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Post by benjaminbiscuit on May 30, 2020 20:44:56 GMT
The public were only going to stick to the rules for a certain amount of time. Not if the message was hard and clear and consistent and ideal early . They had the people locked down to a considerable degree for the first row weeks and then totally lost their way by a series of compounding misjudgments
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Post by AlliG on May 30, 2020 21:00:13 GMT
This country is just full of selfish twats Some of the pictures make you want to bang your head on the wall but isn't the problem with that picture that 2 helicopters have landed on the beach and that all the people who were on the beach at the time have been corralled into a very small area, presumably by the police themselves?
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Post by andystokey on May 30, 2020 21:05:47 GMT
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Post by smallthorner on May 30, 2020 21:12:12 GMT
The only reason there'd be no staff in banks is if there's no demand for it and I can't see cash disappearing in the next 20 years to be honest. But yeah, expect smaller branches to close in the very near future. I do think this pandemic has changed the way we live our lives. I would never have considered using contactless payment for anything less than £20 but I'm using it all the time now. Apart from the 70p for my Daily Mail, I still pay cash for that You ironic Tory bastard 😊
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Post by bayernoatcake on May 30, 2020 21:21:25 GMT
This country is just full of selfish twats Some of the pictures make you want to bang your head on the wall but isn't the problem with that picture that 2 helicopters have landed on the beach and that all the people who were on the beach at the time have been corralled into a very small area, presumably by the police themselves? Of course. But 1) why are all of those people there in the first place (same place as a photo from last week with no one socially distancing). 2) the helicopters were there because people were jumping off the cliffs
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Post by Seymour Beaver on May 30, 2020 21:34:17 GMT
Can't read it because of paywall - however in a way it probably is a masterstroke. A case of make the bait big enough (breaking lockdown rules) and they'll take it. As a distraction from the major crime. That being fucking up the UK's response to Covid. All the while the press are taking the piss out of his idiosyncratic approach to testing his eyesight it is deflecting from his personal role in the ill fated 'herd immunity' and belated lockdown. Twat should be facing manslaughter charges never mind driving without due care.
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on May 30, 2020 21:41:57 GMT
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Post by OldStokie on May 30, 2020 21:48:30 GMT
Not for a moment do I think it's satire, Paul, although under normal circumstances I reckon most people would think it was. I don't think his actions were as they describe them and I think on this occasion it really was a case of him being found out for his hypocrisy. But anyone who underestimates the brilliant Machiavellian brain of Cummings is a fool. This is a man on a mission who understands people and is quite prepared to prey on their weaknesses and predispositions to achieve his aims. Think for a moment what he's achieved. Brexit. He could have chosen to get behind Farage to lead the charge to get out of Europe. But why didn't he? After all, Farage formed a party to do just that. It's quite simple. Once achieved, Farage would disappear like a piss hole in the snow. No, Cummings wanted more than that. He wanted someone to front that charge who would still retain complete power in the country but at the same time he didn't want someone with half a brain who could derail his own plans to change our society completely to the way he thinks a society should work. So he chose to back someone who was malleable or someone who shared his own way of thinking. Gove thinks like Cummings but getting him into power was derailed. So he chose to get behind Johnson, who was malleable. Johnson is not an idealogue. Apart from his liberalistic views, Johnson is more concerned about his power trip than politics. He's the perfect front man for Cummings. Cummings. If you want to understand someone then take a look at what they read and write. For those who want an inkling into how he thinks, here's something to get your teeth into. Most will read a few paragraphs and then give up. It's not easy reading but well worth it if you want to understand what you're up against. And who knows... you might even agree with him after reading it. And when someone says Ian Duncan Smith is 'incompetent' then he at least deserves a small round of applause. linkOS.
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Post by mrmojorisin on May 30, 2020 21:49:13 GMT
The public were only going to stick to the rules for a certain amount of time. Not if the message was hard and clear and consistent and ideal early . They had the people locked down to a considerable degree for the first row weeks and then totally lost their way by a series of compounding misjudgments Even if the message had remained people would have gone against it. We've messed up big time with our approach.
