This is the problem right here. Every person today wants to be a fucking contrarian. Everyone wants to show clever they are by not being taken in by traditional politics, or the mainstream media, or by the establishment.
But in doing so they leave themselves absolute wide open to having their consciousness filled with drivel from even worse sources than those they have rejected, many of them acting maliciously to further their own aims.
It is impossible to overstate the relevance of this.
On this forum I have been âeducatedâ by someone accusing me of being too disinterested in the truth to deviate from the status quo. They called out my old fashioned thinking by pointing to their knowledge of emerging research. In their mind it invalidated what I was saying and blew holes in the conventional wisdom I was spouting. The problem is it did not. The respective ideas were completely compatible with each other. That is obviously not how it was presented in what ever source he encountered it and he simply didnât know enough about the topic to understand the implications of the information he was now promoting. But what was important was he now had access to novel information the boffins didnât have and were too myopic to acknowledge, and if only the nerds were as open minded as he was maybe weâd be in a better in a place. But of course this was bollocks and not just because he misunderstood the meaning of the info he was presenting, but because it was not remotely emerging research. I was being âeducatedâ on stuff I was published in 15 years before and is something that is now completely mainstream and part of the conventional wisdom.
She was asked on live TV this morning by Richard Madeley, âWhy do you say you worked for the Bank of England for a decade, when it was only 5 years?â
Her answer, " Itâs more important what Iâm doing for growth now"
Sounds like it was embellishment to me
But I have sympathy. Why would anyone do politics unless that were wealthy. Thatâs my point. Itâs broken. Left or right. Maybe billionaire trump saves us.
Itâs astonishing looking at the UK from afar.
Just how quickly lying became normalised, with scandal after scandal week after week. To the extent where crisis and problems were manufactured to distract from the latest scandal. Directly lifted from Trump playbook. Things in a normal world would have been sackable offences or brought down governments, laughed off. Ahh Boris being Boris !! Fraud, corruption, porn, bullying, mistakes that killed people, not even above blaming the dead ! The constant undermining of democratic norms, the erosion of standards in public life became the new normal. What was once considered outrageous behaviour for a politician gradually became accepted as routine, fundamentally shifting expectations of governmental conduct and accountability.
I would love to say what we are seeing now is a return to the norm. But there is a certain absurdity in people getting upset over a CV something of no material consequence beyond if she is a truthful politician. Which isnât just like the pot calling the kettle black. Itâs more akin to Putin taking the moral high ground because his opponent got a parking ticket.
I wonder why he has changed his mind 
The Prince of Darkness pays homage to his liege, the Lord of Darkness.
âI think times and attitudes towards the president have changed since then and I have been impressed, not just by the extraordinary second mandate that he has received from the American people, but the dynamism and energy with which he approached not just the campaign but government as well.â
Probably because it isnât a great idea for any prominent politician to call the President of the USA a cunt.
We can, though.
The most pathetic thing about Mandelsonâs volte-face is the fact that it will probably work.
In terms of how this looks for him personally⌠
And we can also call Mandelson a cunt
I can accept that some politicians have to use diplomatic language when referring to unsavoury foreign politicians, but there is no need to kowtow to them. I find the number of Mitläufer in the US repulsive. There is no need for them anywhere else.
Just waiting until Keir wears a bomber jacket at camp david and says he uses the same toothpaste as trump.
Wonderful long-form article. Highly recommend.
Should be free if you havenât clicked on any other articles this month!!
I donât know much about Mandelson, but given the shining way in which this forum talks about him almost unanimouslyâŚ
Yeah Iâm sure it shifts the needle a lot.
This is how he was presented on Spitting Image in the 1990s, along with a fresh-faced, pre-war crime Tony Blair:
Damm blair looks like milner there
What did Milner ever do to you???
Mandelson seems to be an intelligent and successful person. Has a very good reputation of building relationships, which is probably why Starmer has turned to him.
HoweverâŚ.there are a lot of rumours, stories, suggestions, etc. which I am sure a lot of you would call foul if it was a Tory.
Enron links
Dubious history with Russian Oligarchs
Links with Jeffery Epstein
Co-founder and president of Global Counsel
Prominent voice in Labourâs decision for a bigger/louder Millennium Dome
Concerned with posting links to RW media, I will let you do your own research and form your own opinion.
Personally, I believe he is a good choice and will be successful. Experienced in the art of creating diplomatic relationships, worked for the EU as Trade Commissioner, not afraid of ruffling a few feathers and most importantly would demand respect, a voice that would be listened to by Delegates on both sides of the pond.
The word âshiningâ was sarcastic. I didnât think I needed to make that explicitâŚ
He is universally despised here in NI, which is a unique enough achievement.
Followed Mo Mowlam as SoS. Most people loved her and thereâs even a park named after her. I know a few people who met Mandelson and say he is every bit the odious little weasel that he appears to be, and more
Not great news for Liverpool todayâŚ