|
Post by Deleted on May 31, 2020 6:49:13 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?... "Otherwise ok?"
|
|
|
Post by ColonelMustard on May 31, 2020 7:01:08 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. I'd love to know the numbers. How many regular Telegraph readers will pick this as satire?
|
|
|
Post by crouchpotato1 on May 31, 2020 7:16:54 GMT
|
|
|
Post by elystokie on May 31, 2020 7:33:31 GMT
After listening to a combination of lbc/five live all week, people constantly blaming Cummings for the breakdown. The pictures of various beachs etc are heart braking. We have no one to blame but ourselves, Covid will go on to savage this country in a second wave, not because of Cummings but because we as a people are arseholes and care little about anything but ourselves, we can run around and blame who we like but Boris and co didn’t make us have the bouncy castles in our gardens/barbecues/ party’s..group meet ups etc. Packed beach’s ,packed Peak District, packed berry hill/park hall. And they’ve been like that for weeks . I don't know about beaches, only Bucknall Sands is close enough, but I've regularly walked around Berryhill and Park Hall and and I'm afraid 'they've been like that for weeks' is about as far from the truth as it gets, I really don't know why you would claim that. Yesterday however, there was a group of around 15 teenagers partying at the amphitheatre on Berryhill, first time since the lockdown I've seen anything like it.
|
|
|
Post by andystokey on May 31, 2020 7:54:44 GMT
Brighton, Dorset, Clapham, Bournemouth. The genie is out of the bottle. A second wave is now inevitable in my view. We can't afford to pay for it and hundreds more will die. Well done Boris the first UK PM to try eugenics.
|
|
|
Post by bathstoke on May 31, 2020 7:58:10 GMT
That’s the way to do it. Cummings step forward🪓
|
|
|
Post by mrcoke on May 31, 2020 8:12:35 GMT
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? quoteinvestigator.com/2010/07/06/never-interfere/A commonly mis-attributed and misquoted quote apparently.
|
|
|
Post by thisisouryear on May 31, 2020 8:22:19 GMT
That’s the way to do it. Cummings step forward🪓 Never heard of her but quitting was the only honourable thing she has done in that story. It's disgusting what she has done tearing up that family like that and she's let her party down.
|
|
|
Post by noustie on May 31, 2020 8:33:00 GMT
So more like Sage advice than an actual quote. (See what I did there... 😉) 'Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat' Sun Tzu Art of War Think it sums up this shit show quite nicely
|
|
|
Post by rogerjonesisgod on May 31, 2020 8:33:57 GMT
Ho ho. Ha ha. He he. Another of Bath's unfunny retorts when he's been shown up. Like I say. Not a big enough man to admit you're wrong. Not a clever enough man to know the facts to begin with and just a twat for playing politics with foodbanks. There can be no other explanation as you haven't a single half decent debate in you. Anyway, I'm in debited to your regular sad reminders why a spend so little time on here anymore. Now run along to your middle class life in your posh little City and put the World to rights from that saggy old armchair. Stay Safe. The reason you don’t come on here anymore is cause you’re always on the backfoot getting your @&$e kicked & regurgitating the same old bile. Just go back & read yourself🥱 No, the reason I don't come onto this thread especially is because you bore the fuck out of me. A manbaby sheepishly repeating some unanmed source in the Independent or Guardian as if it's gospel. Not a fact or an original thought between you and other usual fuckwits of the left. This thread is nearly 900 pages long. I could pick a number between 1 and 884, scroll down to the first anti-Government post and prove it wrong in seconds. Every. Fucking. Time. Have you grown a pair yet to admit Iain Duncan Smith supported those needing foodbank help that was denied by Labour?? Thought not. Cue some half-arsed attempt at humour or some chin dribble about 'tories' blah blah, 'austerity' blah blah
