Jump to content

World Politics Thread


mtutiger

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

serious question though - given the place that 'honor' is still said to hold at the academies, how do these officers who lie about this stuff not get CM'd, or at least ridden out on a rail?

Power, go-along-to-get-along, human nature.   Its not surprising that human institutions are corruptible.  The Disciples fell asleep on Jesus.  They all have churches and cathedrals named after them.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, romad1 said:

Power, go-along-to-get-along, human nature.   Its not surprising that human institutions are corruptible.  The Disciples fell asleep on Jesus.  They all have churches and cathedrals named after them.  

but woe betide the poor enlisted man who cops an extra helping of strawberries....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

Boris Johnson had a SECOND PARTY it looks like during the Covid lockdown in the UK. His party, the Tories, are doing something Trump's never does, they are criticizing and skewering their own Prime Minister.

 

Boris should have taken a “you're field” gig on ITV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, buddha said:

hasnt almost every politician done this?  the mayor of dc, the governor of california, boris johnson, aoc...

lockdowns and mandates for thee, parties for me.

 

Maybe having a party while he left the Queen mourning by herself struck an particularly English nerve, because while breaking COVID rules in small groups may been boorish, in general it does seem like small potatoes in the overall scheme of operating a national government.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, buddha said:

hasnt almost every politician done this?  the mayor of dc, the governor of california, boris johnson, aoc...

lockdowns and mandates for thee, parties for me.

 

The difference is that there are actual political consequences in the UK apparently.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, buddha said:

i would love for there to be political consequences for all the politicians who have done this.  but didnt whitmer do this?  

This is the time old question in politics - what do you care about in a leader and what don't you? If there are people out there that in two years have never once violated the recommendations, good for them - but is that what I really care about in my governor or PM? Whitmer's got nailed both for going to the bar one night and IIRC also something around visiting family out of state (of course note that the bar was open - since regulations in America always make so much sense!). Johnson was apparently more of a serial violator than Whitmer, but if I were a Brit the bigger thing to me would still be Johnson's somewhat estranged relation with telling the truth more generally than his particular weakness for socializing.

But the other truth is that everyone is a hypocrite, but some people are hypocritical in bigger or smaller ways! I'll go back to the example of Clinton again. I couldn't have cared less if the Prez was getting some on the side, I did care that he lied under oath, but my take on those relative importances was in the minority so I'm clearly out of step.

Edited by gehringer_2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Jim Cowan said:

Also the difference is the parliamentary system, where he has to show up and get yelled at and humiliated by everyone including his own party.

Pretty much.

After the last parliamentary election, a lot of the American commentariat (particularly GOP commentariat) seemed to suggest that the CP would never lose another election again in the UK. This scandal sort of shows that while polarization may be a factor elsewhere, applying American conventional wisdom about polarization to an entirely different population and political system isn't wise.

Edited by mtutiger
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The UK, to the best of my knowledge, does not have the right wing media ecosphere that we have ready and able to defend a party animal like Boris Johnson in the way that ours defends Trump. I'm sure they have individual right wing commentators and influencers over there in the form of talk show hosts, opinion columnists, radio/podcast hosts, etc. But have they dealt with 25 years of Fox News and the likes of Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Bill O'Reilly, poisoning their airwaves and spreading misinformation and lies? Other than maybe SkyNews, which Murdoch owns I believe, is there an equivalent network that has the scope and reach that Fox News does?

The same thing for a guy like Rush Limbaugh. Do they have a Limbaugh, Dan Bongino, Mark Levin, Steve Bannon, Glenn Beck, Alex Jones who have the reach these guys have had? Is there someone with the popularity of any of these hosts in the UK? What about Brietbart and its popularity? I suspect there is not.

I also suspect the Tories aren't going around protesting education and teach methods in the UK. Nor are they trying to ban books and restrict teaching of history and critical thinking the way the right has done for decades in this country. Also, have their students been victimized by the "teach to the standardized test" one size fits all approach that American students have over the last 40 years? The standardized testing industry has poisoned both Democrat and Republican lawmakers and lead towards some really bad public policy making education wise in the US.

Edited by Mr.TaterSalad
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...