In his rightly revered column today, the Daily Telegraph’s best thinker Charles Moore makes the case for praising Boris Johnson. Here at Slogger’s Roost, we err on the side of burying the bugger. Writing about Johnson’s obvious talent as a rhetorical scrivener, Mr Moore observes, ‘Unlike Boris, I am no classical scholar, but I believe this technique is called digressio’.
So Charles, what you’re saying is that BoJo is a weapon of mass distraction, right?
Well yes, he certainly is: but distraction often hides destruction, as we’ve seen with Draper Osborne.
His drivel over the Tube loudspeakers flatlines the London retail economy: quick, better hang on a wire and wave some flags.
It isn’t that Boris ‘gets’ highbrow and lowbrow – very much the central insight of Moore’s piece. Rather, it’s that he uses the lowbrow to hoodwink the highbrow.
Never forget, my friends, that whenever he is cornered and questioned on policy content, Johnson shows a venomous, bullying and foul-mouthed dimension that suggests rather more about his real personality than looking bemused and being witty on HIGNFY. Never forget, my fellow liberal democrats, that this is the man who agreed to have some of the delightful Darius Guppy’s critics beaten up. This is also the chap who, when asked about phone-hacking, said it was a lot of “Leftie piffle”.
Still, bullish as ever, BoJo’s personal guest last Thursday was…Rupert Murdoch.
No Charles – just this once, I disagree with you. I have been saying since 2004 that there are only two politicians with no respect at all for The People: Harriet Harman, and Boris Johnson. If nothing else, Hattie knows she’s unacceptable, and has therefore put The Two Stooges up in her stead. Boris has spotted that the British majority is now violent, gullible and in search of culprits.
He’s certainly good at providing those: but never, ever is he among them.
The Slog 