Good news and bad news

[fpb]

Good news: the degenerate, "progressive" pseudo-left, which has long since forgotten its roots in the working class and attached themselves to a raft of middle-class obsession, has been finally rejected by the electorate. This would be especially good news if a few people started thinking on why real people are no longer interested in their raft of causes-of-the-day and sexual obsessions. Bad news: their collapse has let in the extreme right, which is now a power in the EU Parliament. I have frequently said that Nick Griffin is the smartest political leader in Britain, and that that is not a very high compliment since the rest of them have all the insight of the average porcelain bowl; but the political establishment is making things easy for him. The British top table has forgotten its time-honoured tactics for dealing with dangerous outsiders. They all have the vapours about him, treat him disgracefully, publicly insult him, and generally treat him like a pariah. The result: he comes across as a national figure and the genuine Leader of the Opposition. If they dealt with him as they always dealt with - aggressive Catholics, Irish leaders, rebellious trades unionists, square pegs of every kind and origin - by being carefully polite and inviting him into the club, he would probably lose half his interest. That was how Fascist and Communist leaders were defanged in post-war Italy. On the other hand, every bit of rudeness he suffers is worth extra votes from people raised, consciously or unconsciously, in the cult of fair play, and who instinctively revolt against obvious prejudice - however well deserved.

Comments

[stigandnasty919.livejournal.com]

I've always thought that the 'liberal' habit of declaring some arguments "beyond the pale" and refusing to allow them to be spoken was counter productive.

If we are so certain of our stance against racism or sexism or sectarianism, then should we not be prepared to take on the argument?

By refusing to allow the BNP to speak, we open ourselves up to the charge that their is a conspiracy to silence them. And also to a charge of hypocrisy. We either believe in free speech, or we don't.

But then you just said that.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Having been brought up in Italian traditions, of course this is the very reverse of my definition of "liberal", and it took me some effort to get used to the American version. Indeed, I still much prefer to use "progressive" - an odious, self-righteous term, summing up a multitude of errors, which I could abuse with a clear conscience. And I wish that English would adopt the powerful, meaningful Italian word of condemnation and defiance - "liberticida". Merely to be able to say in someone's face that some behaviour, attitude or statement is "liberticidal" or freedom-killing, would keep us safe from many dangers.