As of last weekend, I am apparently an “Islamist apologist”. I’ve “lost the plot”. I am, of course, “controlled opposition”. How did this transformation happen?
I have indeed upgraded my subscription after reading this. Nuance is the thing that is badly lacking amongst most free speech advocates, with both left and right taking polarised positions. Plus Anderson's comments were clearly lunacy. If he were truly being 'controlled by Islamists' Khan would never have introduced ULEZ. I don't think I have ever spoken to a single Muslim who supports the scheme!
I have followed your excellent example! Having pondered for far too long; enjoyed KK's work immensely and found him to be an oasis of clear thinking and common sense I can no longer resist!
Agree with that. I work in a diverse London office and everyone hates Khan, including my Muslim colleagues. This is over things like ULEZ, weak on crime and his inability to confront criticism.
It's kind of amusing that a mere couple of weeks after he named an overground line after the Suffragettes Anderson accused him of being an Islamic Fundamentalist, those people who are famously so enthusiastic about women having the vote...
Seems a sensible approach to me. No point poking a hornet's nest at the best of times. The problem is not (only) one faction but a whole section of society that won't discuss complex issues in a civil forum - which is the esssense of civilization.
One thing that the French have over almost all of the rest of Western Europe is that they still have a very strong sense of French-ness. Even the elite liberals largely believe in French culture. This makes them total assholes in many ways, but it also gives them a clear view of what is and what is not in the interest of France. That is why they can have the deportation laws they do.
People in the UK used to have a similar smug sense of superiority, which made them assholes in some instances. But it kept Britain Britain. The UK will never have such deportation laws as France until it recovers that pride of culture it seems to have lost in the last 40 years.
I also upgraded to paid after reading this. Sadiq Khan is like a parody of a 21st-century, liberal/authoritarian, western metropolitan politician. He's a lot of things but an Islamic fundamentalist he certainly aint. The really sad thing to have witnessed in recent years is how the very online right are becoming just as shrill, hyperbolic, intolerant of dissent and, dare I say it, 'snowflakey' as the very online left.
Weak minds means weak politicians KK, you know that and you saw it coming as I did, as you saw the unavoidable sqeals of betrayal for stating what should be the obvious, thus proving that a lot of "movements" are still the same tribalistic coin with two sides as always in history.
I'd never thought I'd see the French going trough with such legislation, still, I cannot imagine us in the UK even talking about the same...
Macron knows he needs to guard his right flank against Rassemblement Nationale and the bill was passed with their support in the French parliament, where they are the largest party. As long as we have a first-past-the-post system I think you're right that it's very unlikely that the same thing could happen here. It's going to be interesting to see how many other European countries follow France's lead over the next few years if nationalist/populist parties continue their recent successes.
I was amazed when they were talking about banning Afd, as if that's somehow going to make all the disillusionment and anger with established political parties that is fuelling their rise just go away. It's even worse in Ireland, where local communities who object to large numbers of migrants suddenly being dumped on them are smeared by those in government as 'far right', even though the country has almost no tradition of right-wing politics of any description. If you try to force a lid on something that's boiling over all it means is that in the end it will blow up even harder.
They haven't banned AfD, just a lot of what they say... And sent cops to bit the living shit out of them and the farmers protesting alongside them...
AfD is Right, very right, but they're not racial about it, for them, at least what they say if you know Deutsch, - bißt du Deutch? Are you German? That's all that matters, integrate, obey the law, contribute, don't leech social welfare etc...
They're saying what the population needs, of course there'll be abuse of that as well, and it's potentially dangerous for the future... But this is what it came to.
Of course, it always has been... Germans are a bit different though, people forget that half of Berlin, was USSR, and a lot, most of their "ruling class" was or is enamoured with that left, Merkel spoke Russian...
Their left is brutal and efficient and almost religious for them. Everyone unaligned to them smack immediately of sympathising nacism etc., and the response is violent as any heresy in a religion.
And those now rule.
While the public endures the consequences of their policies. And Germans can endure a lot.
Sadly this shows two problems: First, that too many politicians prefer posturing and "clicks" to trying to address very serious problems. Second, that too many of us see political and social issues like football (US: soccer). It's "my team, right or wrong". You are not supposed to stray even an inch from the accepted orthodoxy of your side. But there are also those who have learnt to trust you, and will listen and think when you say something they disagree with. That's your most important audience. At least that's what I think about whenever I write JuST THINK. So, keep going.
Today's newspaper headlines "Are the Tories Islamophobic" sums it up as the media and political classes indulge in mass delusion as displacement activity from allowing the barbarians through the gates whilst they held them open.
This has been allowed by the idiocy of Anderson. It allowed Khan to joyfully call him a racist and paint the Tories as a bunch of racists.
