Westministenders: Conference Cult

[RedToothBrush]

Is it over yet?

The Tory Party Conference is in full swing in the Manchester Rain, and is proving to be its usual fun.

Johnson is caught up in all sorts of allegations of abuses of power - the non-declaration of his "friendship" to a busty blonde whom was getting a large tax payer grant, and then there the Odey question after his sister said he was under the control of the Hedge Funders.

And thats before we talk about the 40 hospitals, his provocative language and how many times he can say the word surrender.

There is lots of distancing from Lyton Crosby. And accusations that Johnson has gone 'rogue' only listening to the wisdom of Cummings and Symonds.

The Queen apparently has asked for advice as to under what circumstance she can dismiss a PM.

AND NO ONE IS EVEN TALKING ABOUT A DEAL.

[bellinisurge]

Pmk. I normally love Autumn.

[borntobequiet]

PMK. Of course BJ is a sexual predator, no one should be surprised. GET OFF ME YOU PERVE is what should have been said at the time. I could say that in 1973 when I was 20 and relatively vulnerable. Why couldn’t these high achieving, well educated women do this 20 years ago? (Actually perve wasn’t a word then, I’d have said dirty old man, or dirty bastard.)

[Hoooo]

Pmk

[RedToothBrush]

Also this twitter thread from May 2017 - it was about the mid term US elections, but things haven't really moved forward and you can perhaps start to replace 2018 with 2020 Presidential Elecyion.

Jasmin Mujanović‏ @JasminMuj
A Democratic win in 2018 won't fix surreal damage this admin has already done to US international standing, security, rule of law.

And refusal of GOP to respond to damage Trump doing is how civil wars start. Party over country, in final analysis, means no shared country.

Any elxn in '18 will more resemble Turkish referendum than free and fair vote. Climate of fear, foreign meddling, sectarianism, lawlessness.

We're barely 4 months in. How ppl assume "Dems win in 2018, impeachment proceeds quickly" is a plausible future timeline is beyond me.

This is what @SashaHemon wrote about in Jan. People are trying to rationalize catastrophe; not dealing w reality.
//www.villagevoice.com/arts/stop-making-sense-or-how-to-write-in-the-age-of-trump-9575300

So 2 pts: impeachment, if it is to happen and matter for integrity of US constitutional govt, has to at least begin before 2018.

Secondly, realize that much of the worst case scenarios media warned you of in 2016 have already happened 4 mos in. Uncharted waters now.

Meaning, it gets worse from here on out and your point of comparison - previous US history - is a poor guide for period ahead.

No accident most prescient writers on Trump (@mashagessen, @sarahkendzior et al) experts on European, Central Asian authoritarian regimes.

That's your big clue that very little in US history, (un)fortunately, has prepared you for existential threat Trump represents to democracy.

For those upset that this a cynical, dark take: it's not. It's a reality check. It gets worse. That's how authoritarianism works.

Doesn't mean resistance vs such regimes hopeless. But to truly prepare, mobilize against such a regime, mvmts need to accept reality, facts.

And reality is: if you're counting on 2018, you're not really defending rule of law today. And if you don't act today, 2018 won't happen.

You organize, you resist, you call, you protest, you march - today. Authoritarians destroy tomorrow. Tomorrow is too late. Today. Now. /x

[RedToothBrush]

AND

This is where the UK now firmly finds itself too.

[ListeningQuietly]

Marking place while its still September.

[borntobequiet]

Also, if the choice in a GE is between Conservatives spending shedloads of money we don’t have on the NHS etc, and Labour doing the same (though possibly costed better), why should anyone choose the pervy buffoon over the bumbling pensioner? Apart from a desire for a ruinous no deal, of course.
Tory spending plans might just backfire on them

[Motheroffourdragons]

PMK - this working malarkey really gets in the way of my reading these threads, never mind commenting.

Well only 31 days to go now ...

