Across the Pond from America

[DeYaKen]

Not wishful thinking but suppressed annoyance with the EU. I don't think any other country is likely to leave but the voters are becoming disillusioned with the EU as it is and there is no sign that the EU is listening.

In order for the EU to change, the members of the union must be prepared to change, which they are not. To make the union democratic would need small countries like Malta and Luxembourg to accept that they should have less say in the commission than countries like Germany. That's never going to happen.

There are things that could be done, like allowing the parliament to table amendments to the resolutions they vote on. At present their only power is one of Veto. That would result in Germany driving most things as it would require a coalition to block their amendments.

Britons are hardly in a position to lecture anyone on democracy. We have one unelected chamber stacked with ex-ministers, the clergy, a few hereditary peers and people who've done favours for governments. The other chamber is elected using a system where 42% of the vote can give you 60% of the MPs.

 

[Bray123]

Democracy? Hows this for democracy in the UK.

Currently the Scottish Nationals have 48 Members of Parliament, elected by a total of 1,242,372 votes.
The Liberal Democratic party have 11 Members of Parliament, elected by a total of 3,696,423 votes.

So the Lib-Dems have three times the voter-base but less than a quarter of the seats of the SNP.
They lost seats despite increasing their share by +4.2%.

The Labour Party had 10,269,076 votes (around 2.7 times that of Lib Dems). 2.7 times the votes gave them 202 seats.

The Conservatives have 365 seats provided by 13,966,565 votes - not really a huge difference compared to Labour.

 

[oggbashan]

And if recommended boundary changes are implemented to make the electorate for each MP more equal? The Conservatives will gain more seats.

 

[DeYaKen]

And if recommended boundary changes are implemented to make the electorate for each MP more equal? The Conservatives will gain more seats.

It isn't the boundaries that need to change, it is the first past the post system which unfairly penalises smaller parties. Because the candidate who best represents your views has little chance of being elected you often end up choosing the lesser of two evils. The system benefits the two major parties so there is little chance of change. They did offer the alternative vote but again that is a system which results in the least disliked party. being elected.

 

[oggbashan]

It isn't the boundaries that need to change, it is the first past the post system which unfairly penalises smaller parties. Because the candidate who best represents your views has little chance of being elected you often end up choosing the lesser of two evils. The system benefits the two major parties so there is little chance of change. They did offer the alternative vote but again that is a system which results in the least disliked party. being elected.

The alternative vote system? They only offered a useless version as part of the coalition deal with the Liberals. They weren't serious.

 

[bodysong]

The BBC normalised racism last night, pure and simple

21 Feb 2020

- Owen Jones

This is how racism and rightwing extremism is normalised.
Thursday night’s Question Time featured a lengthy racist rant
by an audience member:

“Close the borders, completely close the borders,” she frothed
with hateful rage, adding in lies about foreigners being showered
with never-ending freebies while destroying the education system
and the NHS.

It took the commentator Ash Sarkar to challenge her unabashed
bigotry with truth, pointing to research that migrants pay in more
to the state than they get back. In a cheeky recycling of a quote
popularised by the rightwing US pundit Ben Shapiro, Sarkar
silenced the bigot: “Facts don’t care about your feelings.”

We are ruled by a prime minister who has a history of racism
and bigotry and who – quite unlike previous Conservative leaders –
is idolised by far-right figures and movements, trashing the
demarcation between centre-right and what lies beyond.
Our national broadcaster uncritically pumping out racist rants
is just another legitimisation of such bigotry. If we remain silent,
the dial will shift further – and we may find that such beliefs
become even more mainstream than they already are.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/21/normalise-bbc-racism-hate-crimes-question-time

Lies and hatred, uncorrected and unchallenged, rippled across
social media from the account of the BBC’s self-described
“flagship political debate programme”.