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Post by chad on May 30, 2020 21:52:30 GMT
How many hours a day do you spend trawling through Twitter to find obscure left wing rankings I know there’s no footie at the moment but surely there’s better things to do 😊
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Post by chad on May 30, 2020 21:59:01 GMT
Latest Poll of Polls showS voting inventions. Tories 45%. Labour 36%. Even after a pretty disastrous week looks like people still don’t want to turn to the left Four years to go yet though
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Post by ColonelMustard on May 30, 2020 22:05:38 GMT
Not for a moment do I think it's satire, Paul, although under normal circumstances I reckon most people would think it was. I don't think his actions were as they describe them and I think on this occasion it really was a case of him being found out for his hypocrisy. But anyone who underestimates the brilliant Machiavellian brain of Cummings is a fool. This is a man on a mission who understands people and is quite prepared to prey on their weaknesses and predispositions to achieve his aims. Think for a moment what he's achieved. Brexit. He could have chosen to get behind Farage to lead the charge to get out of Europe. But why didn't he? After all, Farage formed a party to do just that. It's quite simple. Once achieved, Farage would disappear like a piss hole in the snow. No, Cummings wanted more than that. He wanted someone to front that charge who would still retain complete power in the country but at the same time he didn't want someone with half a brain who could derail his own plans to change our society completely to the way he thinks a society should work. So he chose to back someone who was malleable or someone who shared his own way of thinking. Gove thinks like Cummings but getting him into power was derailed. So he chose to get behind Johnson, who was malleable. Johnson is not an idealogue. Apart from his liberalistic views, Johnson is more concerned about his power trip than politics. He's the perfect front man for Cummings. Cummings. If you want to understand someone then take a look at what they read and write. For those who want an inkling into how he thinks, here's something to get your teeth into. Most will read a few paragraphs and then give up. It's not easy reading but well worth it if you want to understand what you're up against. And who knows... you might even agree with him after reading it. And when someone says Ian Duncan Smith is 'incompetent' then he at least deserves a small round of applause. :) linkOS. Thanks for posting. I really should have looked it up myself before now. Fleshes out the character under the beanie a little.
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Post by RedandWhite90 on May 30, 2020 22:05:44 GMT
Latest Poll of Polls showS voting inventions. Tories 45%. Labour 36%. Even after a pretty disastrous week looks like people still don’t want to turn to the left Four years to go yet though They wont be turning to the left they will be turning to the centre.
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Post by bayernoatcake on May 30, 2020 22:07:08 GMT
This country is just full of selfish twats Some of the pictures make you want to bang your head on the wall but isn't the problem with that picture that 2 helicopters have landed on the beach and that all the people who were on the beach at the time have been corralled into a very small area, presumably by the police themselves? A flavour of it pre helicopter
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Post by benjaminbiscuit on May 30, 2020 22:15:24 GMT
Not if the message was hard and clear and consistent and ideal early . They had the people locked down to a considerable degree for the first row weeks and then totally lost their way by a series of compounding misjudgments Even if the message had remained people would have gone against it. We've messed up big time with our approach. But by and large they did lack if clarity and early promised us what weakened the lock down to quote the military orders Need to pass the granny test and if they don’t they aren’t orders
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on May 30, 2020 22:16:16 GMT
Some of the pictures make you want to bang your head on the wall but isn't the problem with that picture that 2 helicopters have landed on the beach and that all the people who were on the beach at the time have been corralled into a very small area, presumably by the police themselves? A flavour of it pre helicopter Absolute fucking madness....
