Boris Johnson on Liberalism
[Headlines from DRJ]
Daily Mail — ‘If we want to uphold liberal values, we must leave by October 31 – and we will’: Boris Johnson blasts Putin over his attacks on the West and claim liberalism has become ‘obsolete’:
Boris Johnson lashed out at Russian President Vladimir Putin today over his claim that liberalism is dead.
The would-be PM delivered a furious retort, saying Britain was the best modern example of the ‘triumph of liberal values’.
He also insisted the best way of upholding liberalism was to honour the referendum result from 2016 and leave the EU by Halloween.
In an interview before the G20 summit in Japan, Mr Putin said ‘the liberal idea has become obsolete’, jibing that it now conflicts with the interests of the majority.
Johnson combined a defense of British liberalism with criticism of Putin’s Russia:
The former foreign secretary Mr Johnson praised Britain for successfully marrying democracy and the rule of law – as well as describing the UK as a world leader in technology, culture and financial services.
‘The country that possesses these essential building blocks of liberalism will succeed; the country without them will – eventually – face disaster,’ Mr Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
‘I don’t want to put too fine a point on it, Vladimir, but there are some countries where capitalism is believed to be in the hands of oligarchs and cronies, where journalists are shot, and where ‘liberal values’ are derided… and where real incomes have declined for each of the past five years.’
Mr Johnson told a Conservative leadership hustings in Exeter on Friday that the Russian President was ‘totally wrong’.
I think this is a link to Putin’s “liberalism has outlived its purpose” interview, which was conducted by the Financial Times in the Kremlin and published June 27, 2019.
— DRJ
Well, that’s nice Boris. So what does all this “pushback” affect the real world? Besides, making people feel better. Is Boris going to lecture the President of China? He’s a communist.
rcocean (1a839e) — 7/1/2019 @ 7:20 am“In an interview before the G20 summit in Japan, Mr Putin said ‘the liberal idea has become obsolete’, jibing that it now conflicts with the interests of the majority.“
Boy – he’d fit right in that clown car.
harkin (0db537) — 7/1/2019 @ 7:21 am_
Strength matters more than ideas and values, right?
DRJ (15874d) — 7/1/2019 @ 7:23 amI don’t haven’t been a fan of BoJo but that statement is a good one.
Nathan (5efffe) — 7/1/2019 @ 7:54 amRussian trolls were in favor of Brexit in 2016.
Sammy Finkelman (0d0ca8) — 7/1/2019 @ 7:58 am“Strength matters more than ideas and values, right?”
DRJ (15874d) — 7/1/2019 @ 7:23 am
More like results matter more than gab. Boris might make a fine NeverTrumper.
Munroe (cc4877) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:17 amIf you had told me in 2015 that much of the GOP would be in thrall to the wisdom of an ex-KGB Russian dictator, I would have laughed.
Just, wow, there Munroe and rcocean…I wish you weren’t typical of the GOP base, but you really are.
Appalled (d07ae6) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:25 amLol wut?
There’s as much Putin enthrallment in the Weekly Advertiser thrown on my driveway last week.
harkin (0db537) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:34 am_
The UK where street preachers are arrested, where knife attacks are nightly, where free speech is a selective thing, look at Ben judah eye opening look at the cosmopolitan London, btw that’s where milkshaking started.
Narciso (f0d08f) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:35 am“Just, wow, there Munroe”
Appalled (d07ae6) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:25 am
I think there’s a blog rule here against attributing positions to a commenter that they never expressed, inconsistently enforced.
I interpreted DRJ’s comment as a dig at Trump. Perhaps I misunderstood that, as you did my response.
As for Putin, my distaste for him doesn’t end with with an affinity for his underhanded domestic tactics against political opponents, unlike some who comment here.
Munroe (e801a4) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:35 amMunroe —
I don’t see the dig at Trump in DRJ’s post. He’s not mentioned.
If you don’t agree with Putin’s statments, I will take you at your word. However, I think you do fall into the category of anti-anti Putin. Otherwise, what was the never-trump reference was all about?
