Good to laugh at post-truth populists. But as myself & incomparable @CR_OBrien wrote of their Brexit tactics: goal isn't to convince anyone to *believe* their lies; it's to make people feel there is no such thing as "truth" anymore = even more dangerous

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3450671

Today's antics fit that bill perfectly. Cummings tells obvious pack of lies. Johnson says it's all perfectly plausible. Tory minions bleat that it's a media witchhunt. Reality is made to feel blurry. Facts are less important than feelings. "They're all as bad as each other."

Subjectivising fact and evidence, blurring the boundary between truth and lies, making the population cynical and disengaged: that's how the Trumps, Orbans, Bolsonaros and Johnsons wield their power. It's good for a laugh. But it's also a serious threat to our liberal democracy.