Wuhan Killer Sneeze (thanks Tea)

[IdleRich]

Yeah, I can see that, if (for the sake of argument) they did fake it to create a distraction then it has worked. But my point is it could equally backfired with people saying how foolish he was to downplay the risks and catch it very seriously despite his overconfidence. Just cot the former did happen, it doesn't mean that was the guaranteed outcome. I think that it would have been a big gamble. Especially when you consider that there would be the risk of it coming out later at some point... say just before the next election or something.

 

[craner]

I wouldn't really say 'Boris in Peril' has been successful in distracting from the appalling mismanagement, it's a major, endlessly discussed theme.

 

[Leo]

hmm...anything's possible but surely someone in the hospital would have leaked word if it was all fake. might be different if Boris were sequestered at home.

 

[IdleRich]

But not to the extent it should be I'd argue. The UK prime minister ignored and played down a world crisis for months on end and thousands of people have died directly because of his lack of interest and wrong decisions. In a sane world we should be discussing his replacement and whether he'll face criminal charges - instead people (some of them at least) are saying "oh leave off, the man's been ill".

 

[IdleRich]

There's also been a distraction away from the fact there were not 50,000 dead by Easter Sunday. The left were very upset by that.

Er...

 

[IdleRich]

surely someone in the hospital would have leaked word if it was all fake

That too yeah.

 

[droid]

hmm...anything's possible but surely someone in the hospital would have leaked word if it was all fake. might be different if Boris were sequestered at home.

Yeah, you would think. Apparently they all had to sign the official secrets act.

 

[HMGovt’s Glorious Return!]

In fact Johnson's whole response to the crisis has been a total shambles. Going from bragging about shaking hands with sick people and assuring everyone that there would be no big effect on their lives, to falling desperately ill and being saved by the very health service he hates, and as a result leaving the whole country leaderless for weeks on end during one of the worst crises it's faced. That sequence in itself is just embarrassing hubris and incompetence mixed together. Yet somehow, cos he almost died, people think he's a hero.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Do you think that Boris Johnson is doing well or badly as Prime Minister?<br><br>Well: 66% (+20)<br>Badly: 26% (-16)<br><br>via <a href="https://twitter.com/YouGov?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@YouGov</a>, 11-13 Apr<br><br>(Changes with 16 Mar)</p>— Opros Politics (@OprosUK) <a href="">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

:crylarf:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Westminster Voting Intention:<br><br>CON: 53% (+1)<br>LAB: 32% (+4)<br>LDM: 5% (-3)<br>GRN: 3% (-2)<br><br>via <a href="https://twitter.com/YouGov?ref_src=twsrc^tfw">@YouGov</a>, 16-17 Apr<br><br>(Changes with 2 Apr)</p>— Opros Politics (@OprosUK) <a href="">April 20, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[droid]

Er...

lol, yeah.The prediction was that deaths would peak on Easter Sunday and that the best case scenario was 20,000 dead in total, with 50,000 as a worst case. They may have peaked on April 8th, but there's been worse days since, and its impossible to say as nursing home deaths arent being counted. Impossible to say what the final toll will be, but will almost certainly be worse than the best case scenario.

 

[IdleRich]

Now stories saying that they were strongly advised to shut down Cheltenham but they were specifically lobbied by three gambling firms and chose to keep it open instead.

 

[IdleRich]

Yeah, you would think. Apparently they all had to sign the official secrets act.

Can you really use the official secrets act to make individuals lie purely for the interests of one party... even one member of one party?

 

[WashYourHands]

There was plenty of weekend paper columns on Boris, missed Cobra meetings, early warnings ignored, celebrating with his partner instead of fine tuning a response to sink his ship. Will it happen? Who knows.

One of my oldest & most reliable mates is working ICU shifts where around 50% of A&E staff have now tested positive for Covid. Without meaning to dose up the hysteria, the viral loads he’s being exposed to are mind melting. Full kit, but he said the sheer volume of coughing being expelled around meant he’s already had sputum flying across his visor since late January, when their pneumonia patients started to escalate & spike.

The nightly graphs & spam Rishi et al dole out should be rammed down their throats when the dust settles. Seems frontline NHS staff are effectively expendable from all the evidence.

 

[droid]

Can you really use the official secrets act to make individuals lie purely for the interests of one party... even one member of one party?

If they're in government - absolutely, but it's probably bollocks anyway.

 

[IdleRich]

I mean they could try but it's surely not a legitimate use... it's supposed to be to protect the country not one MP whose interests do not necessarily align with that.
Have you seen Philip Pullman calling for Johnson to be charged with conspiracy to murder anyhow?

 

[luka]

That's like demanding Blair be tried as a war criminal. Just posturing and fantasy.

 

[Leo]

always a little funny as well that the trump and Boris teams are consistently incompetent and bungle nearly every important initiative YET SIMULTANEOUSLY also uber-effective ninjas when it comes to carrying off a deceitful secret plan. unlikely that those scenarios can co-exist.

 

[luka]

always a little funny as well that the trump and Boris teams are consistently incompetent and bungle nearly every important initiative YET SIMULTANEOUSLY also uber-effective ninjas when it comes to carrying off a deceitful secret plan. unlikely that those scenarios can co-exist.

Boris and trump have been anything but incompetent when it comes to what is important to them. They've been incredibly successful.

 

[luka]

They've decimated all opposition. Doing great at the polls. Big popularity. Boris played a brexit blinder. Won an election at a canter. He's absolutely smashing it.

 

[luka]

They're both very clearly genius level operators without peer in their respective countries. Hats off to them.

 

[IdleRich]

always a little funny as well that the trump and Boris teams are consistently incompetent and bungle nearly every important initiative YET SIMULTANEOUSLY also uber-effective ninjas when it comes to carrying off a deceitful secret plan. unlikely that those scenarios can co-exist.

I agree with that up to a point. Then again it's quite possible that he's good at one thing (PR) and bad at another thing (running a country etc) - I'm relatively good at football and shit at golf, I don't think that's logically impossible is it?
With going to jail, yeah of course it's unlikely, however I think that it's much more possible than with Blair after Iraq, he could at least plausibly argue that he was part of an international coalition and that if he was wrong so were loads of other world leaders, whereas if Johnson is found by an inquiry (and there will be one as with Iraq I guess) to have deliberately not ordered the EU PPE (which was the specific issue that Pullman was talking about) for reasons of ideology then it will be pretty bad for him I'd think.