|
|
|
Post by bathstoke on May 31, 2020 8:52:44 GMT
The reason you don’t come on here anymore is cause you’re always on the backfoot getting your @&$e kicked & regurgitating the same old bile. Just go back & read yourself🥱 No, the reason I don't come onto this thread especially is because you bore the fuck out of me. A manbaby sheepishly repeating some unanmed source in the Independent or Guardian as if it's gospel. Not a fact or an original thought between you and other usual fuckwits of the left. This thread is nearly 900 pages long. I could pick a number between 1 and 884, scroll down to the first anti-Government post and prove it wrong in seconds. Every. Fucking. Time. Have you grown a pair yet to admit Iain Duncan Smith supported those needing foodbank help that was denied by Labour?? Thought not. Cue some half-arsed attempt at humour or some chin dribble about 'tories' blah blah, 'austerity' blah blah Don’t come on here giving it the big’un.. This is a message board for Stoke fans & I’ll say wtf I like. IDS is an odious piece of $#!t & by defending him you do yourself no favours. Now I’m sure you still have some sauce in your belly from lastnight, otherwise you wouldn’t have the stones to come out with that drivel. Now go back to bed & sleep it off before you get yourself in trouble. & ffs don’t do as IDS’ mate did & drive to see if you are sober enough to do so
|
|
|
Post by cobhamstokey on May 31, 2020 8:59:29 GMT
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? Could be because one of his own colleagues has been messing up and breaching themselves so might be good advice not to say to much. www.google.co.uk/amp/s/news.sky.com/story/amp/rosie-duffield-11997790
|
|
|
Post by wagsastokie on May 31, 2020 9:03:24 GMT
Well they should never of got rid of boris's water cannon That would of dispersed the fuckers and probably silenced the dj equipment for good
|
|
|
Post by thingscouldbemarvellous on May 31, 2020 9:04:51 GMT
That’s the way to do it. Cummings step forward🪓 Never heard of her but quitting was the only honourable thing she has done in that story. It's disgusting what she has done tearing up that family like that and she's let her party down. Doesn’t look like she has actually quit. She has resigned as a party whip and remains an MP on 80k a year.
|
|
|
Post by raythesailor on May 31, 2020 9:05:56 GMT
The fun and games have started early today 😀
|
|
|
Post by bathstoke on May 31, 2020 9:08:17 GMT
Never heard of her but quitting was the only honourable thing she has done in that story. It's disgusting what she has done tearing up that family like that and she's let her party down. Doesn’t look like she has actually quit. She has resigned as a party whip and remains an MP on 80k a year. Well of course. When MPs quit, they quit the jobs the party has given them, not their elected position as an MP...
|
|
|
Post by cobhamstokey on May 31, 2020 9:11:01 GMT
Brighton, Dorset, Clapham, Bournemouth. The genie is out of the bottle. A second wave is now inevitable in my view. We can't afford to pay for it and hundreds more will die. Well done Boris the first UK PM to try eugenics. I think the public need to take some responsibility though too. Even though he’s been way too lenient in my opinion and given people way to much wriggle room. At no point has he said go to the beaches and have fun or party hard in large groups. This is the decision the public have made and will continue too. I respect my family, friends and myself too much to start partying and going to the beach. Sadly we live in very selfish privileged society where a large number of people (not the majority) don’t care about anyone but themselves. If I worked for the NHS I’d refuse to treat anyone who blatantly disregards govt advice or the press who appear to want to stoke things up by promoting it.
