This piece is important to me. Why don't I like Farage, Trump, Johnson?
They lie. Continuously. Shamelessly. Because what is important to them isn't debate or policy, it's obtaining power by any means.
Angela Rayner makes a mistake on her tax declaration, and resigns.
Farage actively arranges his finances to avoid the very same tax, and tells the press it's none of their business, how dare they ask such questions, nothing to see here, etc.
This, I think, is why I don't like or trust these people. They are demonstrably liars, so anything they say should be treated with a large dose of scepticism.
Don't trust them. They lie because the truth means actually having make policy in the real world, with all the compromises and complexities that entails. And they can't do either.
You've hit the nail on the head again Bear 👍 All those grifters named are narcissists and only out for themselves. Charming in their duplicity. What is it about politics that attracts so many narcissists? Power, fame, money, never held to account .....oh, and knowing that many of the public who will follow them have no clue if their claims are accurate, just that they hear what they want to hear. It's very disturbing x
It is still a tangled web. All the outrage about Mandelson being linked to Epstein and cries he is unfit for office just when another name in Epstein’s big blackest book and best friend of Farage is about to land for a state visit. Awkward.
You hit the nail squarely on the head - what an appalling era we are living in. We will however, do our best to keep the cart on the wheels and keep pushing forwards.
Ultimately, in my view, it is the popular "news" media who are largely to blame. These news channels (esp. BBC & ITV main news) are not structured as a source of information, but as a soap opera. Soaps have a cast of characters, each of whom has a defined personality, and behaves in a predictable way: this is comforting for the audience. When a new character arrives, their personality, and place in the narrative, is carefully introduced, so the audience knows what to expect of them. This is all done to maintain the ongoing familiarity, so the audience keeps coming back.
News programmes do pretty much the same thing. Each public figure is given a character, and a place in the narrative. The character may not be a fair portrayal, but once established is fixed. The focus is always on the narrative based around these familiar characters, with the promise of "more in the next episode". Actual facts are massaged to fit the most compelling narrative.
Some characters are villains of course, and everyone loves a villain: they are often the most popular characters in fiction, and so it is with the soap-news. Farage is a perfect villain, such a cartoon of a man he writes his own part. The object of the narrative is to be compelling rather than impart information, so featuring Farage as a central character makes complete sense.
I tend to avoid mainstream news these days, and when I do watch it I always see it through the soap lens. Once you've seen it that way it's impossible to take it truly seriously.
Great explanation. I often think back to 30 years ago when I first heard the term “career politician”. It troubled me greatly as I had thought that the civil service were the career politicians that kept things moving along and they were directed right or left by the elected politicians who put forward the policies upon which they had been elected. Of course all that changed and it was the elected politicians who became the career politicians and the civil servants are now being cast aside, replaced by “special advisors” who are often billionaires with specific interests in shrinking public services and collecting public data. We see it now with the career politicians jumping from one political party to another just to keep the salary check coming in (Lee Anderson, Nadine Dorris etc). Compare these people to those who had a moral compass, who left their jobs to do a term in Parliament to purse a cause that they needed to bring to the attention of the masses and bring some action to bare. They could make the tough decisions because when their work was done they could return to their career because they had one outside of politics. Not so the “career politicians”, they have no career to return to so they carry out favours whilst in power and expect payback when they leave, or engage in other jobs while being in politics to create a soft landing when it’s time to go! What a mess.
The British media portray these grifters as Truthsayers. Any publicity is deemed good, making promises that they will never keep. Trumps platform, Truth Social, farcical, never knowingly telling a truth. It’s always puzzled me, how someone gets into power, earns say £200k a year, leaves power in say 15 years and is estimated to be worth £10 billion? Thieves and conmen that’s why.
Another cracking piece, thank you. We really appreciate what you’re doing. Hope you don’t mind us hitching a lift, but we did a deep dive on Boris Johnson, covering, we laugh, virtually every scandal. The internet’s barely big enough for that back catalogue, but we gave it a go.
I’ve felt for a long time that the ‘gentlemanly ‘ behaviour which is supposed , to govern the conduct of our elected MPs , has disappeared . They can no longer be trusted to regulate themselves . The majority are tainted by the scoundrels with zero sanctions .
They are being paid by the taxpayers who are entitled to question & investigate their behaviour .
It’s time we had terms & conditions of their service & clear
sanctions if those should be breached. Never mind your constituents . If you are found to have lied , lined your own pocket, no attended Westminster or your constituency etc . Been working with other countries against the UK etc .,
Spot on as usual. I despair that not only is there no accountability, there also seems also that there are no penalties for the grifting, lying corrupt lot.
The Faragian rioters last year? 41% had convictions for domestic violence. And on the basis of a 30 year police career I figure that virtually all the rest had previous convictions for other offences.
And that explains why Farage gets away with it. His supporters and the tabloid press and GB News & the BBC are all morally compromised. For instance when you have spent years working on the Sun or Mail you haven’t just supped with Devil. You have sold your being to him.
When you have reached that state it is the work of moments to rationalise the next lies and scandals.