bodysong comment- In America, we have the surviving parts
of National Public TV, and National Public Radio (The people that
attempted to wreck and destroy them, are the equivalent of Tories. )
From time to time clips are aired that feature racists and bigots,
if only to show decent, respectful, kind people what is being nurtured
by extremists. In the mainstream media and press, a way to immediately
fact check liars, bigots, and racists, has not yet been perfected.
/end bodysong comment

 

[bodysong]

It’s official: Tory austerity has stifled the lives
of young and poor Britons

-Nick Cohen

29 February 2020

Government grants to local authorities fell by 77% between
2010 and 2019. Sure Start centres closed;

public health was moved out of the NHS, dumped on local authorities,
and then saw its budgets cut, despite promises to the contrary.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...sterity-has-stifled-lives-untold-poor-britons

 

[DeYaKen]

It’s official: Tory austerity has stifled the lives
of young and poor Britons

-Nick Cohen

29 February 2020

Government grants to local authorities fell by 77% between
2010 and 2019. Sure Start centres closed;

public health was moved out of the NHS, dumped on local authorities,
and then saw its budgets cut, despite promises to the contrary.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...sterity-has-stifled-lives-untold-poor-britons

It's also accepted now that Austerity was a political decision not an economic necessity. The whole idea was to punish the poor for being poor while rewarding the rich for being rich. You only have to look at the way quantitative easing was done to see the reality of this. The government handed billions to the banks which simply used it to boost their reserves needed to comply with new banking rules. They could have boosted the economy by raising tax thresholds ensuring that the cash would have gone through several hands and businesses before arriving in the bank. However, that would not have gone straight to the governing party's financial backers and would be seen by those backers as rewarding people who had not done anything to deserve it.

 

[bodysong]

17 April 2020

Boris Johnson is at Chequers, where his spokesman clarifies he is “not doing government
work”. A slightly strange styling, which makes some people assume Johnson is finishing
his late-delivered Shakespeare book. I’m sure nothing is further from the truth –
not even Johnson himself, who has rarely been in the same hemisphere as the
truth for his entire career.

- Marina Hyde

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/17/matt-hancock-dominic-raab-ppe-care-badges

bodysong comment-

Martin Rowson, the visual political commentator (cartoonist) is not an enthusiastic
Boris fan. Though his most recent work is not as dark, macabre, and gruesome, as
the last days of Brexit, it is not sunny and optimistic.

Martin Rowson on Johnson's recovery and the PPE shortage

(Boris's supporters are covering their ears with safety masks, and one has all his fingers crossed)

https://www.theguardian.com/comment.../martin-rowson-resurrection-boris-ppe-cartoon

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ell-cartoon-michael-gove-first-day-chief-whip

Steve Bell's view

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...steve-bell-ministry-coronavirus-truth-cartoon

"Boris Johnson is recovering from Covid-19 in 16th-century manor with 600-hectare
estate and indoor pool"

13 Apr 2020

"Chequers has offered recuperation to prime ministers for 100 years"

 

[bodysong]

Coronavirus: world's biggest trial of drug to treat Covid-19 begins in UK

17 Apr 2020

The Recovery trial has recruited over 5,000 patients in 165 NHS hospitals
around the UK in a month, ahead of similar trials in the US and Europe,
which have a few hundred.

“This is by far the largest trial in the world,” said Peter Horby, professor
of emerging infectious diseases and global health at Oxford University,
who is leading it. He has previously led Ebola drug trials in west Africa
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

he Recovery team expects to be the first to have definitive data.
“We’re guessing some time in June we may get the results,” said
Prof Horby. “If it is really clear that there are benefits, an answer
will be available quicker.” But he warned that in the case of Covid-19,
there would be no “magic bullet”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/17/world-biggest-drug-trial-covid-19-uk

 

[bodysong]

This article about coronavirus in the UK, devastates me...

10 May 2020

The way the world is looking at the UK is not the way the UK is looking at itself.

Despite becoming the worst-hit country in Europe, Boris Johnson is enjoying the peak
of his popularity curve, according to a latest Edelman poll. Moreover, in the last couple
of days, this record death toll has often been pushed out of the front pages by other
splashes (the likely relaxation of the lockdown or Neil Ferguson’s resignation).
Many Italians are wondering and asking me: “How is this possible?”

