Boris Johnson, Diplomat

I’ve been trying to make some sort of rational sense of this all morning. There are two rough theories which work together.  First, given the tone of her speech last night, it’s clear she’s trying to position domestic policy towards the currently unoccupied huge gaping hole in the center of British politics. This also squares with her sacking of George Osborne, which has been interpreted as an implicit rejection of austerity. Even Ed Miliband liked her speech last night:

To move to the middle ground, she needs to have her right flank secure. The right of the Conservative party in post-Referendum Britain is the Leave camp. Hence, the new job of Secretary of State for Exiting the EU goes to Leaver David Davis, the new job of Secretary of State for International Trade to fellow Leaver Liam Fox(!), and then the Foreign Secretary goes to noted diplomat Boris Johnson. It makes some rational sense to give the Leavers these jobs, almost a win-win: Brexiters in the party and electorate are placated, and as there’s no good way through Brexit, when things go south they’re lined up to take the blame for the resulting failure:

This is a high risk strategy, however, as ultimately it is May’s judgment to elevate these fall guys; she’s banking that the blame won’t rebound on her. If she pulls this all off, and the odds are on her side considering the level of attentiveness that the opposition is paying to the government at the moment, it’s easy to grow despondent about the near and mid-term chances of the Labour Party. Several events would need to occur for Labour to have a decent chance at winning an election by 2020. Labour will have to get its shit together, the economic fallout from Brexit will have to be significantly dire, and the sitting government will have to be perceived as responsible for the disaster. This is where all the Leavers at the wheel makes the May government vulnerable: the connection is easier to make. It’s also a bad plan, as all but the most cynical of us on the left sincerely hope that we somehow manage to get through the coming storm relatively unscathed in economic terms.

Back to the purported topic of the post: it does not make any sense to place Boris Johnson in that particular position. It’s something right out of the Onion. Furthermore, Gove was sacked outright. Perhaps it’s the one vaguely Brexit-related role where Boris can cause the least damage. Perhaps May’s staff were all on acid.

The State Department’s Press Secretary mostly keeps his cool, while Angela Eagle (note, right as she’s speaking about Boris) doesn’t (I have to admit to having watched that clip about six times this morning).  Following are several lists, none claiming to be comprehensive (which is likely an impossible goal), outlining the litany of countries and foreign politicians that Boris has insulted in his personal path-of-destruction: Slate, which includes this somewhat relevant gem:

During Hillary Clinton’s first run for the White House, in 2007, Johnson referred to her as “a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital,” criticizing her for embodying “purse-lipped political correctness,” and reviving a long-discredited conspiracy theory that claims she and then-President Bill Clinton conspired to murder Vince Foster, a close friend and White House aide who committed suicide in 1993.

This, which opens with the truth:

At a time when America is in a full-blown national discussion over race, our closest ally, Great Britain, has appointed a new foreign secretary (aka secretary of state), Boris Johnson, with a troubling history of racism.

The Guardian, limiting itself to only eight examples from only the past decade, and BuzzFeed doing what BuzzFeed does. This is only a sampling of the links I’ve come across this morning.

I’m left with just this: just what the hell was Theresa May thinking?