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Post by crapslinger on May 30, 2020 22:21:13 GMT
Latest Poll of Polls showS voting inventions. Tories 45%. Labour 36%. Even after a pretty disastrous week looks like people still don’t want to turn to the left Four years to go yet though The left are no longer a credible alternative in the UK the Marxist/Trotsky dinosaur is well and truly dead only the extreme tip of it's tail are still twitching, Keir Starmer is pretty much as Tory lite as you could get ! if he can rid the "Labour" party of momentum and the Union influences he might claw back some floating voters, the swivel eyed far left will never embrace him as one of their own if they are true to their "beliefs" but will they have the moral bollocks not to back him ? is he the next man of principal as they claimed Corbyn was ?
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Post by Seymour Beaver on May 30, 2020 22:21:37 GMT
Not for a moment do I think it's satire, Paul, although under normal circumstances I reckon most people would think it was. I don't think his actions were as they describe them and I think on this occasion it really was a case of him being found out for his hypocrisy. But anyone who underestimates the brilliant Machiavellian brain of Cummings is a fool. This is a man on a mission who understands people and is quite prepared to prey on their weaknesses and predispositions to achieve his aims. Think for a moment what he's achieved. Brexit. He could have chosen to get behind Farage to lead the charge to get out of Europe. But why didn't he? After all, Farage formed a party to do just that. It's quite simple. Once achieved, Farage would disappear like a piss hole in the snow. No, Cummings wanted more than that. He wanted someone to front that charge who would still retain complete power in the country but at the same time he didn't want someone with half a brain who could derail his own plans to change our society completely to the way he thinks a society should work. So he chose to back someone who was malleable or someone who shared his own way of thinking. Gove thinks like Cummings but getting him into power was derailed. So he chose to get behind Johnson, who was malleable. Johnson is not an idealogue. Apart from his liberalistic views, Johnson is more concerned about his power trip than politics. He's the perfect front man for Cummings. Cummings. If you want to understand someone then take a look at what they read and write. For those who want an inkling into how he thinks, here's something to get your teeth into. Most will read a few paragraphs and then give up. It's not easy reading but well worth it if you want to understand what you're up against. And who knows... you might even agree with him after reading it. And when someone says Ian Duncan Smith is 'incompetent' then he at least deserves a small round of applause. linkOS. Agree with much of that OS. Love him or hate him Cummings is a fascinating character. Yes he's a man on a mission but driven no less by narcissism than his 'useful idiot' Johnson. The Tories have provided a vehicle for his vanity but Cummings is no Tory - if anything his philosophy is closer to Leninism than Johnson's optimistic liberism - and right now he's damaging their brand. Having him around is a bit like having Mourihno at your club - he'll win you trophies but he'll bugger everything you stood for. Johnson might be in his thrall but I seriously doubt whether Graham Brady is. You can act a wrecking ball for campaigns and elections but it's not suited to stable government. In the next 12 months Cummings will be gone. It's where he ends up next that will be of most concern
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Post by lordb on May 30, 2020 22:26:30 GMT
Latest Poll of Polls showS voting inventions. Tories 45%. Labour 36%. Even after a pretty disastrous week looks like people still don’t want to turn to the left Four years to go yet though They wont be turning to the left they will be turning to the centre. Well if so that probably isn't going to be the Liberal Democrats, can only be Labour under Starter unless the Tories turn that way.
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Post by Huddysleftfoot on May 30, 2020 22:34:54 GMT
When Boris Johnson says it’s OK to open schools, and to travel to work on crowded buses - remember these are some of the other things Boris Johnson says are OK:
Stealing a reporter’s phone so he didn’t have to look at a boy being treated on a hospital floor.
Arranging to have a journalist beaten up.
Giving £000s of government money earmarked for British companies to an American woman he was sleeping with.
Disowning a child so hard he had to be taken to court to be forced to acknowledge they exist.
Having an affair while his wife had cancer.
Hiding from scrutiny in a fridge.
Publishing an article saying that the city of Liverpool enjoyed grief over Hillsborough.
Calling gay men ‘tank-topped bumboys’ and black people ‘pickinninies with watermelon smiles.
