By David Futrelle
I‘m starting a new series of posts — which may become a regular, possibly even daily, thing — called Brand New Ugly, in which I’ll highlight items in the news or in social media that seem to be emblematic of the new era of political and social ugliness we’ve fallen into.
So let’s get going with …
It’s bad enough that the Trumpian, bad-haircutted buffoon Boris Johnson is going to be the British Prime Minister. Did Quillette have to compound the damage by writing a weirdly phrenological puff piece on the man that, among other things, rhapsodized about his “Germanic” skull shape?
Calipers out, lads! Here’s the relevant passage from Toby Young’s piece “Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man: A Profile of Boris Johnson,” describing Young’s first meeting with Johnson way back in 1983.
Later on in the piece, Young describes Johnson as “a cross between Hugh Grant and a silverback gorilla.” This is supposed to be a compliment.
H/T: Aaron Sankin on Twitter
Send tips for Brand New Ugly to dfutrelle at gmail dot com.
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Is it just me, or is that highlighted quote the author’s dog-whistling way of calling Johnson racially superior?
If that’s a dog whistle, every dog in a five-mile radius is now deaf.
Also, 1983? He was nineteen years old! Of course he looked like an overgrown schoolboy, because that’s what he was!
(He still does, mind, but that’s largely deliberate)
Oh, haha, I wasn’t even thinking of Nazis. I was thinking of how people of Anglo-Saxon ancestry are the upper class in England. My dad was English, but his family was working class, and he hated to be called Anglo-Saxon. (Growing up in the US, I remember Anglo-Saxon was sometimes a generic term for white people. I haven’t heard it in years, though.)
@serrana, Moggie
Loudest dogwhistle I ever heard. My dog (see avatar image) woke up from it and she lives with me in America. I’m wondering when the first meeting between Donald and Boris will be.
Has anyone else noticed that they look quite similar?
The author of that piece is a vile human being in his own right. And at least friendly with eugenicists.
“Ogres.”
…
“Ogres.”
http://gph.is/15vq2Px
(((ogres)))
Because I am an eternal optimist, I see today as the day a woman held the higher office, failed, and her failure wasn’t ascribed as being a woman.
… Of course, for all of May’s failing, Johnson seem to be worse. I hope the english mammothers are bracing for impact 😡
I don’t know much about British politics, so could someone please explain to me what this means for Brexit and the future of the EU? What about for the world as a whole? I know Boris Johnson is bad, but what bad things exactly does he plan to do?
Sorry about my prior ignorance.
@Nagflar : from the french PoV, it’s not terribly different from May. There is two credible ending :
* the parliament properly stop the mad plans of the government, and Johnson have to call an election, which at least delay brexit by six months or more, and have a decent chance of ending by cancelling brexit entirely
* Johnson succeed in his hard brexit, and we see horrified the civil war start again in Northern Irland, the economy of the UK tank hard, and England lost most of his current relevance in any domain.
For all his bluster, Johnson is a less competent May, even in the area of populism, and May wasn’t competent already.
More and more I’m starting to warm to the theory that the Mayan apocalypse actually happened and we’re in some sort of hell world.
Being compared to either Hugh Grant or a gorilla is far higher praise than Boris deserves.
I’d like to extend my sympathy to our British cousins.
Toby Young? Moar liek Toady Young amirite?
“Nuzzle your cleft, Mr. Johnson? Rest the old boys on my chin, Mr. Johnson? Been at a bit of a loose end since they caught me at those eugenics conferences, don’t you know? Still, old school tie and all that, what-what?”
I’m a long time reader/lurker based in the UK. And a remainer – or a remoaners, as the brexiters love to call us. Thing is, he’s been elected by a tiny proportion of the electorate. Basically Conservative party members. Given that the CP is currently extremely right wing, this is not a good thing.
Currently, Johnson is busy stuffing the Cabinet with his cronies, most of whom have already shown themselves to be ignorant and/or incompetent.
In other words, it’s a catastrofuck of epic proportions.
In the event that Johnson gets through his favoured No Brexit – which the majority of people don’t want – then the UK will be plunged into disastrous situation. Its frightening to think that this is a possibility.
Toby Young is a tedious right wing dog-whistling no mark. He’s a homophobe, a misogynist, a racist and he supports eugenics. So it’s no surprise he’s a big fan of Johnson.
Ugh. The whole thing is just too horrible.
Foppington’s Law:
”
– Natalie Wynn
If anybody sees Toby Young, please tell him that Lady Foppington said that she needs must have her calipers back this very instant.
I feel so sorry for you UK people.
@Ohlmann
Thank you for explaining that to me. I am so sorry for the UK, as it seems like they may be on the way to beating the US in the “do the dumbest thing” contest. Here’s hoping that Brexit gets cancelled and Johnson is removed from office, as in your first scenario.
@WWTH
I haven’t thought of that before, but it makes a certain twisted sense. Of course, since the Mayans never actually predicted an apocalypse that day, it doesn’t make much sense to assume that was the day we went to hell over any other. I think November 8, 2016 was more like it.
@Serrana
Hardly; that’s been Norman territory since 1066.
@Serrana @Dalillama
“Anglo-saxon” has nothing to do with any actual historical Angles or Saxons: it’s way for racists to say “white” without having to include Irish people.