Two events in particular in the UK truly shocked Italians. First, Johnson’s chilling warning
in early March that many more British families would “lose loved ones”. For them, it was
inconceivable that a leader would say this, as though the government had already given up
in their effort to save lives.

Second, and even worse, were the remarks by the UK’s chief scientific adviser,
Sir Patrick Vallance, suggesting that “herd immunity” might be desirable.
Many in Italy reacted with a deep sense of outrage. It was as if the “sacrifice”
they had made by being first in Europe to fall to the virus had been ignored;
it had resulted in no lessons for the UK.

Since Johnson’s infamous “loved ones” conference, at least 30,000 Italians have left
the UK to go back to their home country, according to an official at the Italian embassy
in London. Based on my conversations with people, this trend seems to have peaked
after the death of a “very healthy” 19-year-old Italian chef, Luca Di Nicola,
from coronavirus in London.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...us-response-boris-johnson-government-covid-19

 

[JackLuis]

‘People will die unnecessarily’: Tensions mount as Scotland goes its own way on virus lockdown

First independence. Then Brexit. Now Scotland’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has stirred up fresh tensions with the UK government, despite an initial unified approach.

The leader of the Scottish government, Nicola Sturgeon, has put clear water between Edinburgh and London by refusing to implement the same easing of lockdown measures.

At the weekend, she warned lives could be at risk if stay-at-home restrictions were lifted too soon, just before British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a plan for a gradual return to normality.

The prime minister has also been questioned about his claim to have stopped the outbreak successfully, when more than 32,000 people have died — the second-highest in the world.

United Kingdom
Coronavirus Cases:
229,705

Deaths:
33,186

489 deaths per Million population vs USA 254 D/M

Recovered:
N/A

 

[oggbashan]

Scotland (and Wales and Northern Ireland) have higher rates of virus transmission than England.

It is sensible to have a slower return to normality in those parts of the UK.

But Nicola Sturgeon is using that to play politics.

 

[JackLuis]

Scotland (and Wales and Northern Ireland) have higher rates of virus transmission than England.

It is sensible to have a slower return to normality in those parts of the UK.

But Nicola Sturgeon is using that to play politics.

So is Boris, Og. It's what they do.

Stay safe old friend.

 

[DeYaKen]

‘People will die unnecessarily’: Tensions mount as Scotland goes its own way on virus lockdown





United Kingdom
Coronavirus Cases:
229,705

Deaths:
33,186

489 deaths per Million population vs USA 254 D/M

Recovered:
N/A

That is only the people who have been tested. If people die at home without being tested it is not recorded as covid 19. The number of Excess deaths (the difference between the expected number of deaths and the actual number) indicates that the true number of deaths is in excess of 50,000, So UK deaths per Million population would be in excess of 650

The USA has the advantage of a much lower population density so we would expect their death toll to be lower per head of population. Neither country has done well.

 

[bodysong]

By backing Cummings, (Boris) Johnson has laid bare his disdain for the British public

- Martin Kettle

Amid the weight and seriousness of life-changing and life-ending events,
how can the national conversation be dominated for three days by the
bad behaviour of Dominic Cummings during the lockdown?

The answer is brutal but clear. It is because Cummings has so much power
and has done so much to make this country what it is today, first because of
Brexit, and now because of the mishandling of the pandemic. The furore over
his rule-breaking cannot be dismissed as a bubble issue, especially after Boris
Johnson backed him so comprehensively and divisively from the No 10 lectern
today. Now, whether Cummings ultimately goes or stays, this is a choice that
affects everyone and everything.

The poison in Cummings’s journey to Durham is the taint of hypocrisy it injects
into the public bloodstream at precisely the time when public confidence in the
handling of the crisis is already beginning to fray. One rule for him, another for us.
It’s an absolutely lethal tag for any government project, but it’s doubly, triply so in
a pandemic. The arrogance and ineptitude are staggering.

