Friday 29th of March 2024

anointing the next mustardeer...

boris

Donald Trump has said Boris Johnson would be an "excellent" choice for the Conservative Party leadership.

In an interview with the Sun ahead of his visit to the UK, Mr Trump said: "I think Boris would do a very good job."

The US president said other candidates had sought his endorsement, adding: "I could help anybody."

His comments came as Home Secretary Sajid Javid became the latest leadership contender to say he was prepared to leave the EU with no deal.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Mr Javid ruled out holding another referendum, an early general election or revoking Article 50 to end the Brexit process.

'Very talented person'

As the UK braces for Mr Trump's visit with a multi-million-pound security operation, Mr Trump said he had been paying close attention to the Tory leadership contest, which will decide the UK's next prime minister

 

Read more:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48478706

 

 

meanwhile, getting the mexican cash for his wall...

Mexico's president has insisted his government will not be provoked, after President Donald Trump announced escalating tariffs on all goods unless Mexico curbed illegal migration.

Andrés Manuel López Obrador described Mr Trump's slogan "America First" as a fallacy and said universal justice was more important than borders.

Stock markets saw sharp losses following Mr Trump's announcement.

Mr Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border in February.

He said it was necessary in order to tackle what he claimed was a crisis with thousands of undocumented migrants crossing the US southern frontier.

Mr Trump's latest statement came a day after US border authorities in El Paso, Texas, detained a group of more than 1,000 migrants - the largest single group agents had ever encountered.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Friday that Mexico could have done more to stop the group - and others - as they travelled through the country.

"They could have easily broken up this group, arrested them or sent them back home, and they didn't do anything," she told reporters.

"We're asking Mexico to enforce their own laws to help stop the people coming in from Central America."

 

Read more:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48477335

he even looks like trump...

What Boris Johnson Could Mean for Brexit

Political maverick Boris Johnson appears unbeatable in the race to replace Theresa May as prime minister. But he's an enigma and anything could be possible with him at the helm -- even an unexpected U-turn on Brexit.

Suddenly, they're all back. Andrea Leadsom, the former leader of Britain's House of Commons, who sees herself as a matriarchal figure for the country. Michael Gove, who stays loyal only as long as he has to. And, of course, Boris Johnson, who's going to ram Brexit through because, well, he's Boris Johnson.

Now these conservatives, along with eight, 10 or 12 others, are back where they started: at the beginning of an epic battle for Britain's highest government office. It's as if the last three years, this whole self-destructive phase and Theresa May never even happened. History is repeating itself. It proved to be a farce the first time around, so how will things turn out the second time around? 

It may have to be rewritten to understand the enormity of what is happening in the United Kingdom: Almost exactly three years ago, the British voted by a narrow majority to leave the European Union. The country's withdrawal from the EU should have happened eight weeks ago, but it had to be postponed at the last minute because the country would have fallen into an even deeper political crisis if it had not. The next and possibly final deadline is five months from now. "Please don't waste this time," EU Council President Donald Tusk had recently told them.

And the British?

 

Read more:

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/what-boris-johnson-could-mea...

 

 

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colonial origin of brexit...

 

'The Empire Was Celebrated as A Great Thing'


In the view of Oxford Professor Danny Dorling, a British elite drunk on nationalism is responsible for the Brexit disaster. Raised in the traditions of the British Empire, they continue to glorify the crimes committed during colonialism.

 


By 


DER SPIEGEL: Professor Dorling, Boris Johnson appears to be just a few steps away from Downing Street. Are the prospects good for Britain?

Dorling: I recently met a 75-year-old lady on a train coming into Oxford who told me that many of her friends, as well as her, have recently joined the Conservative Party solely for the purpose of stopping Boris, as they then possibly get a vote. But unless they joined at least three months ago, then they may not be allowed to vote in any leadership election.

DER SPIEGEL: But isn't he exactly the type of leader the country is longing for?