Lying to the people of Northern Ireland about the need for customs checks.
Closing parliament illegally.
Lying during a referendum campaign: Claiming that we paid the EU £350 million a week when we didn’t, that Turkey was about to join the EU when they aren’t.
Supporting an advisor who drove to Barnard Castle and back from Durham to ‘test his eyes’ with a four-year-old in the car.
Cheerleading for austerity measures that killed 130,000 people, for the hostile environment, for privatising the NHS.
Causing a British woman to languish in an Iranian gaol because he couldn’t be arsed to read the brief on the case.
Breaking House of Commons rules by failing to declare a financial interest in a property.
Saying money spent on child abuse investigations had been “spaffed up the wall”.
Comparing women wearing burqas and niqabs to letter boxes.
Claiming the Libyan city of Sirte would have a bright future as a luxury resort once investors “cleared the dead bodies away”.
Blowing millions on the Garden Bridge before it was unceremoniously scrapped.
Wasting £300,000 of public money on illegal water cannon.
Sending people sick with coronavirus to care homes, causing 20,000 to die…
And we don’t know what the scientists really think as he tells them what questions they are allowed to answer, so maybe don’t take his advice?...
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Post by neworleanstokie on May 30, 2020 22:35:13 GMT
The only reason there'd be no staff in banks is if there's no demand for it and I can't see cash disappearing in the next 20 years to be honest. But yeah, expect smaller branches to close in the very near future. I do think this pandemic has changed the way we live our lives. I would never have considered using contactless payment for anything less than £20 but I'm using it all the time now. Apart from the 70p for my Daily Mail, I still pay cash for that I work in wholesale payments.. we're seeing a huge uptick in interest in ePayables
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Post by stokeson on May 30, 2020 22:44:28 GMT
Latest Poll of Polls showS voting inventions. Tories 45%. Labour 36%. Even after a pretty disastrous week looks like people still don’t want to turn to the left Four years to go yet though The left are no longer a credible alternative in the UK the Marxist/Trotsky dinosaur is well and truly dead only the extreme tip of it's tail are still twitching, Keir Starmer is pretty much as Tory lite as you could get ! if he can rid the "Labour" party of momentum and the Union influences he might claw back some floating voters, the swivel eyed far left will never embrace him as one of their own if they are true to their "beliefs" but will they have the moral bollocks not to back him ? is he the next man of principal as they claimed Corbyn was ? You Boris boys are scared shitless by this weeks turn around and the damage done......Starmer didnt have to lift a finger......Good ole Dom...
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Post by RedandWhite90 on May 30, 2020 22:57:45 GMT
They wont be turning to the left they will be turning to the centre. Well if so that probably isn't going to be the Liberal Democrats, can only be Labour under Starter unless the Tories turn that way. Liberal who? Starmer has had a great start, needs to keep it up.
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Post by RedandWhite90 on May 30, 2020 22:59:33 GMT
The left are no longer a credible alternative in the UK the Marxist/Trotsky dinosaur is well and truly dead only the extreme tip of it's tail are still twitching, Keir Starmer is pretty much as Tory lite as you could get ! if he can rid the "Labour" party of momentum and the Union influences he might claw back some floating voters, the swivel eyed far left will never embrace him as one of their own if they are true to their "beliefs" but will they have the moral bollocks not to back him ? is he the next man of principal as they claimed Corbyn was ? You Boris boys are scared shitless by this weeks turn around and the damage done......Starmer didnt have to lift a finger......Good ole Dom... Big fan of how quiet Starmer has been this week. What was the old war general quote about when your opponent is making a mistake?
