Re: Boris Johnson's persona

I was perhaps being over-tetchy. Apologies.

Just to be clear, I certainly don't share Boris' politics (except that I 
am a bit of a Left euroskeptic, a species which may be a bit scarce but 
is still not infrequently sighted by diligent birders who can move 
quietly through the underbrush). The Tory Party of Thatcher and after 
has a lot to answer for, and I'm sure Boris will be more of the 
unspeakable same.

And yes, of course his persona is carefully contrived. As far as my 
experience of politicians goes, this is the case with *all* of them -- 
except maybe Sanders, who I suspect really is exactly what he appears to 
be, namely a grouchy, excitable old Jewish alterkaker from the Bronx: 
Uncle Sid, who always gets into a raging political argument with Uncle 
Manny at the Seder.

Boris and Rees-Mogg could be said to have cultivated being a 'character' 
a bit more than most, to be sure. But then I personally find this rather 
refreshing. US politicians are less original -- they're all either 
corporate-executive or good-ole-boy or purse-mouthed Parson Thwackum. To 
the extent that electoral politics, here and in the Mother Country, is 
mostly theater, one at least appreciates a bravura performance. And a 
bit of self-parody is a thing I always like too.

On 7/31/19 3:04 AM, Mark Davidson wrote:
> I was not intending to be snide at all. If you took it that way, I
> apologise.
> 
> The 'twist in the tale' is in the last quarter of the article, so if you
> only read three-quarters of the article, you wouldn't have seen it.
> 
> When I said 'keep reading' in my original post, and when suggested you
> hadn't read down the end, I meant it literally, without being snide.
> 
> For anyone who doesn't want to read the entire article, the author
> describes how, on a subsequent occasion 18 months later, he saw Johnson
> repeat everything he said and did the entire evening down to the smallest
> detail.
> 
> Everything - from arriving at the last minute and asking for pen and paper,
> to the untidy hair, to forgetting the name of the institute, to the
> rambling jokes, and forgetting the punch line of the George Brown story -
> every single tiny detail was a standard performance.
> 
> Nothing was spontaneous. Every word and every action was part of a
> carefully designed and prepared act. There was no thinking on his feet.
> 
> This was only an after-dinner entertainment, but when we know what a superb
> actor he is, and how carefully he prepares and presents his image, then we
> have to wonder how much of what he says and does at any time is genuine.
> 
> I used the word persona - an actor's mask - deliberately.
> 
> Here's a segment of John Oliver's show on HBO where he makes a similar
> point about Johnson:
> 
> And yes, keep watching, even though it's a bit irritating, because he's
> making an important point.  :-)
> 
> https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2FdXyO_MC9g3k%3Ft%3D1m&data=02%7C01%7CCLASSICS-L%40LSV.UKY.EDU%7C34bd42e7579e4a55565408d715c6cb7f%7C2b30530b69b64457b818481cb53d42ae%7C0%7C1%7C637001815876362547&sdata=DzlwiEGy5j%2FOuOTPRy5lArBJeKx825Ivfrh03J%2FpGv4%3D&reserved=0
> 
> Mark D
>