If the Tories had any sense and political nous (spoiler - they don't) they would have condemned the marches as pro-Hamas and anti-semitic. Demanded the Met stop them causing an almighty row with the Met (good). Demanded Labour also condemn the marches as pro-Hamas/pro-terrorist and anti-semitic. Cue Labour meltdown.
They could have made this a serious election issue. Instead they have wrung their hands and the likes of the not-very-conservative Tobias Ellwood is speaking lefty-liberal-doublespeak in the vacuum. Pathetic.
The last "opportunity to have a serious national conversation about Islamism" passed us by at least a decade ago. The political activists that cosplay each day as politicians, civil servants, regulators, judges, lawyers, clergymen, journalists, trade unionists, teachers, policemen and senior military marched through our institutions some time ago, and have no intention of allowing anything like that.
Even their dupes "are so dependent, so hopelessly inured to the system that they will fight to protect it"
All we can do now is speak the truth boldly and plainly and take our punishment beatings, and thus force the monsters to reveal themselves.
As an American, I truly hope for the sake of my country that we follow the French and start filling up planes of those who have jumped the line in front of those who truly love American and respect its laws.
I agree. We can’t fall into the use of hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims. Even though Sadiq Khan does have form (he is on film referring to moderate Muslims as “Uncle Toms’’ when he was a lawyer defending Islamists) it is nevertheless counterproductive to make the kind of vague claim that Khan is basically selling London to.his ‘mates’. It’s unnecessary, unprovable and allows the islamists and all their intersectionally useful idiots to conjure up more clickbait about ‘right-wing swivel-eyed loons’ etc that the media so love to justify their craven, snivelling cowardice.
I take your point and calling you an apologist, wet or weak is, frankly, idiotic. His comment was stupid because it was technically inaccurate. But I don’t believe an apology would have helped. More likely it would have made things worse simply because his critics on the left are not acting in good faith. They would’ve killed him and demanded his suspension anyway. His critics in the Party are in fact weak and we and may very well have folded anyway had he apologised. His statement from today, admitting the “clumsiness” of his words yet doubling down by calling out Khan’s vile hypocrisy and double standards was in my view the better approach. It would’ve have been better yet were it forthcoming on Saturday as he’d intended but sadly the politically braindead, weak, wet and useless Party apparatus blocked it
All this demonstrates is the effect of argument and rhetoric.
Once upon a time, when arguing politics or anything else, the assumption was always that your opponent is a civilized, well-intended person until he demonstrates otherwise with his actions. You could curse, insult, disparage opponents, call for their public horsewhipping, and everyone understood that on the field of battle one adopts a belligerent attitude and offstage we get along just fine, even if the guy called your mother a slut and you a sonofabitch.
I also believe that the distance and isolation of electronic communication, and the ease at which hot takes can be broadcast around the world on X and the like makes people get more aggressive than they might be in person.
So I, along with you, take the insults with about a metric ton of salt.
And for god's sake you Britishers need to get control of your perimeter or risk places like Birmingham becoming Islamic Sharia zones ruled by the Surahs and not by English common law.
I don't think wednesday's debacle would've ever been clearly addressed, or that there's the will to hammer out anything meaningful from inside the House. If they do evict the speaker, then any debate that follow's will be upon the path of least resistance, with squabbling and grandstanding in spades.
LA has stated his words to be clumsy and borne out of frustration - due to the abject failures of the Mayor. Well, since betting on the Conservative party to win at the upcoming ballet box gets such good odds, I don't think he's lost out on that one - most of the country didn't have a clue about the speakers actions and dismissed it, but they see the protests, the change in the capital, the boats and inaction - and they might see LA nailed up for his actions too. It's going to take a lot to motivate change in this country, and most of it is going to be messy.
Whilst I agree with what you are saying and I do believe that there are better ways of going about this, do you honestly think that the UK will ever instigate what the French have successfully implemented. Lee spouted some misdirected words, which as you say would have been more useful if directed at Wednesdays trouble, but I think a lot of us know, there will be no actions regarding the real issue.
I remember you raising a similar issue a while ago in that a lot of people opposed to woke views and the like will “oppose the current thing” because either woke/mainstream figures are pro it. I think the defenders of Lee Anderson are a reflection of that. I’ve seen this become more prominent recently with opposition to continued support for Ukraine coming from this element too.
We also need to be more aware of the impact people like Lee Anderson and other figures such as Calvin Robinson and Laurence Fox have on our discourse. It’s like that scene in The Simpsons where Homer’s colleagues are all watching him, waiting for him “to do something stupid”. All too often they end up doing just that to our detriment.