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Post by thisisouryear on May 30, 2020 23:18:57 GMT
When Boris Johnson says it’s OK to open schools, and to travel to work on crowded buses - remember these are some of the other things Boris Johnson says are OK: Stealing a reporter’s phone so he didn’t have to look at a boy being treated on a hospital floor. Arranging to have a journalist beaten up. Giving £000s of government money earmarked for British companies to an American woman he was sleeping with. Disowning a child so hard he had to be taken to court to be forced to acknowledge they exist. Having an affair while his wife had cancer. Hiding from scrutiny in a fridge. Publishing an article saying that the city of Liverpool enjoyed grief over Hillsborough. Calling gay men ‘tank-topped bumboys’ and black people ‘pickinninies with watermelon smiles. Lying to the people of Northern Ireland about the need for customs checks. Closing parliament illegally. Lying during a referendum campaign: Claiming that we paid the EU £350 million a week when we didn’t, that Turkey was about to join the EU when they aren’t. Supporting an advisor who drove to Barnard Castle and back from Durham to ‘test his eyes’ with a four-year-old in the car. Cheerleading for austerity measures that killed 130,000 people, for the hostile environment, for privatising the NHS. Causing a British woman to languish in an Iranian gaol because he couldn’t be arsed to read the brief on the case. Breaking House of Commons rules by failing to declare a financial interest in a property. Saying money spent on child abuse investigations had been “spaffed up the wall”. Comparing women wearing burqas and niqabs to letter boxes. Claiming the Libyan city of Sirte would have a bright future as a luxury resort once investors “cleared the dead bodies away”. Blowing millions on the Garden Bridge before it was unceremoniously scrapped. Wasting £300,000 of public money on illegal water cannon. Sending people sick with coronavirus to care homes, causing 20,000 to die… And we don’t know what the scientists really think as he tells them what questions they are allowed to answer, so maybe don’t take his advice?... Not to forget the Purge on his party. I would vote for the Downing Street cat before that twat and I don't like cats.
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Post by stokeykez on May 31, 2020 0:20:04 GMT
A small minority of the british public only needed a chink of light in which to say fuck it and go all out against the lockdown. The scientific advisors have strategically hit back and I'm glad they have because the lockdown and any resulting surge will come from the very much politicaldecisionnto back dominic Cummings. They are very wisely distancing themselves from any resulting blame which will come from boris sticking up for his pal.
Feel sorry for the advisors, they are in a no win situation as money and getting the economy back on track are far more important to the government than keeping a longer lockdown period.
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Post by Paul Spencer on May 31, 2020 0:39:34 GMT
I'd love to give you an answer, Paul, but thankfully i'm stuck behind a paywall. I was forced to stop at the laughable line of "Quite the reverse. It was, instead, a dazzling strategic masterstroke." People think Dominic Cummings made a terrible blunder. Actually it was a strategic masterstroke. Everyone has treated the row as a disaster for the Government. But perhaps it was all part of a brilliantly worked plan.
For a whole week now, Dominic Cummings has been mocked and excoriated for his Covid road trip. The story has caused no end of grief for the Prime Minister, for the Government, and of course for Mr Cummings himself.
But what if this was his plan all along?
Think about it. This is a man, don’t forget, with a deserved reputation as a modern-day Machiavelli, a schemer supreme, a grandmaster of 4D chess. I posit, therefore, that Mr Cummings’s delightful motoring tour of northeast England was not, contrary to popular belief, a ruinous political blunder. Quite the reverse. It was, instead, a dazzling strategic masterstroke.
Let us place ourselves, for a moment, in the great man’s shoes. We see the devastation being wrought upon the British economy. We observe the despair of honest workers who through no fault of their own have lost their livelihoods. We note the misery of pensioners unable to see their grandchildren. The time has come, we decide, to end the lock down, reopen the economy, and return everyone to normal life.
But how? Our characteristically persuasive messaging – “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” – has proven all too successful. Millions now appear terrified to leave their homes, or go to work, or send their children back to school. The Prime Minister, meanwhile, has grown frustratingly nervous about loosening restrictions. What is Westminster’s most brilliant thinker to do?
Simple. Break lock down himself – and then, when the breach is inevitably exposed, refuse even to apologise.
