The Brexit swamp

Yesterday's dismal sychophancy from Andrew Lilico has been picked up by the Sun. And people wonder why I have such a deep running contempt for most mainstream Brexiteers and bubble hacks. Very often I am subject to the snarky retort of "who do you actually like then Pete?". And the answer to that is, as yet, no-one.

None of these people are prepared to do the homework, none of these people are ever prepared to admit their faults and none of them have the integrity to confront reality. Of the few hacks who do raise useful issues there is always a twist or a bit of cynical manipulation weaved in, which is why I detest Ian Dunt and his acolytes. Is a bit of intellectual honesty too much to ask?

There is a wealth of knowledge available to anyone who cares to look, and in most cases all you  have to do is read the actual agreements to dispel much of the mythology yet these people do not. John Redwood has built a reality of his own and the Toryboys continue to belch out lie after lie to bring about their wet dream hard Brexit. Then there are the shysters and the frauds like Shanker Singham.

These people are chancers and thieves on the make, and in so doing, because they have exposure, are playing dangerous and damaging games with the nation's future. 

So yes, I very strongly dislike these people, what they are doing and the games they play. I despise the way they act as gatekeepers to bogus narratives, fiercely fending off the truth. I hate the tribalism and I loathe the incompetence. It's underhanded and it's sickening.

The debate is already stricken by a poverty of knowledge without such people introducing falsehoods of their own, often wilfully. If that then drives me to a state of rage where I lose all dignity then it's because I do actually care what happens when many of these bloodsuckers will never admit their part in creating the unfolding crisis of competence.

It's easy to get things wrong, and god knows I have some egregious examples on this very blog, but the purpose of being in this game is to get closer to the truth, not to promote or defend lies. These people won't defend their ideas. They instead hide behind their iron curtain, deep within the bubble, using their supporters as attack dogs, spreading gossip and innuendo in place of honest debate.

I could understand it if these people were entirely thick but many of them aren't. Many of them by now know full well there is more to Brexit than what was immediately apparent to them. They would rather keep their readers and supporters in the dark than to come clean. Any lie will do to that end.

So yes, if I lose my shit, it's because I can barely name a single person in this game approaching it with integrity. If I now do little else but pump out venom it's because the dismal nostrums they spout cannot be adequately refuted on a medium like Twitter or Facebook. There are only so many hours in the day and I can't blog everything. If you find that I am toxic, it's a lot to do with the swamp I'm wading in. It stinks.