"What still puzzles some people is that so many old-fashioned Tories should have fallen for such a seedy, treacherous chancer. In fact, I think [[Boris Johnson|[Boris] Johnson]] has succeeded because of his amorality, not despite it. The transgressive sayer of the unsayable breaks through the carapace of conventional politics with a mixture of humour and vituperation, slang and high-flown rhodomontade. Clowning is part of the act for the leader who wants to reach beyond good and evil in the fashion Nietzsche recommended. A cartoon Superman? Yes, but they all are. See Charlie Chaplin, passim. How long will he last – five weeks, five years? I have no idea. All I can say is what I see. And it is not a pretty sight."
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Novelists from EnglandJournalists from EnglandMemoirists from EnglandFellows of the Royal Society of LiteraturePolitical commentators from England
Original Language: English
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Ferdinand Mount was one of 17 contributors to the LRB to reflect on the situation in Great Britain after Johnson became prime minister in summer 2019
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Mount
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Ferdinand Mount
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