it looks bad but I think many british people fully accept that their rulers do what they like. I’m not sure the public will care as much as the papers are making out, and we know that inner circle don’t dive a fuck about the rest of the party, the media, the opposition etc

I disagree with this. Think of the expenses scandal. There's an enormous amount of anger out there and this is a bit of lightening rod for it all. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

I hope you're right and I'm wrong. Maybe I'm so burnt from the GE that I can't see comeuppance coming from anything these cunts do. But to get a read on 'the mood of the public' It can be valuable to look away from media, twitter, embarrassing placards with twee insults etc and listen to the people with no interest in who don't know him and i've heard say things like 'I feel sorry for him'

The expenses scandal is a good example because the rules broken are relatable to most of the public, unlike something like the panama papers scandal
 

catalog

Well-known member
Definitely sage to get off the internet on things like this, and the mood of people i was chatting to in the park yesterday was very much one of indifference. Thats why the mob vibe is counter productive. Im not gonna watch his press conference, gonna leave it, the whole thing has dragged me back into the news and i think its starting to spoil lockdown for me
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Best thing I saw today is that the British are finally having the terrible experience that many countries have had previously.... finding out what it's like to be ruled by the British.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
All I'm seeing is jokes about this... a van with "DC approved journey, going for an eye-test" written in the dirt, many variations on the Blues Brothers quote along the lines of "We're 250 miles from Durham, we've got an unfeasibly large tank of gas and a c19 infected family - hit it" etc Oh and the Star has a cut out and keep "Do whatever you want mask" with Cummings face on it... it appears that Cumgate is still open.
 

WashYourHands

Cat Malogen
His hubris means he probably volunteered to make that statement, take questions & flatten the news cycle curve.

Strange times getting even more strangely strange.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Nah he aint going. Amazing. I don't think he has anything on Johnson or anything like that... or at least that's not the reason, but Johnson is scared or incapable of leading without him.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
It's funny, this huge wave of right-wing populism we've seen in this country and elsewhere is often said to be a reaction against 'technocrats', but isn't Cummings a technocrat of sorts in his own right?

(Or maybe a techoprat, hahaha seewhatIdidthere? )
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Scare quotes around heritability is a bit daft - intelligence is strongly hereditary. But you can acknowledge that fact without supporting eugenics, as (I strongly hope) the vast majority of genetics researchers do.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
I heard that there is now a new term used in golf for when you hit a long drive out of bounds and refuse to accept a penalty....
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Saw this from Jolyon Maugham on Twitter:

Remembering a story told to me about Cummings by someone who was there.
At the start of the referendum campaign proper Cummings went in to see the FT's key editorial staff to explain how he was going to win the vote for Leave. Big meeting, lots of very bright people. Any normal person would have been intimidated.
Not Cummings. He slowly explained his plan and jaws dropped and dropped. Eventually one of the FT staff said: "What, you're just going to lie your way to victory?" and Cummings responded with a look that suggested he couldn't understand why anyone might ask that question.
This, not cleverness, is Cummings' secret sauce. That he does not care about the truth; he is not troubled with the 'rules' or what is decent or right; and he will break anything to get what he wants. He is, as David Cameron famously said, a career psychopath. 0
But there is no "winning" a pandemic. Neither lies, nor captive newspapers, will save the life of those you love. But Cummings has nothing else to offer.
 

catalog

Well-known member
I think thats probably true, but everyone at that level of power is willing to lie loads. That level of power does something to notions of truth and lies, cos you are actually wilfully making reality. So, Cameron calling him a psychopath is fair enough, but whats Cameron? I realise i sound like im sticking up for cummings here, which isnt really the point, its more to say, what about all those people in the meeting? They went along with it presumably? And what about now, who is worse? He’ll definitely go out with a bang, that im sure of. Cos yeah, hes definitely more extreme than all the others.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Good question I dunno. And I agree that these people are trying to kinda create their own reality and so on... I think Cummings is willing to take it to the next level. A matter of degree not kind. I mean probably you have people saying "We need to put across our message in the most convincing way" or some such, it's quite shocking when someone says "Just tell the proles this, they'll fall for it".
It's what we've often mentioned about the good guys always being at a disadvantage cos they have to win while remaining good... ie playing fair... telling the truth etc.
 

catalog

Well-known member
yeah, exactly, he's using the 'rules of the game' to their fullest... probably why he chose the Tory party. Cos Labour have to basically keep reinventing the game
 

catalog

Well-known member
I want forensic architecture to take the Cummings tale apart. Stakes are obvs not high enough just now, but who knows with the second wave incoming and no one giving a shit cos he took a massive piss all over his own strategy
 
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