Dominic Raab.... your thoughts

What is your evidence for this? He is a grammar school boy

Hasn't it come to light that boys were always given a leg up in the 11+ exams?

Thanks, sorry for the poor punctuation

Slight tangent, but does it grate on anyone else when people use language about people being a “fighter” when it comes to illness?
(As Dominic Raab said about Boris)

As if it’s by some act of personal will and fortitude that someone’s lungs don’t fill us with liquid or their cytokines behave themselves?

Yes, there's a lot written by people who've been diagnosed with cancer & find the war language detrimental/annoying/distasteful.

I hated it & found it to be distastefully false. I also know some people who found it helped them navigate not just the diagnosis but also the difficult treatments.

Marina Hyde has written about the war language this week:

'The horror of coronavirus is all too real. Don't turn it into an imaginary war'
The language of war is baked in to most of us, to one degree or other. Our new daily discourse runs deep with talk of field hospitals, frontlines, the battles against an invisible enemy. The shock of the news that prime minister Boris Johnson lies seriously ill in intensive care drew a tide of messages and well-wishes from world leaders and other politicians, many of which invoked a kind of martial courage. “You are a fighter and we need you back.” “He is a fighter and will beat this virus.” Together, “we will be able to win this battle”. “You fight for a swift recovery.” “You are a fighter, and you will overcome this challenge.” I truly hope he does. (continues)

As the news gets more horrifyingly real each day – and somehow, at the same time, more unmanageably unreal – I’m not sure who this register of battle and victory and defeat truly aids. We don’t really require a metaphor to throw the horror of viral death into sharper relief: you have to think it’s bad enough already. Plague is a standalone horseman of the apocalypse – he doesn’t need to catch a ride with war. Equally, it’s probably unnecessary to rank something we keep being informed is virtually a war with things in the past that were literally wars. “Your grandparents were called to war,” runs one popular meme. “You’re being asked to sit on a couch. You can do this.” Unsurprisingly, given this level of bellicose confusion, we have already seen those who visit the park literally branded “traitors”.

Perhaps most importantly, it should be said that people don’t die from this ghastly illness because of a lack of fight, whatever that might mean. Patients don’t “lose” against coronavirus because they failed to smite it or to personally out-strategise it." (continues)
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/07/horror-coronavirus-real-imaginary-war-britain

Every time I read something new about him, I am more frightened. If he's a bit average and lazy, doubly so.

Today I read that he thinks men have a raw deal from cradle to grave. OK then.

love marina hyde!

I don't know much about him but I have noticed that Marina Hyde is particularly good at describing him

white-collar guy who’s never done anything wrong in his life before this. You have to believe him, he was just trying to keep her quiet – OH MY GOD OH MY GOD THERE’S SO MUCH BLOOD – OK, keep calm, keep calm. Panic’s how they’re going to get you. There’s that bit of copse past the golf club …

the man with the slightly frightened child in his eyes

a roid-fuelled salesman for Magnet kitchen (Esher branch), whose unbeaten monthly commission run will only come to a horrifying end if anyone checks the showroom freezers

and I defy anyone to look at him and claim they don't know exactly what she means

I don't know much about him either. I don't find this collection of cliches with a nice touch of snobbery thrown in , particularly helpful in telling me anything about him.

I will look up more about him but from a source which isn't just rather silly confirmation bias.

On the other hand (just rereading my post) ‘fighting’ is often used to represent a struggle and in that regard I suppose it is correct - they are struggling/fighting with what is happening. Having to deal with the uncontrollable actions of a disease could still be referred to as a fight and that fight could also be won by accepting death.

Not sure I explain myself well there though.

Dances I agree, same with ‘fighting cancer’ or other illnesses.

I remember a while ago reading a study where people with terminal illnesses had a significant event coming up; Christmas, someone’s wedding, birth of a child/grandchild. The sort of thing they would ‘fight/hang on’ to see. But it was found to make no difference to length survival - willpower or ‘fight’ was not enough to even live a few more days. Their bodies did what their bodies did and they couldn’t change it.

Slight tangent, but does it grate on anyone else when people use language about people being a “fighter” when it comes to illness?
(As Dominic Raab said about Boris)

As if it’s by some act of personal will and fortitude that someone’s lungs don’t fill us with liquid or their cytokines behave themselves?

I imagine he wants to be reassuring, but it must be insulting to those who’ve lost people in this pandemic because it’s implied their relative didn’t “fight” hard enough.

a roid-fuelled salesman for Magnet kitchen Yes! That's it.

the man with the slightly frightened child in his eyes

As ever, Marina nails it 🤣

As Summerhill says, he resigned in protest at not having done his own fucking job properly. That’s the caliber of man we’re talking about here. He is utterly flailing, he couldn’t be more out of his depth if he was doggy paddling over the Marianas Trench.

He looked terrified last night and the press seemed to give him a hard time today which at times got annoying but I think they were trying to break him.

I am pretty sure he referred to Edgbaston as being in Scotland today so clearly his geography hasn't improved since the Dover incident.

I once saw him use the word pamphlet and that was the end for me, a long while ago.

This is a man who resigned in protest at his own track record (was Brexit Sec). Thats said, I think we are in deep trouble whether Johnson recovers or not.

He's way out of his depth, he isn't very bright and he's too entitled to realise it. Also a sociopath.

Gove?? Jeremy Corbyn will lead the Conservative Party before Gove will.

H''m. He's distancing himself, is he?

Like John Major, who was in hospital having his wisdom teeth removed, when the knives were out for Maggie?

Speculation on the radio just now, that should a new leader be required, the 1922 committee would most likely appoint someone in the interim and then hold a leadership contest after the emergency situation. Gove would be a serious contender.

I don't know much about him but I have noticed that Marina Hyde is particularly good at describing him.

white-collar guy who’s never done anything wrong in his life before this. You have to believe him, he was just trying to keep her quiet – OH MY GOD OH MY GOD THERE’S SO MUCH BLOOD – OK, keep calm, keep calm. Panic’s how they’re going to get you. There’s that bit of copse past the golf club …

the man with the slightly frightened child in his eyes.

a roid-fuelled salesman for Magnet kitchen (Esher branch), whose unbeaten monthly commission run will only come to a horrifying end if anyone checks the showroom freezers.

and I defy anyone to look at him and claim they don't know exactly what she means. The new stuff I've found out on this thread about his misogyny is not helping this impression.

I just read his article... I don’t understand what that has got to do with feminism? Quite a naive viewpoint and I suspect only formed from his own experience/world view. Feminism doesn’t exist to penalise men, all these men working long hours, dying at a younger age, unable to take time off to take care of the children... are potentially all victims of the patriarchy and it’s emphasis on masculinity, material success and presenteeism.

He places no value on the unpaid extra work women do and believes that only women should be criticised in the workplace for being middle class, that to encourage social mobility, the minority middle class women must step aside while the middle class men can carry on as normal?

Disassembling the inequalities and bringing balance in to work places, that it’s acceptable for men to be equally responsible for caring for sick children or elderly parents without judgement and that women are not written off at work as soon as they have children, will benefit men and women. Feminism isn’t women trying to cherry pick from men and leave them doing the heavy lifting. He’s an idiot.

H''m. He's distancing himself, is he?

Gove has announced he is now self-isolating (as per guidelines) as a close family member starting showing 'mild symptoms' on Sunday.

Agree Tinsel. Gove at least bothers to read the material.

Perhaps last night he had just been told how ill Boris actually was?

And as for hating feminists - it's inexcusable from all of the male politicians who hate us, of course it is.

he's so far out of his depth its almost funny! he was crapping himself last night