It was entirely predictable that the public’s judgments about Cummings this weekend
would be overwhelmingly negative.

YouGov found that across every region of the UK, and among leave voters
and remain voters alike, the majorities are all emphatically against him.

The ultimate irony is that Cummings, who came to power at the head of a populist,
anti-elite uprising over Brexit, has now been shamed by an act of supreme elitism
and disdain for ordinary people.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/24/dominic-cummings-elitism

 

[DeYaKen]

By backing Cummings, (Boris) Johnson has laid bare his disdain for the British public

- Martin Kettle

Amid the weight and seriousness of life-changing and life-ending events,
how can the national conversation be dominated for three days by the
bad behaviour of Dominic Cummings during the lockdown?

The answer is brutal but clear. It is because Cummings has so much power
and has done so much to make this country what it is today, first because of
Brexit, and now because of the mishandling of the pandemic. The furore over
his rule-breaking cannot be dismissed as a bubble issue, especially after Boris
Johnson backed him so comprehensively and divisively from the No 10 lectern
today. Now, whether Cummings ultimately goes or stays, this is a choice that
affects everyone and everything.

The poison in Cummings’s journey to Durham is the taint of hypocrisy it injects
into the public bloodstream at precisely the time when public confidence in the
handling of the crisis is already beginning to fray. One rule for him, another for us.
It’s an absolutely lethal tag for any government project, but it’s doubly, triply so in
a pandemic. The arrogance and ineptitude are staggering.

It was entirely predictable that the public’s judgments about Cummings this weekend
would be overwhelmingly negative.

YouGov found that across every region of the UK, and among leave voters
and remain voters alike, the majorities are all emphatically against him.

The ultimate irony is that Cummings, who came to power at the head of a populist,
anti-elite uprising over Brexit, has now been shamed by an act of supreme elitism
and disdain for ordinary people.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/24/dominic-cummings-elitism

Just when you thought there wasn't anything that could divide the Tory party further, we get Cummings breaking the very rules that he helped to draft. He has now shown himself to be the puppet master and Joghnson is dancing at the end of his string.

 

[bodysong]

"The prime minister’s defence of Cummings adds insult to injury
for the relatives of those who have died from Covid-19 and other
causes during lockdown, who are unable to grieve for their relatives
properly as funeral attendances are restricted."

25 May 2020

article title-

My dad died under lockdown in Barnard Castle. I find Dominic Cummings' visit repellent.

- Helen Goodman

Helen Goodman was the Labour MP for Bishop Auckland from 2005 to 2019

My dad who was 93 had been living in a care home for a few months in Barnard Castle
County Durham. On 23 March, without forewarning, a lockdown was imposed –
visits from friends, family, the parish priest and even local GPs stopped. My dad
found this disorientating and distressing. As he put it to one of the carers:
“I don’t understand why Helen can’t come and see me: she only lives 200 yards away.”

So to learn that Dominic Cummings was in Barnard Castle, 260 miles from his home
in London, at a time when the government was discouraging tourism, is sickening.

To visit the north-east, ignore the rules and put other people’s health at risk displays
an arrogance that people find both repellent and alarming. Were our sacrifices for nothing?

A well of grief has built up among the family and friends of the 62,000 people who
have died in this pandemic. If the prime minister thinks people will forgive and forget,
he is sorely mistaken. People have been holding it in as they struggle to get through
each day. This episode has burst the dam and a huge wave is now flooding out.

- Helen Goodman

much more expressed at link- cannot include them in my post



https://www.theguardian.com/comment...mingss-visit-repellent-county-durham-betrayed

Dominic Cummings drove 260 miles from his London home-
to his parents' estate in County Durham at the height of restrictions in March.

Former Vote Leave boss did not stay indoors while unwell in Durham, and also,
that he made another trip there after returning to London in April.

