I apologise for not posting for a week, but I have had guests staying with me, from Cornwall, or Kernow, as the Cornish like to refer to it, as this is the old Cornish name. Cornwall is a most agreeable part of the UK and it is in the Cornish people's favour that they look upon the rest of the English nation with a healthy disdain. I like eccentric people and places which is why I like Liverpudlians, Geordies, the Cornish etc. With the exception of the Cornish, northern people are far more down to earth, hospitable, and 'real' than the rest of the English, and I count the north from about Stoke-on-Trent upwards. These are mainly the areas of the core working class, the people who are universally despised by the southern English middle classes. I once had the pleasure of a lady hotel owner in Devon tell me that were it not for the legendary spending of the Scots, she would never allow them into her hotel. She actually told me and my wife that she despised anyone who came from north of Birmingham (they were uncivilised). The only reason she had taken our booking was because we had a Yorkshire Terrier and she loved Yorkies, having two of her own. So, dogs originating from Yorkshire were welcome, but the people were not. I bet you think I just made that up. Scottish people are very big spenders by the way, contrary to popular mythology, and there can be few more hospitable places in the world than Glasgow. However, if you visit Britain and want to stay somewhere that gives access to the most diverse activities and places, whilst providing the best of facilities, Manchester's the place, not London. But forgive my inane drivel and allow me to make a few observations.
We live in genuinely perilous times. Politicians have always lied, but in the past they could expect their career to come to an end when found out. In addition, they were usually careful to lie about things that they could reasonable expect not to be found out about, or that they could plausibly deny. Today we live in a world where, not only do they lie about things that are blatantly obvious, but people will actually defend them and still vote for them. It was raining when the American president was sworn into office but I have watched him tell the world that it was a beautiful sunny day, and he has now regaled us about the terrorist atrocities committed within Sweden by Islamic immigrants which is entirely fictitious. Now, such things may seem trivial, but this is the President of the United States revealing behaviour that must surely question his sanity or his respect for the rest of the human race. All that has happened since his inauguration demonstrates that this is a person who is simply incapable of honesty, or of distinguishing between fact and fantasy, but the worrying thing is that none of this seems to make a blind bit of difference to his supporters. This is why I comment about such things, because even if I have no affect on anyone, I at least try to do something to counter the seemingly inexorable slide towards some form of quasi-fascist authoritarianism in our poor nations. As Edmund Burke warned us, "all that requires for evil to prosper is for good men to do nothing."
Now, Trump's behaviour is bad, and to my mind inexcusable, but, as I have written here before, at least Americans have a Constitution and a Supreme Court to protect them as a last resort. In this heap of garbage (this midden) we laughingly call a nation, our political system rests solely on trust. We have no independent institutions or codes of conduct we can turn to when our leaders behave like that. Trump's campaign against the press is hysterical, but it succeeds with many people because it holds a kernel of truth, and of course for a liar to be really effective, they must garnish their lies with titbits of truth from time to time. I am not familiar with the American press, but we have the Mail the Express and the Sun who daily degrade our nation with filth. If you want to know what fake news looks like then look no further. But we also have some press who attempt to provide a semblance of responsible reporting, even if they will happily stoop to outright lying when it suits them, such as during our two recent major referendums. However, what I am writing about is the capacity for lying that takes the form of sheer naked effrontery. An example is Nigel Garbage as I can honestly say that everything I have ever heard that person saying has been a lie, and he gets away with it because he brazenly looks right into a camera, or at an audience, and lies through his teeth while wearing that idiotic grin that says, I'm lying, you know I'm lying, I know you know I'm lying, and I know you want to believe me, so you will end up agreeing with me. That is the Trump's strategy as well. The Great Garbage was succeeded as leader of UKIP by Paul Nuttall who has obviously proven a very adept pupil as he has continued the fine right-wing political tradition of pathological lying and demanding that those who challenge the lie are the real liars. This is the new politics.
Nuttall has come under criticism and anger from the relatives of those who died in the Hillsborough tragedy for first claiming that he was at that game, and then claiming that he had personally lost close friends who died at Hillsborough. He was forced to admit on national radio that this latter claim was untrue, as he put it, ‘a mistake’. No-one in the entire Liverpool area has any recollection of him being at the game, nor of him ever mentioning it before now. He was twelve years old at the time, and no-one can find any relative or school chum who can support his claims. In the finest British political tradition, he got his press secretary to take the blame, because the mistake was not his. At no time did he explain how the press secretary made the mistake, just that he had not said that, which of course he had. Next he claimed that he was invited to join the board of the North West Training Council charity and then posted on his website that he was a member of that board, writing on his website that he was “thrilled at the honour of being a board member.” However, the chief executive of the charity says that he was never a member of that board nor was he ever invited to be a member. He also claimed that he played professional football with a team from the Liverpool area called Tranmere Rovers which was also demonstrated to be a lie and on his website claimed that he had a PhD in history which was also demonstrated to be untrue. But in true UKIP and Trumpian style, all of those lies, which were verifiable and undeniable somehow become the truth and he is a victim. As he told his party conference, to which they all (knowing full well that he was lying through his teeth) roundly applauded him and registered their full support, “But I do not apologise for what is a coordinated, cruel and almost evil smear campaign that has been directed at me. It is based on lies from sources who have not been named." The real source of course was his own website. This person is a member of the European Parliament and is currently standing for the Westminster pigsty in a by-election. He will fit into it perfectly and seamlessly if elected. We are indeed descending into darkness. You have been warned
Your Servant
Doktor Kommirat
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