Boris Johnson - I don't get it

mike65 · 08-10-2012 07:07PM

Wot? No wiff waff?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uix9kXIMVRM

They mocked him but he was right about the Olympics

Jorah · 08-10-2012 07:31PM

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Must. Resist. Godwin!

Behind the bumbling facade he's a competent politician, not someone I'd trust though and doesn't have any great love for London. He's being groomed as a potential celeb PM candidate should Labour find anyone with a bit of spark and charisma (unlikely).

You should read his book about London. He loves the city and its history.

juan.kerr · 08-10-2012 07:35PM

peil wrote: »

What's wrong with Michael D?

You mean aside from him being a tosser?

Lapin · 08-10-2012 07:38PM

TeddyTedson wrote: »

For somebody who people are saying is no idiot, you have to admit he does say an awful lot of idiotic things.

I have yet to see a high profile politician who hasn't put their foot in it at some stage.

TeddyTedson · 08-10-2012 07:39PM

Lapin wrote: »

I have yet to see a high profile politician who hasn't put their foot in it at some stage.

It's regular with him. Just like it was with George W Bush.
What's your take on Bush?

el dude · 08-10-2012 07:43PM

Notebook He's a bit like the political version of Jedward.

Public imagine aside, whatever constitutes being a good mayor would be, is he one?

juan.kerr · 08-10-2012 07:43PM

TeddyTedson wrote: »

It's regular with him. Just like it was with George W Bush.
What's your take on Bush?

I have fond memories of George W.

He gets a lot of the blame for certain policies implemented by the previous administration.

Lapin · 08-10-2012 07:44PM

TeddyTedson wrote: »

What's your take on Bush?

A highly unintellegent politician.

But comparing Boris Johnson with George W Bush is not comparing like with like.

Reindeer · 08-10-2012 07:46PM

Bush makes Boris look like freakin' Socrates.

Ellis Dee · 08-10-2012 07:57PM

He's a really cute hoor who is very good at playing the eejit. The only thing really going for him is that Cameron is such an inept tosser.:)

The only worrying thing is that he just might become the Tory leader and perhaps PM one day, but I suppose Sir Humphrey will see to it that he doesn't rock the boat too much.:rolleyes:

Shryke · 08-10-2012 08:06PM

Here's an extract from an opinion piece I read by Suzanne Moore for the Guardian back in September. It's a good read on Boris.

"Undoubtedly Boris is brilliant and funny and clever. Before he was so powerful he would liven up many a boring debate on the euro with the admission that he had gone into a deep trance. Detail is not his forte; the big picture, the grand symbolic gesture, is. His outbursts of honesty hide his imperial attitude. They hide his utter ruthlessness and the fact that he a politician, not a gameshow panellist.

His record shows that he is not above betraying people he has worked for, in one way or another. He promised more than he can deliver. He did not deliver the Olympics but is sucking up vast amounts of credit for them. His hack trick of winging it has come into its own. The level at which he needs to be in control is frightening and that control combined with his intellect is what makes him a superb writer. The clownishness masks the absolute need to win. Once he got me into a party. Some Tory do, not his party, let me make that clear, and he said I could stay for 20 minutes. I was happily chatting as I knew many people there when he whispered after exactly 20 minutes: "Your time is up." That's bonhomie for you.

Petty but telling, I felt, and not in the least shambolic. If you don't know his core of steel then rewind the tape of the conversation he had with self-confessed "potential psychopath" Darius Guppy. Guppy is after a telephone number for someone who has too much information on him. "If this guy is seriously hurt, I am going to be ****ing furious," says Boris. Guppy reassures him it won't be "intensive care". Just cracked ribs. Nice."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/12/boris-johnson-no-laughing-matter

DyldeBrill · 08-10-2012 08:09PM

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Must. Resist. Godwin!

Behind the bumbling facade he's a competent politician, not someone I'd trust though and doesn't have any great love for London. He's being groomed as a potential celeb PM candidate should Labour find anyone with a bit of spark and charisma (unlikely).

True but at least he's over the pond instead of here.

I can laugh at London all I want

Lapin · 08-10-2012 08:19PM

DyldeBrill wrote: »

I can laugh at London all I want

But London will always have the last laugh.

Greatest city in the world.

08-10-2012 08:19PM

Lapin wrote: »

A highly unintellegent politician.

But comparing Boris Johnson with George W Bush is not comparing like with like.

Yeah, a grade A moron

Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history. In the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A

4zn76tysfajdxp · 08-10-2012 08:25PM

Angie Plain Tackle wrote: »

Yeah, a grade A moron

Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history. In the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A

An educated moron, then.

latenia · 08-10-2012 08:32PM

Angie Plain Tackle wrote: »

Yeah, a grade A moron

Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history. In the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A

Yale has a notoriously low failure rate, particularly amongst students from 'elite families.' Remember how Mr Burns was almost able to get his moron son enrolled-that was satirical of how it's quite possible to buy your degree there. Anyone with the cash can get a Harvard MBA.

garbanzo · 08-10-2012 09:13PM

Not too fond of the Irish by all accounts !