In a press conference in the garden of 10 Downing Street, Mr Cummings confirmed
the first of these claims, saying there were justifiable reasons for not staying in doors,
but he categorically denied he returned to Durham for a second time.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-52784290

Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings spread coronavirus before they became
to ill to travel.

# 14 April: Mr Cummings is seen in Downing Street for the first time since 27 March

# 19 April: Five days after being in London, The Observer and Mirror report that Mr
Cummings is seen again in Durham by an unnamed witness. Mr Cummings says he did
not return to Durham

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-52784290

In America, Donald Trump and Mike Pence tell lies to the American people,
and break all of the safety measures that everyone else has to follow. They
both endanger other's health and lives by refusing to wear masks, and do not
follow safe distance measures. Trump's idiotic followers have been gathering
in large crowded groups, falsely secure in the belief that coronavirus is not real.

FOX TV told them that coronavirus cannot be spread from surfaces, "easily."

Not as easily as kissing an infected person, or letting them cough in your face.

 

[stickygirl]

Working safely during Covid 19 25th May 2020

UK govt guidelines regarding face masks and coverings

Face coverings basically a waste of time

"There are some circumstances when wearing a face
covering may be marginally beneficial as a precautionary
measure. The evidence suggests that wearing a face covering
does not protect you, but it may protect others if you are
infected but have not developed symptoms."

However

"A face covering can be very simple and may be worn in
enclosed spaces where social distancing isn’t possible. It just
needs to cover your mouth and nose. It is not the same as a
face mask, such as the surgical masks or respirators used by
health and care workers. "

and

"Wearing a face covering is optional and is not required by
law, including in the workplace. If you choose to wear one, it
is important to use face coverings properly "

home craft fun

"You can make face-coverings at home and can find guidance
on how to do this and use them safely on GOV.UK"

So wear them if you must but you'll look silly, cause a panic and look like the Japs
Caveat
Face masks do not allow you to drive across the country knowing you are infected, visiting your mistress or having a picnic unless you're a conservative minister or govt official, in which do wtf you like - they're just the fucking plebs and we're better than them

 

[bodysong]

Douglas Ross resigned

May 26, 2020

A government minister has resigned and nearly 40 Conservative MPs, including
the former attorney general Jeremy Wright, as well as the Scottish Tory leader
Jackson Carlaw, have called for Dominic Cummings to go, as pressure continues
to mount on the top adviser to resign.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/l...dominic-cummings-boris-johnson-latest-updates

American politicians have arrogance and sullen attitudes, and have placed themselves above The People.

 

[bodysong]

Stephen Collins- Johnson's attitude towards the people of UK- "economy drones"

23 May 2020 Stephen Collins on Boris Johnson's address to UK – cartoon

Guardian

Trump and Mike Pence made it clear this week, that The People do not mean much to them.

Opinion Confusion reigns supreme as even the Taoiseach breaks own rules to have picnic

26 May 2020

There hasn't been much to laugh about for the last few months, but the news that Boris
Johnson's widely loathed chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, had been busted for breaking
lockdown rules not once, not twice, but allegedly three times certainly brought a grim grin
to many people's faces.

https://www.independent.ie/opinion/...breaks-own-rules-to-have-picnic-39234012.html

Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar denies picnic with friends was Covid-19 rule breach

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-picnic-with-friends-was-covid-19-rule-breach

 

[DeYaKen]

Stephen Collins- Johnson's attitude towards the people of UK- "economy drones"

23 May 2020 Stephen Collins on Boris Johnson's address to UK – cartoon

Guardian

Trump and Mike Pence made it clear this week, that The People do not mean much to them.

Opinion Confusion reigns supreme as even the Taoiseach breaks own rules to have picnic

26 May 2020

There hasn't been much to laugh about for the last few months, but the news that Boris
Johnson's widely loathed chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, had been busted for breaking
lockdown rules not once, not twice, but allegedly three times certainly brought a grim grin
to many people's faces.

https://www.independent.ie/opinion/...breaks-own-rules-to-have-picnic-39234012.html

Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar denies picnic with friends was Covid-19 rule breach

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...-picnic-with-friends-was-covid-19-rule-breach

To make a bad situation worse his excuse for the second breach was that he thought his eyesight was defective so he drove his wife and child 60 miles to see if he was safe to drive. The eyesight test for driving is quite clear and requires no special equipment or even getting into a car to test. Driving while your vision is impaired is against the law. Since he admitted on national TV doing just that he should have been arrested but Boris Johnson says he did nothing wrong.