@Naglfar:
Warning: this comment is probably going to get long and rambly. And it’ll probably be mostly bollocks. Speaking as a Brit: be wary of accepting the words of any Brit who claims to know what will happen, or even what is happening. Truth is, we mostly have no idea, and have proven we’re fuckwits, politically. You should probably listen to Ohlmann: our friends on the continent are more clear-eyed about Brexit than we are.
The most important things you need to understand about Boris Johnson are that he has no fixed principles (beyond “what is good for Boris Johnson”), he lies incessantly, and he has no head for details. So, it’s difficult to judge the future from what he says today. But here are a few things we think we know about his plans, based on what he’s said so far:
* He wants to discard the withdrawal agreement drawn up by May and the EU, and try for a fresh deal – which everyone thinks is very unlikely to happen by the 31 October deadline.
* He’s described the backstop as “dead”. This is very bad news for Ireland and Northern Ireland.
* He’s talked about making a number of smaller “side deals” with the EU, over things like the rights of EU citizens in the UK. Though the EU’s attitude to this is “why are you wasting your time with that? We already have an agreement, and it’s the only one available”.
* He’s willing to leave the EU with “no deal” at the end of October, if (as seems quite likely) he hasn’t been able to achieve what defeated May: getting an EU withdrawal agreement which parliament will approve. He’s even indicated that he’s willing to prorogue parliament to force through a no-deal exit: that is to say, dissolve parliament and rule by fiat, so that MPs couldn’t vote down his moves. Seems he’s not a fan of democracy.
Most MPs oppose that prorogation idea, and a few days ago they managed to pass the “Grieve amendment”, which makes it hard for him to prorogue. So that idea may be dead. (That’s the same Dominic Grieve who today described Johnson as “a charlatan”. Grieve is a Tory!)
Crashing out of the EU without a deal is a partisan issue. The extremists who have made the Tory party ungovernable see it as acceptable or even desirable, while most sensible people believe that it would be economically devastating. And it’s not as if we’re prepared for it: there’s probably a whole load of legislation which needs to get through parliament to make “no deal” sort-of-work, and little time to achieve that.
So, while there’s no majority in parliament for the existing withdrawal agreement, there’s also no majority for no deal. Which is a pretty impossible situation!
Things that might happen now:
Johnson may simply call a general election – even though he has previously said this would be “the height of folly”. This is likely to be electoral suicide, but it’s already looking like he wants his own party to think he’d do it. He’s spent today sacking cabinet ministers and appointing replacements, and this Guardian article has quotes from some anonymous Tories:
So, perhaps he has strapped a metaphorical suicide vest to himself, and is threatening to detonate it unless MPs back him. Whether this would work, I don’t know. But it’s possible he’ll use this threat to attempt to get the existing withdrawal agreement through, despite having rubbished it. Like I said, he has no firm principles…
Another thing that could happen: someone could call a vote of no confidence in the government. He has a very thin majority, and if some Tories vote against Johnson, he could lose. Ordinarily, I’d say this was unlikely, but we live in extraordinary times. If this happens, MPs have (I think) 14 days to try to form a government which commands support from parliament, and it’s possible this could be a cross-party “unity” government. The argument would be: “this is an emergency, we’re all in this together, we need to pull together like in wartime”. If they couldn’t create such a government, there would be a general election.
A general election doesn’t look good for either Tories or Labour, on current polling. It’s likely that Nigel Farage’s not-really-a-party would do well, and we’d end up with a coalition Tory/Brexit government, with Farage in the cabinet. This is pretty much a nightmare scenario.
From the EU’s viewpoint, Labour looks more credible as a government, and Labour’s own talks with the EU have been more professional. But Labour are in disarrary, and I think unlikely to win a general election in their present form.
If we do leave with no deal, the EU has contingency measures prepared to cover the following 9 months, but only in their favour: they won’t protect us from ourselves. We’ll be able to enter into talks with the EU on a trade deal, but only after we reach agreements on the border, EU citizens’ rights, and pay our hefty “divorce bill”.
At this point, I honestly have no idea what will happen, though I suspect that a further extension from 31 October will be arranged.
What else? Umm… a couple more bits on Boris Johnson’s character.
Just watch this short video, for a glimpse of his laziness and lack of attention to detail. This is not a serious politician!
Read this article by his former boss, Max Hastings. It is… not favourable. I think it was Max Hastings who once said something like “people who like Boris don’t know him, and people who know him don’t like him”.
I could probably have written unflattering things about Johnson’s time as London mayor, or about his plan for “free ports”, but I’ve rambled on for too long.
@Not Edward
Or Slavs, Mediterraneans, and all the other flavours of European. Nevertheless, the difference between Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman exists, and is important to some people, most especially including the British aristocracy.
Is it wrong to mention now that he actually has Turkish heritage?
Yeah, as someone I Irish descent, I tend to get really, really peeved when someone refers to me as “Anglo-Saxon.”
(I definitely remember an article where a number of Latinx journalists repeatedly used “Anglos” to mean “all white people,” and my reaction was confusion. Surely people with a history being referred to as “Mexicans” regardless of their ancestry would be more sensitive to getting peoples’ identities right. But every group is composed of people, and so will include its share of assholes.)