Stuart Emmrich @stuartemmrich
In a speech on Monday, in which she warmly congratulated Joe Biden on his victory, Germany’s Angela Merkel never once mentioned the name of the man he will replace in the White House, all but erasing Donald Trump from the narrative.
Yesterday at the covid presser, Johnson was asked a question about his relationship with Trump and Biden's win. His response was not dissimilar to Merkel as it goes. He spoke about Biden but didn't refer to Trump by name, instead saying the the UK had had a good relationship with the White House for the last 4 years.
I found it interesting. It was very deliberate.
Trump still is president for 2 months so there has to be some diplomacy going on but this non mentioning isnt restricted to Merkel...
Underneath the Merkel tweet was comment
There's an ancient Roman practice known as damnatio memoriae which should be considered. Each of us can begin the practice by referring to him only when necessary, and always as "POTUS45*" or some similar mechanistic term which doesn't reinforce his brand.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae
Damnatio memoriae is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts.
Its a pretty good device for use against political narcissists and people who seek fame through mass murder.
I was already making a point of references to Garages, never refer to Johnson by his first name alone to avoid making him jovial or your best mate and i think i will probably start to do similar for the soon to be former president...