Steven Miller in the US today accusing the left of violence. Whilst serving a man who fucked children, is a rapist and life long fraudster as well as being a spouse abuser.
The human race is a deeply flawed species with brains too big for their own good in many cases. Brains that were wired for life 10s of thousands of years ago.
In the modern connected world movements reach breaking point more rapidly. The violent, extremists on the right are approaching that point.
There's an old New Yorker cartoon from the Watergare era where the caption reads something like "Nixon's no fool. If people wanted integrity and honesty, he'd give it to them."
That's the issue: people only really mind certain things if the other side gets away with it. (And in the Labour party, the 'other side' is often another wing of the party, not the Conservatives, Lib Dems or Reform). It's tribal politics writ large.
For me, Rayner's big problem was not making the mistake about stamp duty but not getting better advice when you know an issue is complex. (So, I don't mind that she resigned, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her return before too long.) And I have severe concerns about vetting procedures if someone like Mandelson gets through unscathed.
With its majority, Labour could have done something about all the freebies that MPs get (not only entertainment but 'help in kind' etc) - that looks to most people like buying influence.
I'm a bit confused / concerned by how little capital Labour makes of its potential to shame the grifters. Why won't they rock the boat?
Brilliant piece this morning Bear - you've had your Wheatabix! :o)
Do I believe there is political accountability in 2025? Yes, but it is being withheld. The ONLY accountability left is via the ballot box. By denying the legal and democratic processes of elections, Governments are denying people the chance to hold these lying politicians to account.
We have the democratic tools but successive governments are refusing us the right to use them. If They really wanted 'Democracy' they would be having Referenda - advisory not necessarily actionable - to see how the people want contentious decisons to play out. By not doing this, (certainly in this country over contentious issues like Brexit) it is creating dissatisfaction with the Government and the political process in general. By not enabling EVERYONE to vote- including the digitally disenfranchised poorest, elderly and disabled who cannot access photo ID- this Labour government in particular is setting itself up to allegations of political corruption the same as the Tories had. By rushing through bad laws like the Proscription of peaceful protesters who are just trying to give a voice to the voiceless in Gaza, by standing silently with pieces of paper; this Government has heaped shame on itself. This should have been repealled months ago. That it hasn't speaks to its commitment to undermine democracy and you can bloody well bet that come the next opportunity to vote, the voters WILL use it to punish the Government.
This piece is important to me. Why don't I like Farage, Trump, Johnson?
They lie. Continuously. Shamelessly. Because what is important to them isn't debate or policy, it's obtaining power by any means.
Angela Rayner makes a mistake on her tax declaration, and resigns.
Farage actively arranges his finances to avoid the very same tax, and tells the press it's none of their business, how dare they ask such questions, nothing to see here, etc.
This, I think, is why I don't like or trust these people. They are demonstrably liars, so anything they say should be treated with a large dose of scepticism.
Don't trust them. They lie because the truth means actually having make policy in the real world, with all the compromises and complexities that entails. And they can't do either.
Bang on dear Bear 🐻 👏👏👏👏👏👏!!!
You've hit the nail on the head again Bear 👍 All those grifters named are narcissists and only out for themselves. Charming in their duplicity. What is it about politics that attracts so many narcissists? Power, fame, money, never held to account .....oh, and knowing that many of the public who will follow them have no clue if their claims are accurate, just that they hear what they want to hear. It's very disturbing x
It is still a tangled web. All the outrage about Mandelson being linked to Epstein and cries he is unfit for office just when another name in Epstein’s big blackest book and best friend of Farage is about to land for a state visit. Awkward.
You hit the nail squarely on the head - what an appalling era we are living in. We will however, do our best to keep the cart on the wheels and keep pushing forwards.
Ultimately, in my view, it is the popular "news" media who are largely to blame. These news channels (esp. BBC & ITV main news) are not structured as a source of information, but as a soap opera. Soaps have a cast of characters, each of whom has a defined personality, and behaves in a predictable way: this is comforting for the audience. When a new character arrives, their personality, and place in the narrative, is carefully introduced, so the audience knows what to expect of them. This is all done to maintain the ongoing familiarity, so the audience keeps coming back.
News programmes do pretty much the same thing. Each public figure is given a character, and a place in the narrative. The character may not be a fair portrayal, but once established is fixed. The focus is always on the narrative based around these familiar characters, with the promise of "more in the next episode". Actual facts are massaged to fit the most compelling narrative.
Some characters are villains of course, and everyone loves a villain: they are often the most popular characters in fiction, and so it is with the soap-news. Farage is a perfect villain, such a cartoon of a man he writes his own part. The object of the narrative is to be compelling rather than impart information, so featuring Farage as a central character makes complete sense.
I tend to avoid mainstream news these days, and when I do watch it I always see it through the soap lens. Once you've seen it that way it's impossible to take it truly seriously.