I have indeed upgraded my subscription after reading this. Nuance is the thing that is badly lacking amongst most free speech advocates, with both left and right taking polarised positions. Plus Anderson's comments were clearly lunacy. If he were truly being 'controlled by Islamists' Khan would never have introduced ULEZ. I don't think I have ever spoken to a single Muslim who supports the scheme!
Thank you!
I have followed your excellent example! Having pondered for far too long; enjoyed KK's work immensely and found him to be an oasis of clear thinking and common sense I can no longer resist!
Agree with that. I work in a diverse London office and everyone hates Khan, including my Muslim colleagues. This is over things like ULEZ, weak on crime and his inability to confront criticism.
Nice one!
It's kind of amusing that a mere couple of weeks after he named an overground line after the Suffragettes Anderson accused him of being an Islamic Fundamentalist, those people who are famously so enthusiastic about women having the vote...
Seems a sensible approach to me. No point poking a hornet's nest at the best of times. The problem is not (only) one faction but a whole section of society that won't discuss complex issues in a civil forum - which is the esssense of civilization.
One thing that the French have over almost all of the rest of Western Europe is that they still have a very strong sense of French-ness. Even the elite liberals largely believe in French culture. This makes them total assholes in many ways, but it also gives them a clear view of what is and what is not in the interest of France. That is why they can have the deportation laws they do.
People in the UK used to have a similar smug sense of superiority, which made them assholes in some instances. But it kept Britain Britain. The UK will never have such deportation laws as France until it recovers that pride of culture it seems to have lost in the last 40 years.
Spot on, sir.
I also upgraded to paid after reading this. Sadiq Khan is like a parody of a 21st-century, liberal/authoritarian, western metropolitan politician. He's a lot of things but an Islamic fundamentalist he certainly aint. The really sad thing to have witnessed in recent years is how the very online right are becoming just as shrill, hyperbolic, intolerant of dissent and, dare I say it, 'snowflakey' as the very online left.
Thank you, Patrick!
Weak minds means weak politicians KK, you know that and you saw it coming as I did, as you saw the unavoidable sqeals of betrayal for stating what should be the obvious, thus proving that a lot of "movements" are still the same tribalistic coin with two sides as always in history.
I'd never thought I'd see the French going trough with such legislation, still, I cannot imagine us in the UK even talking about the same...
Thanks KK, you are right...
M
Macron knows he needs to guard his right flank against Rassemblement Nationale and the bill was passed with their support in the French parliament, where they are the largest party. As long as we have a first-past-the-post system I think you're right that it's very unlikely that the same thing could happen here. It's going to be interesting to see how many other European countries follow France's lead over the next few years if nationalist/populist parties continue their recent successes.
It's too late for Macron, no matter what he does.
That right flank is most likely to win, and their equivalents throughout Europe... And it may not be the win some think either.
Germans, for instance, lead the way in their tone deaf response to such nationalist movements, which guarantees a chaotic breakdown of their rule.
I was amazed when they were talking about banning Afd, as if that's somehow going to make all the disillusionment and anger with established political parties that is fuelling their rise just go away. It's even worse in Ireland, where local communities who object to large numbers of migrants suddenly being dumped on them are smeared by those in government as 'far right', even though the country has almost no tradition of right-wing politics of any description. If you try to force a lid on something that's boiling over all it means is that in the end it will blow up even harder.
They haven't banned AfD, just a lot of what they say... And sent cops to bit the living shit out of them and the farmers protesting alongside them...
AfD is Right, very right, but they're not racial about it, for them, at least what they say if you know Deutsch, - bißt du Deutch? Are you German? That's all that matters, integrate, obey the law, contribute, don't leech social welfare etc...
They're saying what the population needs, of course there'll be abuse of that as well, and it's potentially dangerous for the future... But this is what it came to.
Nationalism has become a dirty word thanks to globalists and environmentalist totalitarians.
Doing away with national boundaries is a hippie's pipe dream.
Of course, it always has been... Germans are a bit different though, people forget that half of Berlin, was USSR, and a lot, most of their "ruling class" was or is enamoured with that left, Merkel spoke Russian...
Their left is brutal and efficient and almost religious for them. Everyone unaligned to them smack immediately of sympathising nacism etc., and the response is violent as any heresy in a religion.
And those now rule.
While the public endures the consequences of their policies. And Germans can endure a lot.
Sadly this shows two problems: First, that too many politicians prefer posturing and "clicks" to trying to address very serious problems. Second, that too many of us see political and social issues like football (US: soccer). It's "my team, right or wrong". You are not supposed to stray even an inch from the accepted orthodoxy of your side. But there are also those who have learnt to trust you, and will listen and think when you say something they disagree with. That's your most important audience. At least that's what I think about whenever I write JuST THINK. So, keep going.
'Twas ever thus.
You are of course entirely correct.