|
|
|
Post by thingscouldbemarvellous on May 31, 2020 9:20:03 GMT
Doesn’t look like she has actually quit. She has resigned as a party whip and remains an MP on 80k a year. Well of course. When MPs quit, they quit the jobs the party has given them, not their elected position as an MP... So if she had been on the backbench when this occurred, what would she resign from? PS It is quite possible some of this took place whilst she was a backbencher as Starmer appointed his cabinet on 14th April
|
|
|
Post by crapslinger on May 31, 2020 9:20:36 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... "Boris Boys"
|
|
|
Post by davejohnno1 on May 31, 2020 9:28:48 GMT
Brighton, Dorset, Clapham, Bournemouth. The genie is out of the bottle. A second wave is now inevitable in my view. We can't afford to pay for it and hundreds more will die. Well done Boris the first UK PM to try eugenics. I think the public need to take some responsibility though too. Even though he’s been way too lenient in my opinion and given people way to much wriggle room. At no point has he said go to the beaches and have fun or party hard in large groups. This is the decision the public have made and will continue too. I respect my family, friends and myself too much to start partying and going to the beach. Sadly we live in very selfish privileged society where a large number of people (not the majority) don’t care about anyone but themselves. If I worked for the NHS I’d refuse to treat anyone who blatantly disregards govt advice or the press who appear to want to stoke things up by promoting it. Do we reckon it is only in england where people pack out open spaces, ignoring social distancing or are inhabitants of other nations posting similar pictures of their citizens doing the same? I returned home from golf at 8.10pm last night and whilst my wife had 3 friends round, they were all suitably distanced...probably because I'd set everything up for them
|
|
|
Post by crapslinger on May 31, 2020 9:37:22 GMT
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? Wouldn't it make sense to take advantage of those mistakes and press forward ? or are there other reasons he is not doing so ironically the best hope Labour have in four years time is a Tory in a red tie
|
|
|
Post by GreaterGlasgowstokie on May 31, 2020 9:38:23 GMT
Any decision the government makes now has dire consequences because they dithered and delayed.
They dithered and delayed and dithered and delayed.
A quick lockdown like other countries, would have been over sooner and a lot less dead.
Dither and delay.
What do the tories do? Dither and delay.
|
|
|
Post by chad on May 31, 2020 9:41:55 GMT
Brighton, Dorset, Clapham, Bournemouth. The genie is out of the bottle. A second wave is now inevitable in my view. We can't afford to pay for it and hundreds more will die. Well done Boris the first UK PM to try eugenics. I think the public need to take some responsibility though too. Even though he’s been way too lenient in my opinion and given people way to much wriggle room. At no point has he said go to the beaches and have fun or party hard in large groups. This is the decision the public have made and will continue too. I respect my family, friends and myself too much to start partying and going to the beach. Sadly we live in very selfish privileged society where a large number of people (not the majority) don’t care about anyone but themselves. If I worked for the NHS I’d refuse to treat anyone who blatantly disregards govt advice or the press who appear to want to stoke things up by promoting it. Absolutely not condoning this but I can understand the frustration of young people. They’re not as vulnerable as older people. They’ve been missing friends, classmate, boyfriends, girlfriends , parties Yes it’s selfish but going back (a bloody long time) to when I was 18 I can’t honestly say I wouldn’t be acting like this after 8 weeks of lockdown
|
|
|
Post by crapslinger on May 31, 2020 9:43:25 GMT
Any decision the government makes now has dire consequences because they dithered and delayed. They dithered and delayed and dithered and delayed. A quick lockdown like other countries, would have been over sooner and a lot less dead. Dither and delay. What do the tories do? Dither and delay. China lied and People died, I see they are now threatening to invade Taiwan and quash all democracy in HK, those good old communist comrades.
|
|
|
Post by scfcbiancorossi on May 31, 2020 9:45:46 GMT
So here's my question. How the fuck are these players still catching this virus? Isn't the view that this is now almost entirely absent in the general population and largely confined to hospitals and care homes? Would be fascinated to know why these players are testing positive.
|
|
|
Post by thevoid on May 31, 2020 9:46:09 GMT
Any decision the government makes now has dire consequences because they dithered and delayed. They dithered and delayed and dithered and delayed. A quick lockdown like other countries, would have been over sooner and a lot less dead. Dither and delay. What do the tories do? Dither and delay. What do you think the Tories did mate? You never mentioned it in your last post.