Senior Tories say that Cummings is essential to the running of the country. So we have suffered all the Brexit uncertainty to break free from an unelected elite only to have it replaced by an unelected advisor who puts himself above the law.

 

[bodysong]

Aaron Rupar ✓
Twitter › atrupar

“Human capital stock”: White House adviser Kevin Hassett uses dehumanizing term
for US workers

link to Vox

19 hours ago

Trump adviser blasted for describing U.S. workers as 'human capital stock'
ready to return to jobs

May 26, 2020

May 26, 2020 2:40 PM

When speaking to CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union last Sunday,
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett replied to a simple question
about unemployment numbers in an incredibly cringe-worthy—and revealing—
way. Bash asked if Hassett thought unemployment numbers would stay in double
digits (which is where they are now) through November. Hassett replied by breezily
referring to people as “human capital stock.” Mind you, “stock” usually refers to farm
animals, and as pointed out by The Independent, the term “human stock” has been associated with eugenics.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...s-human-capital-stock-ready-to-return-to-jobs

 

[bodysong]

"I have to go now."

" I’ve had a few drinks so I’m going to get in the car
and drive to Surrey to see if I’m drunk."

- satirist, imitating Dominic Cummings

https://www.theshovel.com.au/2020/05/26/test-my-eyesight-moving-vehicle-by-dominic-cummings/

Boris Johnson sacrifices top scientific advisers on altar of Classic Dom

PM turns Great Dictator as he silences Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance at daily briefing

- John J. Crace

Thu 28 May 2020

The UK’s very own dictator might not have much of a reputation left to protect,
but Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance most certainly did.

Boris went out of his way to trash the reputations of both the chief medical officer
and the chief scientific adviser. (...)

Even Whitty and Vallance appeared slightly taken aback by Johnson’s bullish optimism.

(...) Boris effectively silenced them. (...)

(Boris prevented Laura Kuenssberg from asking a follow-up question by muting her.)

(...) It’s possible that both men had only agreed to stand alongside the Great Dictator
on the proviso they were allowed to say nothing. If so that was a huge mistake on their
part, because reputations that had taken decades to build were shredded in a matter
of minutes.

(...) – they both played dumb.

Whitty and Vallance weren’t even allowed to answer a basic question of whether
they would recommend a 50-mile round trip with your child in the back of the car
as a good way of checking if your eyesight was fit to drive. That was about as
straightforward a scientific yes or no question as you could get. But still they didn’t
dare say a word.

Other pressers have been tetchy and opaque, but this one had been a new low.

Boris hadn’t demeaned himself because there’s nothing left to demean.
But he had demeaned his CMO and CSA and he had demeaned the UK
by treating its citizens with total contempt. In saving Dom, he has ruined
what was left of his credibility. And all across the country, Tory MPs and
Tory voters were beginning to ask themselves one simple question.

Ever get the feeling you’ve been had?

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...p-scientific-advisers-on-altar-of-classic-dom

The original article is a bit long, and much is missing from my post.

bodysong comment-


American have been witness to seeing scientific institutions trusted for generations,
fall under the influence of the men appointed by TRump to head them.

Our American version of Tories are more frightening-
They believe they are entitled to take anything they want, by any means.

The doctors that Trump tolerates, do not have much more integrity than those advising
the UK. Trump has silenced Dr. Fauci. Dr. Birx lost her reputation. Dr. Redfield has
made a deal with Trump, and did not protect the US public.

The only doctors that Trump will allow any authority, are ones that are
connected to the religious fanatics dictating health policy, or doctors that are
military officers, because they are more likely to adapt to the abuse, corruption
and bullying, and tolerate the insanity of the current White House chain of command.