Appalled (d07ae6) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:41 amGiven that at least half of Britain despises him as a clown, and there’s a good chance that Brexit will put a serious dent in its position as a leader in technology and finance, it’s nice to see that Boris understands what western liberalism is, unlike a certain POTUS.
Kishnevi (2cd130) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:45 amMore like results matter more than gab.
Correct. Trump is big on gab and low on results. So wanting more results and less gab is antiTrump.
And if you ever get a chance to insert some of your views of Putin into Trump’s brain, the world will be quite grateful.
Kishnevi (2cd130) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:50 am“I think you do fall into the category of anti-anti Putin. Otherwise, what was the never-trump reference was all about?”
Appalled (d07ae6) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:41 am
No, I’m anti-Putin in totality, not halfway. I dislike him and his ideology, as well as Putinesque tactics against political opponents. NeverTrump has shown little concern, if any, about the latter.
Munroe (09eb19) — 7/1/2019 @ 8:55 amoh and going after british soldiers after 45 years, but giving the ira a free hand, I’m on team boris as well, may had gove take him out, house of cards style, but one might wonder whether in 2022, anything will have measurably changed, the alternative is stb’s boy Corbyn,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:03 amNeverTrump has shown little concern, if any, about the latter.
That is on the face of it so wildly wrong I have to assume what you mean by NeverTrump is not what most people mean by NeverTrump.
Kishnevi (2cd130) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:10 am“Liberal” in Europe means “neither Socialist nor Fascist”.
nk (dbc370) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:16 amYou are incorrect. You are the one who injected Trump into this conversation. I am comparing leaders in Britain and Russia, and their respective views of the virtue/worth of Western liberal values.
I hope you can stop being so sensitive about Trump. I voted for him but that doesn’t mean I have to support everything he says and does. I support the good things and criticize things I don’t like. That is American. Anything less is Putinesque.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:21 amThere are instructive parallels between two recent posts here.
Journalists bash Trump over perceived threats to press freedom, but when a “right-leaning provocateur” reporter is assaulted gestapo style… almost total silence.
NeverTrump bashes Trump about his “love” for an authoritarian dictator, but when Putin’s authoritarian tactics get employed against an American politician they don’t like… almost total silence.
Own it.
Munroe (df9855) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:22 amEuropean views are different than American views, just as we Texans see things different than you folks in Illinois. But the English had Edmund Burke, the father of conservatism, and I bet there are a few others there.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:26 amI own my criticism of Trump. That does not make me NeverTrump, does it?
DRJ (15874d) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:27 amthree years of a supposedly tory regime, with the very wet, Theresa may, and her mini me, amber rudd, have yielded practically nil, well the metropolitan police is on the case about katie Hopkins, but otherwise,
narciso (d1f714) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:34 amAppalled was surprised at your opinion and accepted your correction to his understanding. That is consistent with the commenting rules.
Similarly, you should acknowledge my statement that I am not Never Trump and, in the future, frame your comments consistent with that understanding.
DRJ (15874d) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:40 amit’s in keeping with Edmund burke’s kangaroo impeachment of warren hastings,
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2019/06/28/insinuendo_why_the_muller_report_doth_repeat_so_much_.html
narciso (d1f714) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:48 am“Similarly, you should acknowledge my statement that I am not Never Trump and, in the future, frame your comments consistent with that understanding.”
DRJ (15874d) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:40 am
I accept your statement in totality. I didn’t call you NeverTrump. If you interpreted it that way, I could’ve used better prose, and I apologize to you DRJ for that.
Munroe (ba3627) — 7/1/2019 @ 9:52 amAs for Putin, he’s a jumped-up KGB agent. Half thug and half bureaucrat. Of course he’d sneer at Western Liberalism.
nk (dbc370) — 7/1/2019 @ 10:00 amMy, what a heel; are those snazzy, polished Florsheim’s on Vlad elevator shoes?!?!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 7/1/2019 @ 10:18 amI’ve given plenty of examples, where liberalism is nothing like what is being presented, when cambridge analytics was destroyed for offering an alternative
Narciso (f0d08f) — 7/1/2019 @ 10:22 am