Grim days with a gaslighting prime minister

Last night, Theresa May took to her podium at 10 Downing Street to lecture The People™ about what The People™ were thinking and feeling and to blame MPs in Parliament for the fact that she and her two governments have done fuck all to pursue a path to a relatively sane Brexit for over two years ("relatively" is doing a lot of heavy lifting there).

It's been pointed out elsewhere that it's a mystery how May would know what The People™ are thinking since she's too shy to actually meet any but a select few for fleeting periods in tightly regulated out-of-the-way venues. She's never shown any sign of empathy according to those who've ever had dealings with her, so when she talks about "the mood of the country", she's discussing the voices in her own head.

Last night, she chose to prolong her dangerous game by blaming MPs - a number of whom have already been receiving threats over Brexit - for the dire situation we're in and for not compromising by going along with whatever she wants.

Today, Speaker John Bercow was driven to address the House to clarify that MPs generally aren't "traitors" (there are a couple I'd quibble with him about that, but he's taking the high ground when I'm less and less inclined to do so):

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The Leader of the House, the repulsive Angela Leadsom, took to her trotters a few minutes later to express her leadership by telling him that he hadn't "raised the level", whatever that means. He was having none of it:

Link to tweet

May's conduct - doubled down on by Leadsom - has infuriated the very people she needed to persuade to her point of view, the MPs in Parliament on both sides of the House. There's no point in her addressing The People™ if she's going to deny The People™ a voice in this argument, either through a second referendum or another general election, and rely instead on her warped interpretation of a dodgy jumped-up opinion poll from nearly three years ago.

If May's not careful, it won't be a case of her being ousted by a parliamentary coup or choosing to duck out once she's achieved her ambitions, there'll be staff in white coats chasing her round Downing Street with butterfly nets, and not before time.