The result: the British people are so indignant, so appalled at the injustice, the sense of “one rule for the elite and another for us”, that they refuse to accept lock down a moment longer. It’s over.
And so, in a single, inspired move, Mr Cummings achieves precisely what he wanted.
The man’s a genius. But not just a genius. He’s also a hero. Think how selfless he has been.
In the interests of the British economy, Mr Cummings has willingly turned himself into a national laughing stock. He has permitted himself to become the butt of jokes about eye-tests for the rest of his life. He has even managed to radicalise the Daily Star, a newspaper that normally ignores politics altogether, and yet this week, for three days in a row, devoted its front page to ridiculing him without mercy – while giving away, to each of its 300,000 readers, a free Dominic Cummings mask (caption: “Can’t be ----- to stick to the rules like the rest of us? Simply wear this handy Dom face covering and you’ll get away with murder”).
A strategist like Mr Cummings, you can be sure, will have war-gamed all the possible outcomes, and foreseen every word of the humiliation now being visited upon him. But, for the sake of the greater good, he went ahead with his plan anyway. Look what he was prepared to sacrifice. Obviously not his £99,000-a-year taxpayer-funded Government job, but, at any rate, his reputation. His reputation as a master of public relations. His reputation as the Conservative party’s most prized asset. His reputation as a man of above-average intelligence. He gave all of that up. For us.
He will never now receive the acclaim he deserves. But, for a man as noble as Mr Cummings, the knowledge that he has his served his country will be reward enough.
This surely has to be satire?
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Post by ParaPsych on May 31, 2020 0:46:45 GMT
I'd love to give you an answer, Paul, but thankfully i'm stuck behind a paywall. I was forced to stop at the laughable line of "Quite the reverse. It was, instead, a dazzling strategic masterstroke." People think Dominic Cummings made a terrible blunder. Actually it was a strategic masterstroke. Everyone has treated the row as a disaster for the Government. But perhaps it was all part of a brilliantly worked plan.
For a whole week now, Dominic Cummings has been mocked and excoriated for his Covid road trip. The story has caused no end of grief for the Prime Minister, for the Government, and of course for Mr Cummings himself.
But what if this was his plan all along?
Think about it. This is a man, don’t forget, with a deserved reputation as a modern-day Machiavelli, a schemer supreme, a grandmaster of 4D chess. I posit, therefore, that Mr Cummings’s delightful motoring tour of northeast England was not, contrary to popular belief, a ruinous political blunder. Quite the reverse. It was, instead, a dazzling strategic masterstroke.
Let us place ourselves, for a moment, in the great man’s shoes. We see the devastation being wrought upon the British economy. We observe the despair of honest workers who through no fault of their own have lost their livelihoods. We note the misery of pensioners unable to see their grandchildren. The time has come, we decide, to end the lock down, reopen the economy, and return everyone to normal life.
But how? Our characteristically persuasive messaging – “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” – has proven all too successful. Millions now appear terrified to leave their homes, or go to work, or send their children back to school. The Prime Minister, meanwhile, has grown frustratingly nervous about loosening restrictions. What is Westminster’s most brilliant thinker to do?
Simple. Break lock down himself – and then, when the breach is inevitably exposed, refuse even to apologise.
The result: the British people are so indignant, so appalled at the injustice, the sense of “one rule for the elite and another for us”, that they refuse to accept lock down a moment longer. It’s over.
And so, in a single, inspired move, Mr Cummings achieves precisely what he wanted.
The man’s a genius. But not just a genius. He’s also a hero. Think how selfless he has been.
In the interests of the British economy, Mr Cummings has willingly turned himself into a national laughing stock. He has permitted himself to become the butt of jokes about eye-tests for the rest of his life. He has even managed to radicalise the Daily Star, a newspaper that normally ignores politics altogether, and yet this week, for three days in a row, devoted its front page to ridiculing him without mercy – while giving away, to each of its 300,000 readers, a free Dominic Cummings mask (caption: “Can’t be ----- to stick to the rules like the rest of us? Simply wear this handy Dom face covering and you’ll get away with murder”).