Dorling: He may be the kind of leader who can absorb all of the sadness and anger at what has happened. Only a very small minority of people in Britain tell pollsters they would like to see him as prime minister. Boris is dangerous and lacks principles or a moral compass. This is all very well known. Luckily enough members of parliament, including those in his own party, know this. He could become prime minister because a small number of members of parliament like his thuggish approach.

DER SPIEGEL: In your book "Rule Britannia," you argue that the main reason for Brexit was that "a small number of people had a dangerous and imperialist misconception of Britain's standing in the world." Is Boris one of them?

Dorling: Yes, Boris and (member of parliament) Jacob Rees-Mogg are the more obvious ones. But there are many others. They're almost all white men with similar backgrounds. Almost none of them were average or poor. They were in the top kind of five percent or one percent in society. Take the billionaire James Goldsmith for instance, who started a party purely to demand a referendum on our membership in the European Union. Many have forgotten that because it was 25 years ago. It's a wider group of people, many of them educated in Eton and a lot of other private schools where old-fashioned history was taught longer then in public schools. Sometimes they even teach it nowadays.

DER SPIEGEL: What do you mean by old-fashioned history?

Dorling: Well, using textbooks from decades earlier. And talking about national pride all the time, having a school chapel like an Oxford College Chapel in which the names of all the old boys who died in the wars are engraved. The central monument in Oxford in Bonn Square is a memorial for the English who died taking over an entire province of India. The people who pushed for Brexit and have been pushing for it since the 1990s were much more likely to come from that kind of a background, where the empire was celebrated as a great thing. We civilized most of the world. The empire is bigger than all the other European empires put together.

DER SPIEGEL: The empire is long gone though.

Dorling: But it still exists in the idea of Britain. Britain only came together to form an empire. The act of union was done at a point when we realized that the Spanish were going past us with ships full of gold. And we'd be better off not fighting each other and fighting them and taking over more of the world than Spain. And that sense of greatness persisted because we were never invaded.

DER SPIEGEL: Which is partly a myth.

Dorling: But a very powerful one. The act of invasion, even if you are on the winning side, tells you that things aren't necessarily permanent. You replace your elite who were in charge because they've failed to protect you. If you're on the losing side of a war, you have the most almighty social transformation. If we'd been invaded in the Second World War, which it came close to, that would've helped us get rid of the empire idea of greatness.

 

Social geographer Danny Dorling, 51, has spent years studying the growing divide in British society. A professor at St. Peter's College at Oxford, he co-wrote the book "Rule Britannia: Brexit and the End of Empire" together with his colleague Sally Tomlinson.

 

 

Read more:

https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/oxford-professor-on-brexit-s...

 

 

 

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pompeo annoys british labour...

British labor party leaders are reportedly furious at U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for inserting himself in the nation’s prime minister race, and saying he’d “push back” against party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

In a recording leaked to the Washington Post, Pompeo was asked what he would do if Corbyn were to be elected as prime minister amid criticism over the party’s handling of accusations of antisemitism within its ranks, the Guardian reported Sunday.

...


The Guardian quoted an unnamed labor party official’s statement saying: “President [Donald] Trump and his officials’ attempts to decide who will be Britain’s next prime minister are an entirely unacceptable interference in the U.K.’s democracy.” 

The spokesman added the party was “fully committed to the support, defense and celebration of the Jewish community and is implacably opposed to antisemitism in any form.”



Read Newsmax: UK Labor Party: Is Trump Trying to Decide Britian's Next PM? | Newsmax.com 

 

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clear-cut meddling...

It looks like that much-lauded “special relationship” between the UK and US is so special that the latter now appears to believe it should be offered a significant say in who leads the former.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been caught admitting that Washington will do its “level best” to prevent UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn from becoming Britain’s prime minister — but what’s a bit of meddling between special friends?

In a recording leaked to the Washington Post, Pompeo told a gathering of Jewish leaders that a Corbyn premiership is a real possibility and that he could manage to “run the gauntlet and get elected” — something which the Trump administration seems to be dead set against.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/461533-mike-pompeo-meddling-corbyn-uk/

the next leader of the UK conservatives is a cartoon character..