Great explanation. I often think back to 30 years ago when I first heard the term “career politician”. It troubled me greatly as I had thought that the civil service were the career politicians that kept things moving along and they were directed right or left by the elected politicians who put forward the policies upon which they had been elected. Of course all that changed and it was the elected politicians who became the career politicians and the civil servants are now being cast aside, replaced by “special advisors” who are often billionaires with specific interests in shrinking public services and collecting public data. We see it now with the career politicians jumping from one political party to another just to keep the salary check coming in (Lee Anderson, Nadine Dorris etc). Compare these people to those who had a moral compass, who left their jobs to do a term in Parliament to purse a cause that they needed to bring to the attention of the masses and bring some action to bare. They could make the tough decisions because when their work was done they could return to their career because they had one outside of politics. Not so the “career politicians”, they have no career to return to so they carry out favours whilst in power and expect payback when they leave, or engage in other jobs while being in politics to create a soft landing when it’s time to go! What a mess.
You sound like you were angry typing this piece out. Rightly so. We should all be angry. 😡
The British media portray these grifters as Truthsayers. Any publicity is deemed good, making promises that they will never keep. Trumps platform, Truth Social, farcical, never knowingly telling a truth. It’s always puzzled me, how someone gets into power, earns say £200k a year, leaves power in say 15 years and is estimated to be worth £10 billion? Thieves and conmen that’s why.
Another cracking piece, thank you. We really appreciate what you’re doing. Hope you don’t mind us hitching a lift, but we did a deep dive on Boris Johnson, covering, we laugh, virtually every scandal. The internet’s barely big enough for that back catalogue, but we gave it a go.
https://satiricalplanet.substack.com/p/the-bare-duplicities-boris-johnson
I’ve felt for a long time that the ‘gentlemanly ‘ behaviour which is supposed , to govern the conduct of our elected MPs , has disappeared . They can no longer be trusted to regulate themselves . The majority are tainted by the scoundrels with zero sanctions .
They are being paid by the taxpayers who are entitled to question & investigate their behaviour .
It’s time we had terms & conditions of their service & clear
sanctions if those should be breached. Never mind your constituents . If you are found to have lied , lined your own pocket, no attended Westminster or your constituency etc . Been working with other countries against the UK etc .,
It’s one written warning
& then your’re out ! Why on earth not ?
Another great piece of writing Bear. You always manage to hit the nail on the head.
Spot on as usual. I despair that not only is there no accountability, there also seems also that there are no penalties for the grifting, lying corrupt lot.
Morning Bear.
The Faragian rioters last year? 41% had convictions for domestic violence. And on the basis of a 30 year police career I figure that virtually all the rest had previous convictions for other offences.
And that explains why Farage gets away with it. His supporters and the tabloid press and GB News & the BBC are all morally compromised. For instance when you have spent years working on the Sun or Mail you haven’t just supped with Devil. You have sold your being to him.
When you have reached that state it is the work of moments to rationalise the next lies and scandals.
Steven Miller in the US today accusing the left of violence. Whilst serving a man who fucked children, is a rapist and life long fraudster as well as being a spouse abuser.
The human race is a deeply flawed species with brains too big for their own good in many cases. Brains that were wired for life 10s of thousands of years ago.
In the modern connected world movements reach breaking point more rapidly. The violent, extremists on the right are approaching that point.
They are about to become political cannibals. .
There's an old New Yorker cartoon from the Watergare era where the caption reads something like "Nixon's no fool. If people wanted integrity and honesty, he'd give it to them."
That's the issue: people only really mind certain things if the other side gets away with it. (And in the Labour party, the 'other side' is often another wing of the party, not the Conservatives, Lib Dems or Reform). It's tribal politics writ large.
For me, Rayner's big problem was not making the mistake about stamp duty but not getting better advice when you know an issue is complex. (So, I don't mind that she resigned, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her return before too long.) And I have severe concerns about vetting procedures if someone like Mandelson gets through unscathed.
With its majority, Labour could have done something about all the freebies that MPs get (not only entertainment but 'help in kind' etc) - that looks to most people like buying influence.
I'm a bit confused / concerned by how little capital Labour makes of its potential to shame the grifters. Why won't they rock the boat?
Brilliant piece this morning Bear - you've had your Wheatabix! :o)
Do I believe there is political accountability in 2025? Yes, but it is being withheld. The ONLY accountability left is via the ballot box. By denying the legal and democratic processes of elections, Governments are denying people the chance to hold these lying politicians to account.
We have the democratic tools but successive governments are refusing us the right to use them. If They really wanted 'Democracy' they would be having Referenda - advisory not necessarily actionable - to see how the people want contentious decisons to play out. By not doing this, (certainly in this country over contentious issues like Brexit) it is creating dissatisfaction with the Government and the political process in general. By not enabling EVERYONE to vote- including the digitally disenfranchised poorest, elderly and disabled who cannot access photo ID- this Labour government in particular is setting itself up to allegations of political corruption the same as the Tories had. By rushing through bad laws like the Proscription of peaceful protesters who are just trying to give a voice to the voiceless in Gaza, by standing silently with pieces of paper; this Government has heaped shame on itself. This should have been repealled months ago. That it hasn't speaks to its commitment to undermine democracy and you can bloody well bet that come the next opportunity to vote, the voters WILL use it to punish the Government.