Thread by @PandaScottish

[thread]

On criticism and democracy

A. Lincoln

“I should regret to see the day in which the people should cease to express intelligent, honest generous criticism upon the policy of their rulers”

I would amend Abraham slightly

“I should regret to see the day in which the people should cease to express intelligent, honest generous criticism, praise and reflection upon the policy of their rulers.”

You see

I will admit

I am not a Conservative voter

I have never voted for the Conservative Party

But I can see many members of that once alive party whom I would entertain & consider voting for and with whom I might disagree with I would respect

In the current age

I am blocked by more “Conservative” ministers and MPs than I can count on one hand.

Which is fine that is their choice - but never once have they played the ball I gently lobbed their way for them to easily rebut with clear and capable argument

to amend a quote

“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. If they block me with no argument well...”

Thanks David Allen Green for the “well”

Now here’s a video on the importance of debate

But more importantly of how we frame a debate and on the language we use

But at its core

Two values empathy and respect

Empathy & respect for yourself and others

ted.com/talks/robb_wil…

There is much I could quote from that video

Watch it

Read the transcript

Oh ok then I will quote it’s conclusion

“We owe it to one another and our country to reach out and try to connect. We can't afford to hate them any longer, and we can't afford to let them hate us either. Empathy & respect. Empathy & respect. If you think about it, it's the very least that we owe our fellow citizens.”

I tend to use quotes a bit in my threads & probably over-illustrate with references

For a left of centre voter my 3 main figures I quote are Churchill, Thatcher and Reagan

I like to learn from wherever & whomever I can

quora.com/What-did-Maya-…

Why I even pay close attention to grand wizards

After all if after decades of research they are able to easily explain to Nadine Dorries a customs union then I should really listen to the man with all the common sense Jacob Rees Mogg

https://twitter.com/PandaScottish/status/1112610050827268096

Anyway enough on Jacob and his invocation of bagpuss

Or his Brexit dividend of five times the size of that lie on a red bus

Instead we turn this morning

To lessons from a pandemic

"In handling any crisis, it is absolutely crucial to retain credibility. Giving false reassurance is the worst thing one can do.... almost as bad as outright lying is holding information so closely that people think officials know more than they say."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22148/

And so we turn to the current pandemic

https://mobile.twitter.com/stefsimanowitz/status/1247893177505173504

And yes I know but China

China has questions to answer

But stop playing the scapegoat

Play the ball

https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1250402299815645185

nytimes.com/2020/04/16/hea…

Anyway back to the United Kingdom

A country that was “well prepared” and “followed the science” and “did the right thing at the right time”

thetimes.co.uk/article/corona…

Now

I did not vote for Boris Johnson

I would not vote for Boris Johnson

But I want him to be competent as he runs the British government

I may disagree with the policies he proposes and the effects of them

After all I want the country to level up, to ramp up and be better

In the midst of a global pandemic that has killed so far 15,464 human beings in this country alone

I want Boris Johnson, his government and his party to do well

It won’t change my vote

But it will garner my respect

For those who accuse or try to silence critique of the government by

zip it

“Aggressive” journalists

politicising a pandemic

accusing critiques of wanting deaths or exploiting deaths

For those who peddle the above

Thank you

For affirming that you cannot play the ball*

Endless repetitions of we did the right thing at the right time just show your contempt for others

And your lack of respect for yourself

Now the Sunday Times article is damning

On Boris Johnson and on his government

Now I would say this may come as a surprise

But it doesn’t

This is a natural consequence of electing as leader a man who is a lying cheating racist self serving charlatan

those who elected him leader for self, career, power amidst the cult of brexit & tumult of “normal politics” (whatever normal is) made a choice

All that remains is how they plan an exit strategy from that choice and who succeeds him to ensure continued power

A reminder

Jacob Rees Mogg prior to the election of Boris Johnson as party leader couldn’t answer yes when asked if Boris had a moral compass

Those who elected him leader & elected him Prime Minister

You knew what he was & is

Own him

Face up to him & his party

The reason I use “conservatives” is they chose to unlawfully prorogue Parliament & all else in its path

A decade of lies & racist deflection from its exploiting a global financial crash

And now it seeks to hide the culmination of the hollow con of Brexit in a global pandemic

I will wrap up with three threads (warning they do contain sub-threads)

The first on a decade of austerity

The second on Boris Johnson

And the third on the rule of law

I hope you are open to them and find them interesting whatever your political hue

https://mobile.twitter.com/pandascottish/status/1245799378339627016

https://mobile.twitter.com/pandascottish/status/1239903765446221826

https://mobile.twitter.com/PandaScottish/status/1251044564611338241

@threadreaderapp unroll please