boris johnson world cup
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was today 'quizzed' by the British parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the Skripal spy poisoning scandal. Fielding the tamest 'questions' you'll ever hear asked of the foreign minister of a nuclear weapon-possessing government that is arguably on a war-footing with a major nuclear power, the round table wasn't so much an inquiry as a quarry of quislings grandstanding for the cameras.

While one committee member lamented Russia's wilful campaign of "destroying the ties that bind" (the inglorious Western Order formerly known as the British Empire), Boris Johnson agreed with another's suggestion that Russia hosting the World Cup is tantamount to Hitler hosting the Olympics in 1936:
"I think the comparison with 1936 is certainly right. It is an emetic prospect to think of Putin glorifying in this sporting event."
(An emetic is something which causes vomiting.)

This, precisely, is why the anglo-Americans have been going after Russia in the sporting arena since the Sochi Winter Olympics of 2014: just the thought of Russia being seen as another normal country, and thus 'enjoying' the cross-cultural benefits of same, literally makes them vomit.

That is why they pushed a media campaign to ridicule the facilities at Sochi (which were so impeccable, the worst complaint they could find was a single dodgy toilet arrangement); that is why they began targeting Russian athletes and sports stars in 2015, beginning with tennis star Maria Sharapova; that is why they successfully maneuvered (through blackmail and bribery, presumably) the IOC and other sporting bodies to ban Russian athletes from participating at the 2016 Summer Olympics; that is why, when a repeat of that tactic failed ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics, they settled for banning Russian athletes from making any displays of patriotism; that is why, when a few of the medal-winning Russian athletes did attract some media attention in PyeongChang, their limited success had to be tarnished with what were most likely sabotaged or faked positive doping test results.

Johnson's comparison with 1936 Germany is, by the way, darkly ironic: back then, British and American dignitaries had a grand old time watching their country's athletes perform at Hitler's Olympics, even though the Führer had already declared Jews, gays, gypsies, Slavs, and blacks untermensch. And also by the way, Russia (then the USSR) was the only country on Earth* to boycott the Nazi Olympics. Yes, there were brief campaigns to boycott the event, but these were organized by dissidents in the US and UK. The Anglo-American Establishment would have none of it, and sent their athletes to Germany, gifting Hitler all the glory he wanted.

[* Technically, Spain did too. It had momentarily left the orbit of the 'Western Order' following recent elections in which a popular leftist anti-establishment government came to power, only to be plunged into bloody civil war by the fascist Franco - just as the Berlin Games began, in fact.]

And all of that is to say nothing of the extremely inflammatory insult of comparing the Russian leader with Hitler. Russia, the country that saved Europe from Hitler and Churchill's mad war. Oops, don't mention the (other belligerent of the) war!

Here's Boris the Toffee-nosed plonker making his outrageous statement:


This time, however, it's not about Russian participation at the Olympics: it's about Russia hosting the football World Cup - the preeminent sporting event (by popularity) on Earth. We're talking up to 2 million extra tourists visiting the country, with world media trained on Russia for a month, giving it an invaluable opportunity to counter the West's web of lies and demonstrate how far the country has come under Putin.

The question that is clearly on the British Security Services' mind was put to Johnson by a lackey Labour MP at today's committee: why has England's World Cup team not yet been pulled from the tournament? Johnson replied, "It would be wrong to punish the team." He knows too well that to do so would be pushing the matter too far with the public: football is religion to a lot of people, and not just in the UK.

However, it's early days yet. The British establishment may be angling to develop the situation to that point. Look out for another false-flag outrage - or perhaps just a string of minor incidents combined with persistent propaganda - whatever provides 'just cause' for doing exactly that. I suspect, however, that Her Majesty's Government would not withdraw the English team alone: they would only do it if at least a couple of other high-profile national, and preferably western European, football teams - like France and Germany - join them.

Johnson then pointed the finger unequivocally at Russia over the Skripal incident, telling the Foreign Affairs Committee that "No one can escape the long arm of Russian revenge," which is quite a statement if you read it in reverse... No one can escape the long arm of British/Anglo-American revenge.

Responding to criticism that 'Novichok' is a ridiculous substance for the Russian government to use to assassinate someone given its associations, Johnson proffered an inane theory of Russian 'strategic planning':
"Putting a Russian signature on the deed by using a specific type of nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, in Russia, was a sign that no former Russian agent was immune."
At this point, you just want to borrow the Defence Secretary's words and tell Boris to "shut up and go away." It is complete nonsense that Russia would have to make such a flagrantly public threat to convince its former agents that harming Russian interests comes with a price. Such people (and most of the public) understand this very clearly already. Bobble-head Boris is bellowing BS, and even he knows it.

Regarding the timing of the attack, Johnson again donned his tinfoil hat to claim that it was likely linked to last weekend's Russian presidential election:
"The timing [of the Salisbury incident] is probably more closely connected with the recent election in Russia. And as many non-democratic figures do when facing an election or facing some critical political moment, it is often attractive to conjure up in the public imagination the notion of an enemy."
Yes, this is the way certain types in Her Majesty's Government operate - as we saw with the spate of terror attacks in the run-up to the 2017 UK election - but it only works so long as the injury is done to you. Here - Johnson would have us believe - uniquely Russian 'strategic planning' means that it is Putin supposedly hoping to gain by committing the injury on someone else!

Johnson stressed this point that the 'chemical attack' was not meant for foreign audiences, but as a show of strength for his audience at home:
"I think Vladimir Putin... wants to cause trouble wherever he can. His principle audience for this is not us, it's his domestic audience who want - after what they see as all these humiliations - who want to feel that Russia is strong again."
A more racist and russophobic statement you will be hard-pressed to find. Between the lines, bilious Boris is saying, "Russians are so atavistic that their principles are reversed: whereas here, in Civilized England, the government committing a heinous deed abroad would reflect badly on us; over there, among the barbarians of the Despotic East, doing so earns the leadership kudos with his people."

Despite his extremely inflammatory statements today - which were mere insult added to injury following an entire week of extremely inflammatory statements from him and his colleagues - Johnson concluded:
"I want to be very clear - we do not wish to engage in a new Cold War... I remember the old Cold War and it was a pretty miserable time. I grew up genuinely worrying that our country was going to be evaporated in a thermonuclear strike. I don't think we face that kind of existential threat but it is a threat nonetheless and we have to be very tough and very resolute."
The UK - as currently constituted - does in fact face a kind of 'existential threat', only it has nothing to do with Russia threatening it with thermonuclear annihilation. The 'threat' Boris and his ilk face is the internal threat of 'cataclysmic' regime change in the UK - either in the form of a Corbyn government in the near-term, or - with Scottish independence and Irish reunification breathing down their necks - the collapse of the United Kingdom in the medium-term.

In league with their American and European counterparts, the British 'establishment' is using tired old tropes of 'deadly threats from the bad guy' in a desperate attempt to justify their own positions of power and corral public awareness towards an ever finer order of control. It's a futile endeavor, but try they must.

So prepare yourselves for more installments in this tale, told most recently by a veritable bungling idiot, full of sound and fury, ultimately signifying nothing.