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Great article, thank you. As for BoJo, he is smart as a fox. Trump is the same. They make 1-2 stupid things, so people call them stupid. On the back side they

Great article, thank you. As for BoJo, he is smart as a fox. Trump is the same. They make 1-2 stupid things, so people call them stupid. On the back side they scheme and plan. Haters see the stupid actions and hate. They play a game of chess, sacrificing a pawn (some 'credibility' by saying something stupid), and while people are getting tired of their artificial stupidity, they march on doing their thing left alone. Someone who managed to be the mayor of London, then get in the Parliament, then managing to be in the top 2 candidates for Prime Minister, have a net worth of a couple of million (of the £€$ we know), he CANNOT be THAT stupid. He plays the game and he's winning. I don't like the man. But I don't like him because I don't like his policies, his ideas, and I don't like Brexit. But as a politician/player, he's rocking this game. People who think Boris is stupid, are completely missing it. He is like Varoufakis. He sees an opportunity and grabs it. Maybe the 'bet' will pay off, maybe it will not. But: Mayor of London --> Minister of "Foreign Affairs" --> Prime Minister.. I call that an intelligent human being.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago
You're aware of what a complete cock up he made of his entire time as Foreign Secretary?
- MagnumOpus 7y ago
  Bring smart is not the same as being well-prepared, diligent, conscientious, tactful or having your constituents' best interest at heart. You don't get to be King's Scholar at Eton being a buffoon.
  - onion2k 7y ago
    You don't get to be King's Scholar at Eton being a buffoon OK, so he's a clever buffoon.
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Buffoon is pretty much exactly what I took from the fairly well known interview with Eton's former headmaster speaking about Johnson's time there.
  - ionised 7y ago
    > You don't get to be King's Scholar at Eton being a buffoon. No, you get it by hereditary wealth, connections and nepotism.
- grey-area 7y ago
  You're aware of what a complete cock up he made of his entire time as Foreign Secretary? He has correctly calculated that he doesn't have to actually do good work to become prime minister. It all starts to make sense when you realise he has no morals and very little interest in the outcome for the country or other people, only for himself.
  - NeedMoreTea 7y ago
    Most certainly, given the electorate who will put him in that place. It's Brexit über alles in der Welt. Not sure how that puts the longer term prospects of the party.
kristiandupont 7y ago
I am not sure about Boris, but I am 100% certain that the narrative about Trump playing 4D chess is bullshit. I believe that George Bush may have had a persona to some degree (https://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/ https://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/) because it pays off to speak like a man of the people. But everyone who's worked with Donald Trump and spoken out afterwards tell the same story about how utterly stupid he is. In Denmark, we once elected a comedian into parliament. He won on promises like "more sunshine" and "bigger christmas presents". People loved it because it was fun and a bit of a finger to the boring, smooth politicians that they usually saw. I guess you could argue that he is smart in that he was able to win the crowd, but what I take away from that is more that the crowd is fickle and will go with (and push) a trend or a fad if it looks fun or supports their anger.
- coldtea 7y ago
  >I am not sure about Boris, but I am 100% certain that the narrative about Trump playing 4D chess is bullshit. Compared to the narrative that a person who could run several multi-billion dollar businesses, negotiate deals all around the world, get back from bankruptcy (even if it was with cunning and winning banking favors) and play the media to become President is stupid?
  - mikeymz 7y ago
    You are missing the subtext of that narrative - Trump did none of those things. People around him and behind him are responsible. I'm not saying that is true (probably is) but it explains how a dullard with his dad's cash can achieve what he has.
    - coldtea 7y ago
      All billionaires have an army of support. Even if Trump didn't handle the details, he was still on the forefront on high end deals, not sitting in the back and letting some CEOs do them (which many heirs do). Lots of dullards with dad's cash just spent it on women and booze or lose everything, Trump kept it (if he didn't increase it, considering the bankruptcies and re-emergences) and made his name a kind of brand. He is not gracious or polished (he's an American businessman after all, that's par for the course), but he does have the P.T Barnum kind of spirit (which is not exactly that of the dullard). And even if we forget the business thing (say he had zero accomplishments there). The elections thing, he did mostly by himself. He obliterated opponents and won voters (including from his own party) starting from zero, when media and pundits gave him zero chances. Could you or me?
js8 7y ago
> he CANNOT be THAT stupid I think you're underestimating the role of luck in success.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago

You're aware of what a complete cock up he made of his entire time as Foreign Secretary?

MagnumOpus 7y ago
Bring smart is not the same as being well-prepared, diligent, conscientious, tactful or having your constituents' best interest at heart. You don't get to be King's Scholar at Eton being a buffoon.
- onion2k 7y ago
  You don't get to be King's Scholar at Eton being a buffoon OK, so he's a clever buffoon.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Buffoon is pretty much exactly what I took from the fairly well known interview with Eton's former headmaster speaking about Johnson's time there.
- ionised 7y ago
  > You don't get to be King's Scholar at Eton being a buffoon. No, you get it by hereditary wealth, connections and nepotism.
grey-area 7y ago
You're aware of what a complete cock up he made of his entire time as Foreign Secretary? He has correctly calculated that he doesn't have to actually do good work to become prime minister. It all starts to make sense when you realise he has no morals and very little interest in the outcome for the country or other people, only for himself.
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
  Most certainly, given the electorate who will put him in that place. It's Brexit über alles in der Welt. Not sure how that puts the longer term prospects of the party.

kristiandupont 7y ago

I am not sure about Boris, but I am 100% certain that the narrative about Trump playing 4D chess is bullshit. I believe that George Bush may have had a persona to some degree (https://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/ https://keithhennessey.com/2013/04/24/smarter/) because it pays off to speak like a man of the people. But everyone who's worked with Donald Trump and spoken out afterwards tell the same story about how utterly stupid he is. In Denmark, we once elected a comedian into parliament. He won on promises like "more sunshine" and "bigger christmas presents". People loved it because it was fun and a bit of a finger to the boring, smooth politicians that they usually saw. I guess you could argue that he is smart in that he was able to win the crowd, but what I take away from that is more that the crowd is fickle and will go with (and push) a trend or a fad if it looks fun or supports their anger.

coldtea 7y ago
>I am not sure about Boris, but I am 100% certain that the narrative about Trump playing 4D chess is bullshit. Compared to the narrative that a person who could run several multi-billion dollar businesses, negotiate deals all around the world, get back from bankruptcy (even if it was with cunning and winning banking favors) and play the media to become President is stupid?
- mikeymz 7y ago
  You are missing the subtext of that narrative - Trump did none of those things. People around him and behind him are responsible. I'm not saying that is true (probably is) but it explains how a dullard with his dad's cash can achieve what he has.
  - coldtea 7y ago
    All billionaires have an army of support. Even if Trump didn't handle the details, he was still on the forefront on high end deals, not sitting in the back and letting some CEOs do them (which many heirs do). Lots of dullards with dad's cash just spent it on women and booze or lose everything, Trump kept it (if he didn't increase it, considering the bankruptcies and re-emergences) and made his name a kind of brand. He is not gracious or polished (he's an American businessman after all, that's par for the course), but he does have the P.T Barnum kind of spirit (which is not exactly that of the dullard). And even if we forget the business thing (say he had zero accomplishments there). The elections thing, he did mostly by himself. He obliterated opponents and won voters (including from his own party) starting from zero, when media and pundits gave him zero chances. Could you or me?

js8 7y ago

> he CANNOT be THAT stupid I think you're underestimating the role of luck in success.