Ten Conservative MPs are vying to replace Theresa May as Britain's next Prime Minister, spruiking their positions on everything from tax policy to past drug use and, of course, Brexit.

Key points:
  • Nine men and one woman have so far nominated themselves
  • Former London mayor Boris Johnson is the favourite to replace Theresa May
  • Sam Gyimah was in the race, but pulled out after nominations closed

 

The winner will face the challenge of breaking Britain's impasse over leaving the European Union, an issue that has bedevilled politicians for three years and ultimately defeated outgoing Ms May.

The favourite on betting markets is Boris Johnson, a former foreign secretary with an instantly recognisable mop of blond hair and a knack for entertaining the public.

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-11/contest-to-be-next-tory-leader-ki...

 

Now compare this picture with the toon at top? No diff...

boris

 

Read from top. The UK is in trouble...

 

the twins menace...

It seems like Boris Johnson, who has launched his political campaign to replace outgoing Theresa May as the UK prime minister, has more in common with US President Donald Trump than one might think – and it’s not just their trademark hair-do. 

Despite all scandals surrounding the gaffe-prone former UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson has topped the first ballot in the Tory leadership contest.

The bookies’ favourite, who’s been publicly backed by Donald Trump, once an outsider within his own party as well, has been consistently compared to the US President, and here’s why.

Basically No One Believed in Them

Back in 2016, American Republicans launched a Never Trump movement to prevent the real estate mogul from being nominated for the presidential election, while today Tories are trying to push the “Anyone But Boris” campaign to stop ex-London mayor from becoming the UK’s next prime minister.

...

Naughty by Nature?

The transatlantic twins – or cousins – have both been embroiled in cheating allegations: Trump has repeatedly been accused of sexual misconduct and having occasional flings while being married to FLOTUS Melania – something which he strongly denied, whereas Johnson found himself at the epicentre of a family scandal last year after British media claimed that he was being unfaithful to his wife of 25 years, Marina Wheeler.

And while Trump’s marriage stays afloat, Johnson is now an eligible bachelor – his spouse voted Leave.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/world/201906141075874411-four-similarities-boris...

 

 

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another whitlam/cromwell moment?...

Former British prime minister Sir John Major has vowed to save Queen Elizabeth II from a constitutional crisis, if Boris Johnson moves to suspend parliament in order to deliver a no-deal Brexit.

Key points: 
  • Sir John Major said a no-deal Brexit may trigger the suspension of Westminster 
  • To do that, the British PM would have to seek permission from the Queen 
  • Sir John said that would place her in a position "no serious politician" should consider

 

Mr Johnson, the current favourite to be Britain's next prime minister, has refused to rule out suspending, or proroguing, parliament to ensure the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on October 31, with or without a deal.

Sir John told the BBC, if he was to do so, the move would leave the Queen with no other choice but to provoke a constitutional crisis in one of the world's oldest and most stable democracies.

"If her first minister asks for that permission, it is almost inconceivable that the Queen will do anything other than grant it," Sir John said.

 

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-11/major-vows-to-protect-queen-from-...

 

 

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whitewashing the empire on which the sun never set...

 

...

Black notes that “empire was in part supported and defended on the grounds that it provided opportunities for the advance of civilization.” Britain, which was “more liberal, culturally, economically, socially, and politically, than the other major European powers,” was central to ending the slave trade and slavery. British imperialism promised, and to varying degrees secured, rule of law, participatory government, and individual freedoms to many around the world. Imperialism also has a frequent tendency to protect ethnic minorities more than nation-states, because it de facto requires buy-in from everyone, while purist nationalist regimes (e.g. Turkey, Yugoslavia, Burma, Sudan) are often the ones engaged in ethnic cleansing.

Not surprisingly, this more complicated side of imperialism’s legacy is not a particularly popular one in academia or other popular accounts in the media or museums. Black explains:

It can be difficult for those seeking to offer a different view to get their works published, a situation to which I can attest. There is scant attempt by critics to explain why empires arose. There is almost a zeal to suggest that Britain was as bad as the most murderous regimes in history…. Individually, these criticisms largely rest on emotion and hyperbole instead of informed knowledge.