A strategist like Mr Cummings, you can be sure, will have war-gamed all the possible outcomes, and foreseen every word of the humiliation now being visited upon him. But, for the sake of the greater good, he went ahead with his plan anyway. Look what he was prepared to sacrifice. Obviously not his £99,000-a-year taxpayer-funded Government job, but, at any rate, his reputation. His reputation as a master of public relations. His reputation as the Conservative party’s most prized asset. His reputation as a man of above-average intelligence. He gave all of that up. For us.
He will never now receive the acclaim he deserves. But, for a man as noble as Mr Cummings, the knowledge that he has his served his country will be reward enough.
This surely has to be satire? Yes it is satire. The fact you have to ask however is perhaps something of a sign of the times we live in.
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Post by Paul Spencer on May 31, 2020 0:53:49 GMT
People think Dominic Cummings made a terrible blunder. Actually it was a strategic masterstroke. Everyone has treated the row as a disaster for the Government. But perhaps it was all part of a brilliantly worked plan.
For a whole week now, Dominic Cummings has been mocked and excoriated for his Covid road trip. The story has caused no end of grief for the Prime Minister, for the Government, and of course for Mr Cummings himself.
But what if this was his plan all along?
Think about it. This is a man, don’t forget, with a deserved reputation as a modern-day Machiavelli, a schemer supreme, a grandmaster of 4D chess. I posit, therefore, that Mr Cummings’s delightful motoring tour of northeast England was not, contrary to popular belief, a ruinous political blunder. Quite the reverse. It was, instead, a dazzling strategic masterstroke.
Let us place ourselves, for a moment, in the great man’s shoes. We see the devastation being wrought upon the British economy. We observe the despair of honest workers who through no fault of their own have lost their livelihoods. We note the misery of pensioners unable to see their grandchildren. The time has come, we decide, to end the lock down, reopen the economy, and return everyone to normal life.
But how? Our characteristically persuasive messaging – “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” – has proven all too successful. Millions now appear terrified to leave their homes, or go to work, or send their children back to school. The Prime Minister, meanwhile, has grown frustratingly nervous about loosening restrictions. What is Westminster’s most brilliant thinker to do?
Simple. Break lock down himself – and then, when the breach is inevitably exposed, refuse even to apologise.
The result: the British people are so indignant, so appalled at the injustice, the sense of “one rule for the elite and another for us”, that they refuse to accept lock down a moment longer. It’s over.
And so, in a single, inspired move, Mr Cummings achieves precisely what he wanted.
The man’s a genius. But not just a genius. He’s also a hero. Think how selfless he has been.
In the interests of the British economy, Mr Cummings has willingly turned himself into a national laughing stock. He has permitted himself to become the butt of jokes about eye-tests for the rest of his life. He has even managed to radicalise the Daily Star, a newspaper that normally ignores politics altogether, and yet this week, for three days in a row, devoted its front page to ridiculing him without mercy – while giving away, to each of its 300,000 readers, a free Dominic Cummings mask (caption: “Can’t be ----- to stick to the rules like the rest of us? Simply wear this handy Dom face covering and you’ll get away with murder”).
A strategist like Mr Cummings, you can be sure, will have war-gamed all the possible outcomes, and foreseen every word of the humiliation now being visited upon him. But, for the sake of the greater good, he went ahead with his plan anyway. Look what he was prepared to sacrifice. Obviously not his £99,000-a-year taxpayer-funded Government job, but, at any rate, his reputation. His reputation as a master of public relations. His reputation as the Conservative party’s most prized asset. His reputation as a man of above-average intelligence. He gave all of that up. For us.
He will never now receive the acclaim he deserves. But, for a man as noble as Mr Cummings, the knowledge that he has his served his country will be reward enough.
