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I'd argue that it long predates Johnson.
You can plot a trend, but there was a tipping point. It's too easy, and not very useful, to say "They all lie and they always have". Politicans (and people in general) have always been - and always will be - willing to make dodgy arguments to justify things, but the Johnson/Trump lack of shame and standards is so shocking because they displaced people who, however much we might find to criticise about them, did better.
Any set of conventions, whether it's "Mainstream Media" or the post-war consensus in most Western countries, maintains bad things alongside the good, because people are people and consensus is, by definition, what those people can manage to agree to. But over in that corner are Trump, Farage and Alex Jones; it's not the same.
Politics has probably always been about doing exactly this.
Sometimes it's about abolishing the death penalty or creating the NHS.
itsbruce-
Sometimes it's about abolishing the death penalty or creating the NHS.
Yes, good to acknowledge that good things have been done by politicians.
And I agree Johnson / Trump seem to have a psychopathic disregard for the truth which previous politicians did not - and our constitution, which assumes gentlemanly conduct, struggles to cope.
But there has always been a tendency for people to say the current politicians are not as good / honest, etc as the ones when I was younger - apparently this goes back forever.
frank9755
Yes, I agree.
I'd argue that it long predates Johnson.
Think of Thatcher and her household analogy of the economy, Cameron on how he justified austerity, reeves and Starmer now saying there isn't any money...
Politics has probably always been about doing exactly this.