As the horror at Wednesday’s acts of violent insurrection in Washington, DC has turned to anger at the incitement of it all by Combover Crybaby Donald Trump, some in the UK are asking the question that those out there on the right would rather they do not: just how like Trump is alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson? And if Trump reacts like this to losing office, will Bozo and his radicalised supporters do likewise?
We know the question is being asked, because it is already being rebutted, but here a problem enters: the pundit selected to bat for Bozo is just a little too obvious. Also, his schtick should convince no-one. The obvious part is that James Forsyth has been sent out to bat for Bozo. His wife Allegra Stratton is a spokesperson for, er, Bozo.
James Forsyth
Moreover, it is the Murdoch Times which is carrying the propaganda, headlined “
Johnson is not Trump’s transatlantic twin … The Prime Minister has a lot in common with the President but our party system is a safeguard against toxic populism”. So how did that “
toxic populism” propel Bozo to power in December 2019, then?
Panto (Oh Yes He Is)
Also, our party system, as Forsyth puts it, was no safeguard against his pals in our free and fearless press, and their hangers-on, effectively deciding who should govern the UK after the 2010 General Election resulted in a hung parliament. Or, indeed, after the 2017 contest ended similarly. Forsyth’s presence in a draughty glasshouse was soon rumbled.
Mic Wright was dismissive. “
How do I know? I asked my wife. And then I asked my best friend Rishi Sunak who says his boss is brilliant”. And Matthew Goodwin’s shameless crawling - “
Good piece on lazy ‘Boris is Trump’ nonsense. I'd go further. Johnson is socially liberal at heart, Trump is authoritarian. Johnson is instinctive free trader, Trump is protectionist. Johnson is pro-migration at heart, Trump is xenophobe” - fell flat.
Indeed, as Seb Dance put it, “
If he’s pro-Brexit then he’s not ‘pro-migration’; if he’s anti single-market then he’s not a ‘free trader’ and if he’s willing to fan the flames of nationalism then he’s not ‘socially liberal’”. Jon Worth concluded “
Think tank grifter, employed by an institute close to the Tory right, complements puff journalism by the husband of Johnson's press secretary, and is categoric about what Johnson thinks when there's plenty of evidence to the contrary … UK political ‘debate’”.
The reality is that Trump and Bozo are all too alike, and that is why Forsyth had to put out his prebuttal. Both are appallingly vain, right down to the Trump hair weave and Bozo roughing up his hair to disguise the onset of male pattern baldness. Both are needy and narcissistic, craving attention and praise, and not wanting to hear criticism. They have lived their lives without someone there to stand up to them and say No.
That is why Bozo has surrounded himself with a cabinet of sycophants, appointed because of their loyalty to him and not for their competence. It is why he, like Trump, is swayed by the last voice to have his ear. It is also, whisper it quietly, why the crawlers in our free and fearless press and elsewhere in the media class must devote so much time shoring up the myth of The Great Leader, a reincarnation of Churchill. Which is total bunk.
Boris Johnson is indeed like Trump.
Which is another reason we are totally screwed.
"Johnson is socially liberal at heart, Trump is authoritarian. Johnson is instinctive free trader, Trump is protectionist. Johnson is pro-migration at heart, Trump is xenophobe”
ReplyDeleteJohnson is all of those things - to himself.
He's like Withnail's Uncle Monty (increasingly in appearance as well). Free to those who can afford it, very expensive to those who cannot.
On both sides of the Atlantic the likelihood is much-vaunted "change".....but actually little more than cosmetic slogans and minor economic giveaways.
ReplyDeleteTrump will be demonised as an "aberration", whereas he's a too-obvious symptom of an evil socioeconomic system. Bozo won't get that treatment until it becomes as unavoidable here as it is in the "United" States of Amnesia.
This is why Starmer will probably "win" the next general election in the "United" Kingdom of Amnesia. By then even the most naive mug will be unable to deny he's been duped. Starmer will "win" by default, promoted for a short time, as were Bliar-Brown, by a divide et impera establishment and its hired media. Starmer, like Biden, will administer minimum required cosmetics. There might even be a minor "boom". Then everything will return to one party state abnormal. Everyone will love Big Brother again and indulge every now and then in Two Minutes Hate.
Don't kid yourself we haven't been here before, theatrical set notwithstanding.
Every word Tim.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/Cornish_Damo/status/1347493198579585024?s=19
ReplyDeleteTerrifying thing is all these right-wing populists become 'a thing' in the same way.
ReplyDelete1. Be annoying and have small audience.
2. TV shows hire you because you're 'funny' or 'controversial'.
3. Use shows to promote self, often by being a dickhead. Have a mysteriously large number of cult-like followers push you to the top of social media.
4. Get voted in because lots of voters think 'Ooo, eez funny, im. Was on the telly'.
5. Fuck everything up.
6. Run away when it all goes wrong.
Is not just Boris or Trump or Farage but a similar thing has happened with other 'populist' leaders. What is going on? Really hard to believe this is media incompetence, more like a successful formula that crosses national boundaries (X-Factor of Fascism if you will). So who is paying for it all?
Remember when the Proud Boys (Eton Branch) shut down our (limited) democracy? They called it 'proroguing' parliament.
ReplyDeleteBojo is not like Trump. You'll never see Theresa May wetting her panties like a gushing schoolgirl with Bojo as she was with Trump during his state visit to the UK.
ReplyDelete