accomplished liar in public life – perhaps the best liar ever to serve as prime minister,” he said. “He has mastered the use of error, omission, exaggeration, diminution, equ

(140 Posts)
M0nica Mon 26-Jul-21 08:36:55

Rory Stewart on Boris Johnson. For the full article see www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-liar-rory-stewart-b1614957.html

When so much political invective these days, is crude and badly written, and the writers take pride in their ignorance this piece is a joy to read, on so many levels. As much as anything I am in awe of the style and his command of the English language. Apart from the style, the content, as political invective, puts Rory Stewart up on a level with Disraeli.

He is, himself a man with a checkered history (as was Disraeli), but I just admire the style, the language and the truth of this para from a longer review.

lemongrove Tue 27-Jul-21 16:53:18

GillT57

lemongrove

So, you weren’t prepared to vote for Corbyn or Johnson...in that case you were part of either the election of Corbyn or Johnson.
Being saintly about it ? doesn’t butter any parsnips.

Sigh. Unlike some, I was not prepared to go against my beliefs, my moral code, to elect a person who I consider despicable, but each to their own lemon. I did not like Corbyn as he did not represent my beliefs either so sadly, like hundreds of thousands of people, my vote did not count under the FPTP system. My vote may have come to nothing, but I can sleep at night knowing that I had did not put this vile administration in place. I live in a constituency where a goat with a blue rosette ( or more likely a horse) would be elected, quite ironic really as all the farmers are beginning to realise what a catastrophe Brexit is, but that is the subject for another thread.

So? many people live in constituencies where a goat or a pig with a red rosette would get in.
there is still a point in voting....but not in throwing your vote away when it's a two horse race and you back a third horse limping down the field.
you didn't want Labour or Conservatives to get into power, yet one of them had to.
strangely enough, I can sleep at night too, taking the moral high ground gets you nowhere.
if you thought Corbyn was the lesser of two evils that's where your vote would have been more useful. Still, your choice.

Dinahmo Tue 27-Jul-21 17:02:28

Lytton Strachey also wrote about Eminent Victorians (only 4 compared with Rees Moggs' 11).

Here's a comment from Bertrand Russell who wrote from Brixton Prison (where he was imprisoned for his anti-war campaigning) to Gladys Rinder on 21 May 1918

" It is brilliant, delicious, exquisitely civilized. I enjoyed as much as any the Gordon, which alone was quite new to me. I often laughed out loud in my cell while I was reading the book. The warder came to my cell to remind me that prison was a place of punishment."

Followed by a comment from Edmund Wilson who wrote
in the New Republic of 21 September 1932, not long after Strachey's death,

"Lytton Strachey's chief mission, of course, was to take down once and for all the pretensions of the Victorian age to moral superiority... neither the Americans nor the English have ever, since Eminent Victorians appeared, been able to feel quite the same about the legends that had dominated their pasts. Something had been punctured for good."

I suspect that people admire Rees Mogg because of his education and demeanor and not for whatever intelligence he may have.

vegansrock Tue 27-Jul-21 17:16:05

MaiziedI would think we have now sunk to the leadership levels of Italy.
- I think this is an insult to the current leadership of Italy - Prime Minister Mario Draghi, was a university academic, Director General of Italy’s national bank and President of the European Central Bank. He is seen as a unifying force and a safe pair of hands after a period of instability. Compared to our PM who was a newspaper hack and after dinner speaker I think Italy have the superior leader at this time. I guess you could compare Johnson to Berlusconi, but I think Italy have the better leader this time around.

Lucca Tue 27-Jul-21 18:06:52

VEgansrock. I agree, friends in Italy are amazed that those in high office here are akin to theirs until recently!

MaizieD Tue 27-Jul-21 18:49:46

vegansrock

MaiziedI would think we have now sunk to the leadership levels of Italy.
- I think this is an insult to the current leadership of Italy - Prime Minister Mario Draghi, was a university academic, Director General of Italy’s national bank and President of the European Central Bank. He is seen as a unifying force and a safe pair of hands after a period of instability. Compared to our PM who was a newspaper hack and after dinner speaker I think Italy have the superior leader at this time. I guess you could compare Johnson to Berlusconi, but I think Italy have the better leader this time around.

I hope you didn't think that I said that, did you,*vegansrock*?

You've stuck my name on it but it was MOnica's judgement grin

M0nica Tue 27-Jul-21 19:55:57

Well, of course it is my opinion Maizie, why would I espouse opionions that are not my own? [confused} Isn't the exchange of opinions what GN is all about?

MaizieD Tue 27-Jul-21 22:31:14

M0nica

Well, of course it is my opinion Maizie, why would I espouse opionions that are not my own? [confused} Isn't the exchange of opinions what GN is all about?

Not always, MOnica.

Sometimes it's about calling out lies and misinformation.

growstuff Wed 28-Jul-21 02:07:26

It's not just Rory Stewart, Dawn Butler and Peter Stefanovic who are calling out Johnson's lies.

Peter Oborne is building a website which will record, sift and analyse the numerous lies, falsehoods and misleading statements of Boris Johnson and his colleagues.

www.gofundme.com/f/website-to-record-the-lies-of-boris-johnson

vegansrock Wed 28-Jul-21 05:48:30

Apologies Mazied , perhaps MOnica could explain why she considers it OK to insult the current leadership of Italy in comparing Draghi with Johnson.

M0nica Wed 28-Jul-21 07:36:20

I was tthinking more of Italy's long history of frequent changes of governments and disorganisation and corruption rather than any individual leader.

Grany Thu 12-Aug-21 13:08:23

While people were dying of Covid-19, your government used the crisis to rip you off. Watch this film

It’s less than seven minutes long and you need to know what it has to say.

The information in it is accurate – as far as it goes. This Site has published some of the facts before.

But this film, which was apparently projected against the walls of Parliament, puts it all in a nutshell.

? This is a story that everyone in the country should hear. (In collaboration with Good Law Project, location: Parliament

twitter.com/ByDonkeys/status/1425372141868961796?s=20

Shelbel Thu 12-Aug-21 13:53:17

Sadly, we seem to be in the era of the Narcissist. I had voted tory for years but stopped with DC and I cannot abide BJ and his now wife. I always felt he was misleading people. I would vote for Rory though, he always seemed a very decent and intelligent man.

So many lies have been told to 'get Brexit done' and more will be revealed as time goes on.

I've mostly given up on politics, its just as much of a swamp as the PC brigade imo.

growstuff Thu 12-Aug-21 15:01:43

What about policies Shelbel? What do you think of them?

Katie59 Thu 12-Aug-21 18:17:49

We get the PM we deserve, if voters believe the lies and half truths they deserve the consequences, for anyone who paid attention to the diatribe it was pretty obvious that it was the emotional card was being played.