The Political Thread

[Leigh S]

Curious - Guy seems to disagree fundamentally with lockdown, but I'm not sure how Starmer reaches the conclusion the guy didnt believe in Covid since he also talks about 1000s of deaths having happened due to the Government mishandling -  I'm not sure how the guy holds both views, to be honest.

It was an odd idea to try and ignore him bby going into his pub!  Either debate the guy's odd position (isnt that why we have him as Leader due to his razor Legal mind) or run to the hills from the crazy guy!

[Funt Solo]

I'm not sure how the guy holds both views, to be honest.

I'm not saying the fella believed or not in, like, science facts, but most conspiracy theorists are very adept at holding entirely opposing views simultaneously without blinking. Whenever the dichotomy is directly addressed they move quickly onto new ground with their Wand of Levitating, +3 vs. Goalposts. Or just shout "gerroutta my pub!"

[sheridan]

What is that pub footage all about?  From the comments on twitter Starmer and gang appeared to try to force their way in to the pub, then got one of the minder's to use force against the landlord when they objected?  Seeing as senior politicians generally go through a few hoops to check security ahead of visits this seems like odd behaviour.

[Funt Solo]

The minder looks like he was doing his job - stop any screaming, out of control lunatics from assaulting the talent.

Agreed that it doesn't look good for the politician, either. For some reason, screaming, out of control lunatics win the moral argument.

[IndigoPrime]

There's an interview with pub owner on Twitter where he makes it very clear (albeit in seemingly exasperated fashion) that he doesn't hold the same views.

[Leigh S]

Does he explain how a stricter lockdown than he thought necessary led to MORE deaths?

[Professor Bear]

I admit I am playing armchair politician here, but I think the general consensus is more that your minder getting a pub landlord in a headlock when he tells you to leave his premises is bad optics even if the landlord in question is some sort of Holocaust denier.  Not that Labour's polling could be much worse, anyway.

[Leigh S]

Eatching another clip shows the chap brandishing a graph and saying "its only old people dying anyway, so yeah, I;m with Starmer on this one - though not with him going in the pub - presumably he didnt know the guy was the "not" landlord (think he just worked there?) ... don't you set up these PR type things in advnace to avoid this kind of thing?

[Professor Bear]

Yeah, Sir Keith pretty much had a PR win until he fucked it.

[Funt Solo]

For some reason reminded me of this: "The People Are Revolting".

[Funt Solo]

BBC ... "jurors find Derek Chauvin guilty of all charges over George Floyd's death"

I'm so relieved.

[IndigoPrime]

And then you hear about Makhia Bryant. They've learned nothing. They continue to learn nothing.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

That self confessed not-an-actual-journalist Ticker Carlson has been saying no one will want to be a cop now. If not being allowed to get off of murder after kneeling on a restrained man's neck for ten minutes puts you off being a cop...good.

More importantly, the ESL looks like it's DOA. I must commend you all for your diginity, stoicism and restraint during this dire crisis.

[IndigoPrime]

Yes, no-one will want to be a cop in case they get convicted of second-degree murder when they murder someone and get caught on camera. What says more is how the event was originally reported though. If it wasn't for that video, the outcome would have been very different.

[Jim_Campbell]

Some what bemused to hear the top-of-the-hour news summary on Radio 4 refer to the verdict being in relation to "George Floyd, who died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes", as if there still might be some disconnect between those two events. Surely "...who was killed by Chauvin, who knelt on his neck for over nine minutes" would have been a more accurate summary?