This surely has to be satire? Yes it is satire. The fact you have to ask however is perhaps something of a sign of the times we live in. Indeed. But I guess the fact that's it's been published by The Telegraph rather than (say) The Guardian, that makes you wonder ... www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/05/30/people-think-dominic-cummings-made-terrible-blunder-actually/
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Post by thisisouryear on May 31, 2020 6:36:23 GMT
I'd love to give you an answer, Paul, but thankfully i'm stuck behind a paywall. I was forced to stop at the laughable line of "Quite the reverse. It was, instead, a dazzling strategic masterstroke." People think Dominic Cummings made a terrible blunder. Actually it was a strategic masterstroke. Everyone has treated the row as a disaster for the Government. But perhaps it was all part of a brilliantly worked plan.
For a whole week now, Dominic Cummings has been mocked and excoriated for his Covid road trip. The story has caused no end of grief for the Prime Minister, for the Government, and of course for Mr Cummings himself.
But what if this was his plan all along?
Think about it. This is a man, don’t forget, with a deserved reputation as a modern-day Machiavelli, a schemer supreme, a grandmaster of 4D chess. I posit, therefore, that Mr Cummings’s delightful motoring tour of northeast England was not, contrary to popular belief, a ruinous political blunder. Quite the reverse. It was, instead, a dazzling strategic masterstroke.
Let us place ourselves, for a moment, in the great man’s shoes. We see the devastation being wrought upon the British economy. We observe the despair of honest workers who through no fault of their own have lost their livelihoods. We note the misery of pensioners unable to see their grandchildren. The time has come, we decide, to end the lock down, reopen the economy, and return everyone to normal life.
But how? Our characteristically persuasive messaging – “Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives” – has proven all too successful. Millions now appear terrified to leave their homes, or go to work, or send their children back to school. The Prime Minister, meanwhile, has grown frustratingly nervous about loosening restrictions. What is Westminster’s most brilliant thinker to do?
Simple. Break lock down himself – and then, when the breach is inevitably exposed, refuse even to apologise.
The result: the British people are so indignant, so appalled at the injustice, the sense of “one rule for the elite and another for us”, that they refuse to accept lock down a moment longer. It’s over.
And so, in a single, inspired move, Mr Cummings achieves precisely what he wanted.
The man’s a genius. But not just a genius. He’s also a hero. Think how selfless he has been.
In the interests of the British economy, Mr Cummings has willingly turned himself into a national laughing stock. He has permitted himself to become the butt of jokes about eye-tests for the rest of his life. He has even managed to radicalise the Daily Star, a newspaper that normally ignores politics altogether, and yet this week, for three days in a row, devoted its front page to ridiculing him without mercy – while giving away, to each of its 300,000 readers, a free Dominic Cummings mask (caption: “Can’t be ----- to stick to the rules like the rest of us? Simply wear this handy Dom face covering and you’ll get away with murder”).
A strategist like Mr Cummings, you can be sure, will have war-gamed all the possible outcomes, and foreseen every word of the humiliation now being visited upon him. But, for the sake of the greater good, he went ahead with his plan anyway. Look what he was prepared to sacrifice. Obviously not his £99,000-a-year taxpayer-funded Government job, but, at any rate, his reputation. His reputation as a master of public relations. His reputation as the Conservative party’s most prized asset. His reputation as a man of above-average intelligence. He gave all of that up. For us.
He will never now receive the acclaim he deserves. But, for a man as noble as Mr Cummings, the knowledge that he has his served his country will be reward enough.
This surely has to be satire? So putting his family at risk is a strategic move? I don't mean the trip either, I mean the public anger and him making himself and his family home a target. Even his parents and extended family may even become targets, that wouldn't be the actions of a sane person but an absolute lunatic. I personally think it's bullshit and given his track record Cummings could have wrote that? He went on holiday and thought he would get away with it. To me it seems people are dying for him to be more intelligent than he is. The telegraph trying to cover his arse makes more sense.
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