Hello and welcome to my new subscribers — your presence is greatly appreciated! I send out 2 newsletters a week, a short one (Friday’s) and a longer one, usually on Monday.
Today, a quick news digest from my side of the pond, the United Kingdom.
DOMINIC CUMMINGS VS THE WORLD
The last few days the press here has been consumed with a once-in-a-lifetime story of Dominic Cummings, former adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who on Wednesday turned against his former boss and colleagues in a spectacular fashion — recounting a multitude of failings in the UK’s COVID response to a parliamentary committee and the national media.
He accused the Health Secretary Matt Hancock of “criminal incompetence;” he accused the Prime Minister’s girlfriend of illegally trying to get her own friends hired; he flatly said that Johnson’s dithering over entering into lockdown showed he was not fit to be PM, and that tens of thousands of Britons are now dead as a result. Explosive stuff.
I’ll leave to one side the debate over herd immunity vs lockdowns, and legitimate scepticism over a scorned employee getting revenge by throwing his former adversaries under the bus.
But Dom did say something that was very interesting about the professional culture in these hallowed halls of power. He said the entire upper echelons of the British government are riddled with — and I’m only slightly paraphrasing — incompetent, craven morons. He questioned why he himself was allowed into decision-making of such import, calling it “crazy” that someone who didn’t have the expertise required to handle a pandemic held such a senior position. He said “we let down the people in the front line.” He characterised the British state as “lions led by donkeys.”
A lot of the time, British politics and media seem straight out of a ‘90’s Channel 4 sitcom about a bumbling prime minister and the scheming idiots around him. Even though the claims made by Cummings were historic and extremely serious, the ridiculous cast of characters made it seem very much like a sitcom.
Watch this Sky News footage of Health Secretary Matt Hancock trying (and failing) to look like a grown up after.
Ricky Gervais could not have given a more cringe-worthy performance.
Folks, there’s something rotten in the kingdom of Denmark. And by Denmark I mean every government I have had the misfortune to live under in recent years, in the US, the UK and both sides of the Irish border.
MILLENNIAL IS ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT, GOES ON SICK LEAVE FOR SHELL SHOCK
A day before this whirlwind of acrimony, a less significant story broke that probably won’t go into any history books, but is to me hugely indicative of a wider social problem: the fetishisation of mental illness and debilitation. The youngest currently serving MP has taken to her bed because…people were mean to her on the Internet?
Sorry, I’m understating this. She hasn’t taken to her bed. She’s been “diagnosed” with PTSD. You know, that thing that used to happen to soldiers after surviving battle.
To be fair to Ms Whittome, maybe she’s secretly the victim of some heinous physical, criminal attack. Maybe she was kidnapped as a child and forced to live in an underground bunker. But most likely, it’s due a stream of “death threats” that she claims have been made against her. While I readily believe that many people on the Internet think this woman is an idiot and have told her so — probably in awful language — every time I hear the phrase “death threat” from members of the UK government or media, I roll my eyes. I mean, I’m sure being called the c-word on Twitter for just doing your job is terrible, but is it as bad as seeing your friend step on a landmine? Not sure. This ⬇️⬇️⬇️ guy on Facebook isn’t sure either.
To be a suffering victim is now officially a self-appointed sainthood. Ms Whittome is simply acting out the role play we encourage all young people to engage in now. The only real victims here are the constituents who voted for her.
THE FARMERS ARE BUSY ROUND MY WAY
Meanwhile, out in the countryside where I live, the farmers have been busy. The fields have been heavy and swaying with beautiful green crops for the last few weeks, and yesterday I noticed a lot of activity in several of them. When I was out walking my dogs, a convoy of tractors passed me by on their way from one field to another, all driven by men (those patriarchal bastards) working their butts off to feed us. Also, weirdly, and old man stopped his car to chat with me about my dogs. In course of our conversation he — a total stranger — casually mentioned that COVID was a load of nonsense and he knew 9 people who died after getting vaccinated. I feel like a lot of regular folks stopped believing their betters a long, long time ago.
'I’ve become one of those boring middle aged people who mutter “If I did that I my job I would be sacked.”'
I'm a millennial and I'm just as grumpy and curmudgeonly about this kind of thing. As appalled as I am by the craven nature of much of our ruling class, I am just as appalled at how thick they often are.
Yes, I agree. Where I live you never see masked workers out doing their street cleaning, etc. But the local bourgeoisie are always half hidden as they deal with less oxygen to the brain.
'I’ve become one of those boring middle aged people who mutter “If I did that I my job I would be sacked.”'
I'm a millennial and I'm just as grumpy and curmudgeonly about this kind of thing. As appalled as I am by the craven nature of much of our ruling class, I am just as appalled at how thick they often are.
Lol good to know it's not just the middle-aged folks like myself! Sometimes I give myself "old man shouts at clouds" vibes. 🤣
Yes, I agree. Where I live you never see masked workers out doing their street cleaning, etc. But the local bourgeoisie are always half hidden as they deal with less oxygen to the brain.