|
|
|
Post by GreaterGlasgowstokie on May 31, 2020 9:55:15 GMT
Any decision the government makes now has dire consequences because they dithered and delayed. They dithered and delayed and dithered and delayed. A quick lockdown like other countries, would have been over sooner and a lot less dead. Dither and delay. What do the tories do? Dither and delay. What do you think the Tories did mate? You never mentioned it in your last post. I'm adopting right wing populist tactics and learning from the leader of our nation, Dom Cummings, to repeat short slogans to people who don't like truth or detail. So I'm repeating over and again the Tories dithered and delayed. In this case, it is actually true though, the dither and delay has put us on this course, and, there really isn't any way out without either accepting a lot more death, a destroyed economy, or maybe both. Given the rank incompetence of the government I'm expecting both. Vote for Dominic Cummings, vote for dither and delay
|
|
|
Post by thevoid on May 31, 2020 10:08:37 GMT
What do you think the Tories did mate? You never mentioned it in your last post. I'm adopting right wing populist tactics and learning from the leader of our nation, Dom Cummings, to repeat short slogans to people who don't like truth or detail. So I'm repeating over and again the Tories dithered and delayed. In this case, it is actually true though, the dither and delay has put us on this course, and, there really isn't any way out without either accepting a lot more death, a destroyed economy, or maybe both. Given the rank incompetence of the government I'm expecting both. Vote for Dominic Cummings, vote for dither and delay And here's me thinking you were just rambling incoherently. Nice tactic, I like it. How about rebooting this?
|
|
|
Post by OldStokie on May 31, 2020 10:22:53 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 I would agree about his narcisism, but show me any great philosopher who wasn't narcissistic. Yes, he may disappear from the frontline because he's too radical, but he'll still be formulating things in the background exactly as Steve Bannon has done since he decided Trump was too much a divvi to waste his time on. Like you, I find him a fascinating character. I may not like him and I think his ideas can be challenged, not least because he sees the evolution of humanity as malleable to his way of thinking. But he fails to understand that humanity is fluid and even the best laid plans of great thinkers have eventually floundered in the realities of human beings who are completely unpredictable. For instance, he doesn't bring religion into the equation. I'm not a religionist but anyone who thinks they can bring to fruition a human population that is fundamentally based on eugenics is out of their mind unless they understand the power of religion and take that into account when trying to formulate a surreal world. Add to that the fact that much of humanity is fundamentally racist and you end up with a boiling cauldron of reasons why he, and many others before him, have failed to impose their philosophy onto humanity. Below is a half-decent synopsis on Cummings. It's only half-decent because very few people can really get inside the mind of a psychopath. And that's what he is, but he's not in the same class as Hannibal Lecter. A synopsis on Cummings.As for Cummings' trip to Durham, I read nothing into it other than even 'career psychopaths' are not immune to stupidity. The most stupid thing he did was not to take the trip to Durham, but to be caught out taking his jolly. He has much to learn if he really wants to be clever. OS.
|
|
|
Post by cobhamstokey on May 31, 2020 10:23:11 GMT
I think the public need to take some responsibility though too. Even though he’s been way too lenient in my opinion and given people way to much wriggle room. At no point has he said go to the beaches and have fun or party hard in large groups. This is the decision the public have made and will continue too. I respect my family, friends and myself too much to start partying and going to the beach. Sadly we live in very selfish privileged society where a large number of people (not the majority) don’t care about anyone but themselves. If I worked for the NHS I’d refuse to treat anyone who blatantly disregards govt advice or the press who appear to want to stoke things up by promoting it. Do we reckon it is only in england where people pack out open spaces, ignoring social distancing or are inhabitants of other nations posting similar pictures of their citizens doing the same? I returned home from golf at 8.10pm last night and whilst my wife had 3 friends round, they were all suitably distanced...probably because I'd set everything up for them I do think the majority of people are doing the right thing Dave and at least thinking like you did Dave and putting things in place even if they’re not 100 percent playing ball. I have no problem with that. No ones perfect I know I’m not but as long as we distance that’s the key. I think each country is different and has different dynamics. In my opinion I think we’re most comparable to the US judt without guns. The press are a disgrace as they will twist stories to there own agenda and love putting out misery which perhaps does make things look worse than they are. I’m sure that the party in the photo isn’t happening on every corner. The politicians too on both parties aren’t thinking about the public they’re just point scoring. When you look at our culture we do have a very arrogant Minority group of people in this country who let the high majority down. We’ve seen it in the past with hoolaganism and riots where they’ll use any avenue or cause to commit crime. Thankfully they are very much a minority. Problem is is that minority small enough to not bring a second spike.
|
|