Leadership (Lack Of)

[poliphilo]

Boris Johnson, it transpires, isn't Winston Churchill after all. We waited for his "we'll fight them on the beaches" moment and it never came- and now is too late. He's kept a low profile through the lockdown and hasn't particularly impressed us on the few occasions he's faced the cameras. None of the ministers he's put up to front for him has turned out to be Winston Churchill either. And perhaps that kind of leadership- where one person speaks to and for the nation is no longer viable. Trump attempts it (give him marks for trying) and only succeeds in widening the canyon between his lovers and his haters.

The Queen and Prince Charles- like Vladimir Putin- have retired to their dachas. Charles popped up the other day to suggest we should all volunteer to pick sprouts. Not him, of course, but everybody else who doesn't have a proper job...

Prince Harry- who has occasionally been mistaken for his namesake, Henry V- is on lockdown in California.

The Archbishop of Canterbury? Well, he shut up shop. The Pope? He seems to have done the same.

It's a curious fact that this worldwide crisis has seen a great failure in leadership. All the people elected or born to the role have stepped back (as perhaps it's right they should do.) I'm not saying I'm hungry for leadership (because I'm not) just that the absence of leadership is one of the most peculiar things about this most peculiar time. The reins are hanging loose on the horses neck- and no-one has grabbed them.

When we emerge from lockdown we may remember that we managed passably well without being inspired and chivvied...

Comments

[basefinder]

Here in the U.S. it is our state governors and city mayors that are stepping up to the leadership roles, along with the medical experts who haven't been sidelined yet.

[poliphilo]

The First Minister of Scotland has made a good impression- as has the Chancellor of the Exchequer- but no towering figure has emerged.

[chochiyo_sama]

I think some of our governors have gone way beyond the pale in their efforts to protect our states and battle the evil overlord. Governor Cuomo in New York has been more presidential in the last three months than tRump has been in three and a half years! "That woman" (as tRump called her) in Michigan has stalwartly defended her state, despite the fact that the minions of tRump have stormed her residence as well as the state capitol with guns and one group of White Power freaks have put out a call for her to be assassinated. Governor Walz, in my state of Minnesota, has been excellent, but after what has happened in Wisconsin and Michigan, he has buckled under pressure and is opening things much sooner than he really should.

I live just 15 miles down the road from a city that was on national news last night as the FIFTH most rapidly growing hot spot IN THE NATION. Yet, I know a lot of people, including a lot of relatives, who are STILL squealing that it is all a hoax and NO ONE is going to make them wear a mask!

Every morning, I turn on the TV, hoping to hear that tRump has stroked out and DIED in the night. Once again, this morning, I have been disappointed.

[poliphilo]

And if Trump dies, you get Pence...

[chochiyo_sama]

Well, my hope is that they BOTH die or become so ill that they are incapable of serving--in which case we will have President Pelosi. While she is not my ideal of a perfect president either, she is so far superior to those two worthless scumbags that I would rejoice.

[cmcmck]

I've been amazed how quiet yer darlin' Nige (Farage) has been.

Interesting, that..........

[poliphilo]

Gosh, yes; I'd forgotten he existed.