08-10-2012 10:36PM

latenia wrote: »

Yale has a notoriously low failure rate, particularly amongst students from 'elite families.' Remember how Mr Burns was almost able to get his moron son enrolled-that was satirical of how it's quite possible to buy your degree there. Anyone with the cash can get a Harvard MBA.

No.
An MBA anywhere is expensive but they don't just give you the degree when you hand it over, you work for it.

mike65 · 08-10-2012 10:38PM

garbanzo wrote: »

Not too fond of the Irish by all accounts !

Only the self appointed Larndarn Murphia who he thought were dining at the tax-payers expense (they were'nt as it happened)

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2012/03/irish-mayor-dinner-johnson

poeticseraphim · 08-10-2012 11:18PM

Was he not involved in a threat to some man's safty or something??

There was a recorded phone converstation were someone getting beaten up was discussed with Darius Guppy another nutter.

' In 1990, he undertook to beat up a tabloid journalist who had been attempting to smear members of his family.[8][18][19] During a telephone call he asked Boris Johnson to provide the journalist's address. The address was never provided, and the attack never took place, but a tape of the conversation was leaked to the press.

He is not brilliant but not stupid..the expectation is so low he looks better..but the thing is men can have a type of hubris that makes them fail to see their real stupidity so they feel they must fake it to appeal or to get off lightly.

He is not very honourable at all.

mrsdewinter · 08-10-2012 11:33PM

The really startling thing about Boris Johnson is how much his success in politics has depended on the media. About 10 years ago, he was regarded as a slightly eccentric Tory from Central Casting who could be relied upon to represent a very threadbare right-wing corner of Have I Got News For You. From there, he became almost a national treasure in the UK where they seem to love this bumbling shtick, and once he had the profile, it was only a hop, skip and a jump to being elected London mayor.
His career will make a fascinating case history for some young politics student.

opinion guy · 09-10-2012 01:09AM

Angie Plain Tackle wrote: »

Yeah, a grade A moron

Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history. In the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A

Am I the only one not impressed when someone says they have an M.B.A ?

LordSutch · 09-10-2012 10:33AM

Boris Johnson = one man with one vision = one great 'New Bus for London' AKA the Borismaster/ the Boris bus

)

Irish fella (LBC Radio) interviews Boris about his new bus > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p_2q-o49pU&feature=player_detailpage

Boris is great, he's a breath of fresh air, he is very intelligent, and most importantly of all, Londoners just love him.

Ding Ding, all aboard now please! http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/files/2011/12/borismaster.jpg

who the fug · 09-10-2012 10:42AM

My view on Boris, at least he ain't ken, and as I walk everywhere these days he doesn't get a chance to annoy me. (Only thing the Mayor of London gets to look after is transport)

He play well in London but will never make PM

Sorcha16 · 09-10-2012 10:50AM

DaaaaaaaaaaN wrote: »

. I know he's highly intelligent having been schooled in Eton and Oxford and all that

Attending prestigious, private schools is an indication of wealth, not intelligence.

Boris Johnson has done nothing to justify his political position and is only there because of who his family are. He is another prime example of nepotism and how far coming from the right family (His father worked for the World Bank and is a former MEP and his grandfather was a European Human Rights Commisioner) and attending the right schools will get you in life.

GSF · 09-10-2012 10:52AM

Reindeer wrote: »

Bush makes Boris look like freakin' Socrates.

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v16911257FWbB4Wcc?h1=After+Rome%3A+Part+1
He covers Socrates in his BBC documentary "After Rome"

CruelCoin · 09-10-2012 11:38AM

TeddyTedson wrote: »

So I just don't get it. Is he secretly very intelligent? He must have a brain somewhere in that head....right?

The man is eccentric. Very much so. Mad hatter kind of personality.

He is also very intelligent, and thats what endears him to the british public.

Fun loving, but with a no-bull**** attitude when it comes to politics. Straight talkers in that field are few and far between, and you should treasure them.

Emeraldy Pebbles · 09-10-2012 11:48AM

It's an act. But he wouldn't get away with such an act if he wasn't upper class, he'd just be considered an idiot.

opinion guy · 09-10-2012 12:14PM

GSF wrote: »

http://www.veoh.com/watch/v16911257FWbB4Wcc?h1=After+Rome%3A+Part+1
He covers Socrates in his BBC documentary "After Rome"

That was pretty interesting!

Fratton Fred · 09-10-2012 02:59PM

mrsdewinter wrote: »

The really startling thing about Boris Johnson is how much his success in politics has depended on the media. About 10 years ago, he was regarded as a slightly eccentric Tory from Central Casting who could be relied upon to represent a very threadbare right-wing corner of Have I Got News For You. From there, he became almost a national treasure in the UK where they seem to love this bumbling shtick, and once he had the profile, it was only a hop, skip and a jump to being elected London mayor.
His career will make a fascinating case history for some young politics student.

You don't become mayor of London just be being on TV a few times.

I was amazed when Boris got in, Ken Livingstone was very popular (if not a tad egotistical) with the average Londoner and I thought a bumbling posh boy would have no chance. What surprised me was the people who voted for him, it wasn't just the Pimms brigade from Fulham, it was a very broad range of people from all sorts of different back grounds.

Most people who met him talked about how likeable and knowledgeable he was and how he was quite happy to say things they way they were.

Boris Johnson - I don't get it

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