Science has become a political issue because of Trump's support system, and Trump
himself. Scientists that tell the truth, and that stick to scientific evidence, have been
named enemies to Trump, by Trump.

Trump lashes out at scientists whose findings contradict him

May 22, 2020

Trump told reporters Tuesday. “It was a Trump enemy statement."

https://www.theintelligencer.com/ne...out-at-scientists-whose-findings-15287897.php

 

[DeYaKen]

"I have to go now."

" I’ve had a few drinks so I’m going to get in the car
and drive to Surrey to see if I’m drunk."

- satirist, imitating Dominic Cummings

https://www.theshovel.com.au/2020/05/26/test-my-eyesight-moving-vehicle-by-dominic-cummings/

Boris Johnson sacrifices top scientific advisers on altar of Classic Dom

PM turns Great Dictator as he silences Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance at daily briefing

- John J. Crace

Thu 28 May 2020

The UK’s very own dictator might not have much of a reputation left to protect,
but Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance most certainly did.

Boris went out of his way to trash the reputations of both the chief medical officer
and the chief scientific adviser. (...)

Even Whitty and Vallance appeared slightly taken aback by Johnson’s bullish optimism.

(...) Boris effectively silenced them. (...)

(Boris prevented Laura Kuenssberg from asking a follow-up question by muting her.)

(...) It’s possible that both men had only agreed to stand alongside the Great Dictator
on the proviso they were allowed to say nothing. If so that was a huge mistake on their
part, because reputations that had taken decades to build were shredded in a matter
of minutes.

(...) – they both played dumb.

Whitty and Vallance weren’t even allowed to answer a basic question of whether
they would recommend a 50-mile round trip with your child in the back of the car
as a good way of checking if your eyesight was fit to drive. That was about as
straightforward a scientific yes or no question as you could get. But still they didn’t
dare say a word.

Other pressers have been tetchy and opaque, but this one had been a new low.

Boris hadn’t demeaned himself because there’s nothing left to demean.
But he had demeaned his CMO and CSA and he had demeaned the UK
by treating its citizens with total contempt. In saving Dom, he has ruined
what was left of his credibility. And all across the country, Tory MPs and
Tory voters were beginning to ask themselves one simple question.

Ever get the feeling you’ve been had?

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...p-scientific-advisers-on-altar-of-classic-dom

The original article is a bit long, and much is missing from my post.

bodysong comment-


American have been witness to seeing scientific institutions trusted for generations,
fall under the influence of the men appointed by TRump to head them.

Our American version of Tories are more frightening-
They believe they are entitled to take anything they want, by any means.

The doctors that Trump tolerates, do not have much more integrity than those advising
the UK. Trump has silenced Dr. Fauci. Dr. Birx lost her reputation. Dr. Redfield has
made a deal with Trump, and did not protect the US public.

The only doctors that Trump will allow any authority, are ones that are
connected to the religious fanatics dictating health policy, or doctors that are
military officers, because they are more likely to adapt to the abuse, corruption
and bullying, and tolerate the insanity of the current White House chain of command.

Science has become a political issue because of Trump's support system, and Trump
himself. Scientists that tell the truth, and that stick to scientific evidence, have been
named enemies to Trump, by Trump.

Trump lashes out at scientists whose findings contradict him

May 22, 2020

Trump told reporters Tuesday. “It was a Trump enemy statement."

https://www.theintelligencer.com/ne...out-at-scientists-whose-findings-15287897.php

In leaving the EU the British people have removed themselves from an Elite which although unelected were at least appointed by governments of the member states. It is now evident that having freed themselves from one elite they now find themselves under the control of another unelected elite, namely Dominic Cummings. Despite embarassing the government by showing that he is above the law he is still in position and the Johnson government insist they cannot govern without him. Britain is now a dictatorship under the complete control of one unelected bureaucrat.

That, my friends is what we call freedom.