[prettybird]

Very few of the cats we post pictures of on here are fat cats

[WhatwouldScoobyDoo]

PMK

Trying to get the cat in as it’s dark already

[IrenetheQuaint]

Will anything major happen over the next couple of weeks, or are we basically killing time until the EU Council showdown?

[Everytimeref]

Sorry Pretty. The term "Fat cats" is extremely unfair on our lovely feline friends.

[ImNotYourGranny]

My cats aren't fat but they are huge compared to the other local moggies.

[TheABC]

So, we need a sound bite to sum up Johnson.

Bank-owned Boris sounds good.

Pervy fatcat Johnson is my personal favourite, but is more an insult than a description.

[prettybird]

everytimeref

.....but we do have an over-predominance of elite cats

Wonder what the statistical correlation is between owning a Siamese (or two ) and being a Remain voter?

[tobee]

Pmk

[lonelyplanetmum]

🍂

[TheMShip]

@borntobequiet GET OFF ME YOU PERVE is what should have been said at the time. I could say that in 1973 when I was 20 and relatively vulnerable. Why couldn’t these high achieving, well educated women do this 20 years ago?

Don't victim blame. Really.

[RedToothBrush]

Alex Wickham@alexwickham
NEW: A divide is starting to open up among cabinet ministers and advisers at the top of government over whether Boris Johnson could get away with a Brexit delay beyond October 31

Some are privately suggesting the PM could survive an extension

www.buzzfeed.com/amphtml/alexwickham/cabinet-divide-brexit-october-31?__twitter_impression=true
A Cabinet Divide Is Opening Up Over Whether Boris Johnson Can Delay Brexit
Ministers and senior advisers have split into three groups: October 31ers, Delayers and Pragmatists. “When it comes to the crunch, is he in group two or group three?” one minister said.

Alex Wickham@alexwickham
Govt starting to fall into three groups

First: the October 31ers

— Brexiters like Raab, Vote Leave aides
— they want to "go straight through" the Benn law/fight in courts even if it means being ousted
— say Farage will smash PM at election if he delays

Second group: the delayers

— those who prefer extension to no deal and for whom abiding by the law and being seen to be a responsible govt is paramount
— eg Buckland
— but an Oct 31er says govt could weather resignations if they refused to delay

Third group: pragmatists... who govt sources claim are increasing in numbers and influence

— they believe Johnson could survive extending after exhausting all other possibilities
— argue this is preferable to being ousted and Corbyn/caretaker becoming PM

Minister: “Unlike with Theresa May, no one could seriously believe that Boris hadn’t done his utmost to get Brexit done.

Everyone would know it was Corbyn and Bercow who had blocked Brexit. The public would not forgive the opposition for being responsible for another delay."

Just a point, what extension would the EU grant?

Three months? Two years? None?

[JustAnotherPoster00]

PMK, I'm glad theres been a lull in the political nonsense, poor Red on those days when were rattling through the threads

[BigChocFrenzy]

Thanks, red 💐

The Tory party isn't even the English Nationalist Party: it's the English Nihilist Party

I'd love it if things changed so you could post a cheerful OP for one thread

• but for the forseeable future, that kind of OP wouldn't be truthful, relevant or accurate
  
  Westministenders' Abbreviations:
  
  https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eureferendumm2016/3492426-Westministenders-Abbreviation?msgid=84503730

[BigChocFrenzy]

That's a lovely new feline overlord for us to admire, goldstars

[Tanith]

Is anyone keeping a tally?
Spoof report from Newsthump.

I'm not sure this "Surrender" business is sending the message they hoped. I've heard more than one person misunderstand it as BJ is surrendering - and the attitude is "Thank God for that!".

[thecatfromjapan]

💐
One of my cats is a normal size - and cat-shaped.
The other isn't fat, just big-boned. And looks like an adorable, furry, mini-cow.

[MockersthefeMANist]

GET OFF ME YOU PERVE is what should have been said at the time. I could say that in 1973 when I was 20 and relatively vulnerable. Why couldn’t these high achieving, well educated women do this 20 years ago?

When you're a young and ambitious journalist, and he's your editor, there is a conflict of interest.