Moreover, it is only within the paradigm of Western modernity that a critique of imperialism is even possible. To borrow from evangelical pastor Douglas Wilson’s commentary on atheist Christopher Hitchens’ criticisms of Christianity, detractors of Western imperialism hijack the ideas of Western civilization and crash them into a ditch.

None of this, Black argues, is to recommend a return to imperialism, or even to apply rose-colored glasses to its legacy. Rather, it is a rebuke to what C.S. Lewis called “chronological snobbery.” Black writes: “to treat these contemporary attitudes to empire… as if Britain, and later the United States, could have been abstracted from the age, and should be judged accordingly, is unhelpful and ahistorical.” 

Though one of the aims of Black’s analysis is to inform thinking on the contemporary American “empire,” we should also remember that American suspicion towards imperialism is part of our DNA. We threw off the yoke of the British empire to become an independent nation. From George Washington to strong public opposition to the imperialist motives behind the Spanish-American War, many Americans have censured proclivities to go abroad “in search of monsters to destroy.” Though Black seems to want to provide a more balanced analysis of American power on the global stage, one might just as easily interpret his book as good reason to scale down our international influence, as, like the culturally disintegrating Britain of today, it will not serve our long-term strategic interests.

All the same, we must be wary of, and prepared for, what a retreating America will mean for the world and for our own security and flourishing. Black cites the 2017 Chinese hit film Wolf Warrior 2, in which China intervenes in Africa against European mercenaries and dangerous African rebels. In effect, China, with its “string of pearls” military bases in the Indian Ocean, violations of other nations’ sovereignty in the South China Sea, and “One Belt One Road” economic plan, is already publishing propaganda to defend its role as the next great imperial power. 

Critics of European dominance over the world order might ask whether an ascendant China will be a more benign global influence. Given how the communist surveillance state treats its own citizens—including attacking their freedom of speech and religion and brainwashing them in prisons and reeducation camps—I think we already have our answer. 

Casey Chalk is a student at the Notre Dame Graduate School of Theology at Christendom College. He covers religion and other issues for The American Conservative.

 

Read more:

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/is-the-british-empire-l...

 

NO CASEY... THE EMPIRE WAS NOT MISUNDERSTOOD.  It was ruthless as much as controlling in order to suck produce and enrich the rich-led class system in Pommyland. That there were a few redeeming features such as managing (using) the divisions of the "indian subcontinent" was not an eraser of sins. The Brits were violent aggressors and expert political manipulators — and so were the other empire builders from the Belges to the French and the Germans... That the English stained many countries with the English culture is not a panacea of uprightness. The waning influence of the West due to the rise of China has historical ebbs and flows...

Meanwhile, slavery made the US empire.

...

 

And now, Donald Trump's presence in the White House has made everything even worse. It is unclear if this president, who so admires Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, his autocratic counterparts from China and Russia, is an adherent of this normative project, whether he actually values democracy, the rule of law and human rights. He has undermined NATO, the West's hard-power organization, and now, there is no leading power that will intervene decisively in support of Western values.

The dream that Angela Merkel could perform the role usually played by an American president has not come true. Her refugee policy temporarily raised the hopes of left-wing liberals in the West. But Germany has too little hard power to take a leading position in the world, and Merkel is more interested in securing exports than in safeguarding Western values, especially when it comes to China. Thus far, she has refrained from criticizing China publicly.

...

What can be done? Acquiesce to the notion that Pax Sinica -- the Chinese World Order, a system that cares nothing for democracy, the rule of law or human rights -- will emerge as the new norm? Hong Kong could be a harbinger of things to come.

But simply giving up would be a serious mistake. Even those who cannot issue demands command can still engage in promotion. They can still appeal to China's sanity. Things have become too silent in the West in the face of what is happening in Hong Kong. The West may no longer be the guarantor of Western values in the 21st century. But it can be an advocate.

 

Read more:

https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/silence-on-hong-kong-signals-...

 

Read also:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/35424

 

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