Yeah yeah yeah. You are the most argumentative poster on the board, no debate or constructive feedback. Jose can also piss off.
So here is the post I wrote just for you.
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Right, Herts wants me to give my views on this "shitstorm" so here goes. I'll add a bit more too, as well.
Firstly lets get some of the frivolities out of the way. Herts accused me, and he's not the first to do so, of being argumentative. Yep, guilty as charged. But hey hang on a mo. This message board has been split into two forums. One primarily for football, and one for politics. Am I wrong to suggest that probably the two most contentious things argued over in the world today are politics and football?. I think they are. Politics and trading insults has been going on in this country for hundreds of years and probably about hundred years for football too. So people on here need to get off their high horses with their mightier than thou attitudes. Football and politics causes arguments, so get over yourselves and deal with it.
Secondly, as much as I love football, I really dislike politics. I find a lot of the day to day stuff of it completely boring but that's just me. But I also have to acknowledge there's some pretty impressive posts discussing it by the likes of 66 and TDE 53. They also present their points in a non confrontational way and I commend them for that. That said, I have difficulty sometimes deciphering what they are saying, never mind even understanding it. I try to get a grip on it but sorry, it's just not for me.
Thirdly, another point which baffles me. How long have political advisors been in place? Can't politicians think for themselves? Why do they need all this advice, haven't they got their own views on the issues at hand? Also do the opposition have political advisors as well. I know Blair had one in Campbell and I've seen the one on Yes Prime Minister but did people like Wilson, Heath and those going back even further have them? I really don't know, such is my disinterest in day to day politics. Anyway, I mention political advisors because it is relevant to my next point.
So, on to Boris and my assessment. Well firstly, I would say don't be fools and write him off as thick in the way that Trump obviously is. He is a bumbling fool so to speak but that's all part of his persona. Sure, he migh not speak as fluent as the likes of Starmer and before him Corbyn and before Johnson himself Teresa May but that's just his personality. It doesn't make him thick. In fact he's probably very astute in his mind and there's evidence to back that up, although I don't know what part Cummings has played in that respect. Going back twelve months or so and perhaps even further, I think it was pretty obvious that Boris had aspirations to move into no 10. But his astuteness told him it was not the time immediately after the Brexit referendum. As far as I'm aware he jumped in and out of both camps with regards to Brexit and Remain. No colours nailed firmly to any mast. Add in the fact that there was inevitably going to be a lot of fall out on many sides with regards to that monumentous decision. So, I think he deliberately dropped out of the leadership election [if he was in it at all] realising all this and that it was not the right time to make his move. The inevitable problems of getting Brexit done was and is an unenviable task and he pretty much allowed May to take all of the grief for a couple of years or so before deciding tht the time was right to make his move as the party had lost faith in Teresa May. He timed the calling of the election pretty much perfect too, as he realised that the country didn't like Corbyn who didn't have a policy on Brexit whatsoever and that together with Corbyns strong left leanings meant the result of the election was a formality. So yeah, like him or not, he pretty much got everything right in that sense.
So the next question is whether he would have got Brexit done with a deal that was good for the UK? My answer is I've simply no idea as it's something I'm not overly bothered about. That's not to dismiss other peoples viewpoints on it but I think it's safe to say that's something I've had next to nothing to say about. So yep, up to this point everything has gone swimmingly well for Boris and I've no real problem with anything.
Right, next is this goddam awful pandemic which has cost hundreds and thousands of lives worldwide. I make no bones about saying that I believe some, just a few not all, on here have intentionally made this political and have simply no other intention than being political agitators. Their aims have been first and foremost to stir up the hatred of the govt and that this awful pandemic is just a bi product or a tool for what they are trying to achieve. But back to Boris as this is what Herts is asking about.
To some extent I think I got a bit of a head start on all this because at the time I was in Australia and New Zealand where throughout late January and all February it was pretty much receiving blanket coverage on the news as at the time it was heavily impacting those countries, certainly Australia anyway. I doubt it was receiving the same amount of coverage back here in the UK. I suppose in my naivety, I didn't realise the effect that was to shortly hit our shores.
And maybe Boris didn't too! I've no problem admitting that I thought his initial approach was right. By that, I simply mean by being upbeat, by saying things like we're all in this together, we can beat this. He led from the front trying to be positive, going round meeting people, shaking their hands etc. What's wrong with doing that? Nothing so it seemed. But of course he got it badly wrong. He and/or his advisors soon realised they were going down the wrong route of herd immunity. And the decision to go into lockdown came in, but yes it was too late. Just for reference I've never not said that. And yep that sadly has cost a loss of life for many. And all those people and their families have my sympathy. But then I have to ask myself was the initial action deliberate knowing what would happen and I firmly believe it wasn't. Just a tragic mistake.
We've then got a lot of other things that have happened during this pandemic. I won't highlight them all, but safe to say that Cummings actions were a disgrace, I think he blatantly lied in his conference at no 10 and he should have resigned or been fired. Boris hasn't done his job right there with regards to that. Fortunately though in Boris's case those events were quickly followed and overtaken by the incidents in America and the subsequent BLM issues which pretty much have handed Boris and Cummings a "get out of jail free" card. Care Homes is another issue that was badly handled.
So has Boris done a good job? The answer is probably not, there's been some big mistakes but I will also make another couple of observations.
Firstly, this pandemic is something like we've never been hit with before. It is impossible for the govt to cover every simple base on what needed doing. It seemed pretty much like on a daily basis that something new was cropping up. But that was the nature of the beast that this pandemic was causing. And I know people might dismiss it as irrelevant but I think any govt of any colour would have struggled. Labour would have made mistakes, big ones too, not necessarily the same ones but that's what we are dealing with here. And finally, the public themselves. Millions of us have followed the strict guidelines set out and we deserve commending for that. But too many haven't and aren't doing. Plenty of examples by just looking at the beaches and the BLM protests. And their actions are totally unacceptable and blame can't be laid at the govt's door for that.
My final point and it's one I've made a few times. Politics is cyclical, something always comes along to disrupt the natural flow of events and in this case it's this pandemic. So Boris potentially having a fairly comfortable ride has in the words of Herts has now been hit with this "shitstorm" and at some time in the next four years he will be either replaced as leader of his party because of these events or he will suffer a comfortable defeat at the next election when all the traditional labour seats of the north switch back to red.
There you go, I've probably missed a couple of key points but that's my honest assessment as I see it."
So I think it's reasonable to quote your remarks as pot, kettle, black with regards to comments of "debate ad constructive feedback" Like I said you asked for my opinion I gave it and you didn't have the courtesy to acknowledge. But again, that's your choice.