Today's newspaper headlines "Are the Tories Islamophobic" sums it up as the media and political classes indulge in mass delusion as displacement activity from allowing the barbarians through the gates whilst they held them open.
This has been allowed by the idiocy of Anderson. It allowed Khan to joyfully call him a racist and paint the Tories as a bunch of racists.
If the Tories had any sense and political nous (spoiler - they don't) they would have condemned the marches as pro-Hamas and anti-semitic. Demanded the Met stop them causing an almighty row with the Met (good). Demanded Labour also condemn the marches as pro-Hamas/pro-terrorist and anti-semitic. Cue Labour meltdown.
They could have made this a serious election issue. Instead they have wrung their hands and the likes of the not-very-conservative Tobias Ellwood is speaking lefty-liberal-doublespeak in the vacuum. Pathetic.
Well said!
You're living in the distant past Konstantin.
The last "opportunity to have a serious national conversation about Islamism" passed us by at least a decade ago. The political activists that cosplay each day as politicians, civil servants, regulators, judges, lawyers, clergymen, journalists, trade unionists, teachers, policemen and senior military marched through our institutions some time ago, and have no intention of allowing anything like that.
Even their dupes "are so dependent, so hopelessly inured to the system that they will fight to protect it"
All we can do now is speak the truth boldly and plainly and take our punishment beatings, and thus force the monsters to reveal themselves.
And we had better hurry.
As an American, I truly hope for the sake of my country that we follow the French and start filling up planes of those who have jumped the line in front of those who truly love American and respect its laws.
I agree. We can’t fall into the use of hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims. Even though Sadiq Khan does have form (he is on film referring to moderate Muslims as “Uncle Toms’’ when he was a lawyer defending Islamists) it is nevertheless counterproductive to make the kind of vague claim that Khan is basically selling London to.his ‘mates’. It’s unnecessary, unprovable and allows the islamists and all their intersectionally useful idiots to conjure up more clickbait about ‘right-wing swivel-eyed loons’ etc that the media so love to justify their craven, snivelling cowardice.
I take your point and calling you an apologist, wet or weak is, frankly, idiotic. His comment was stupid because it was technically inaccurate. But I don’t believe an apology would have helped. More likely it would have made things worse simply because his critics on the left are not acting in good faith. They would’ve killed him and demanded his suspension anyway. His critics in the Party are in fact weak and we and may very well have folded anyway had he apologised. His statement from today, admitting the “clumsiness” of his words yet doubling down by calling out Khan’s vile hypocrisy and double standards was in my view the better approach. It would’ve have been better yet were it forthcoming on Saturday as he’d intended but sadly the politically braindead, weak, wet and useless Party apparatus blocked it
All this demonstrates is the effect of argument and rhetoric.
Once upon a time, when arguing politics or anything else, the assumption was always that your opponent is a civilized, well-intended person until he demonstrates otherwise with his actions. You could curse, insult, disparage opponents, call for their public horsewhipping, and everyone understood that on the field of battle one adopts a belligerent attitude and offstage we get along just fine, even if the guy called your mother a slut and you a sonofabitch.
I also believe that the distance and isolation of electronic communication, and the ease at which hot takes can be broadcast around the world on X and the like makes people get more aggressive than they might be in person.
So I, along with you, take the insults with about a metric ton of salt.
And for god's sake you Britishers need to get control of your perimeter or risk places like Birmingham becoming Islamic Sharia zones ruled by the Surahs and not by English common law.
I don't think wednesday's debacle would've ever been clearly addressed, or that there's the will to hammer out anything meaningful from inside the House. If they do evict the speaker, then any debate that follow's will be upon the path of least resistance, with squabbling and grandstanding in spades.
LA has stated his words to be clumsy and borne out of frustration - due to the abject failures of the Mayor. Well, since betting on the Conservative party to win at the upcoming ballet box gets such good odds, I don't think he's lost out on that one - most of the country didn't have a clue about the speakers actions and dismissed it, but they see the protests, the change in the capital, the boats and inaction - and they might see LA nailed up for his actions too. It's going to take a lot to motivate change in this country, and most of it is going to be messy.
Whilst I agree with what you are saying and I do believe that there are better ways of going about this, do you honestly think that the UK will ever instigate what the French have successfully implemented. Lee spouted some misdirected words, which as you say would have been more useful if directed at Wednesdays trouble, but I think a lot of us know, there will be no actions regarding the real issue.
I remember you raising a similar issue a while ago in that a lot of people opposed to woke views and the like will “oppose the current thing” because either woke/mainstream figures are pro it. I think the defenders of Lee Anderson are a reflection of that. I’ve seen this become more prominent recently with opposition to continued support for Ukraine coming from this element too.
We also need to be more aware of the impact people like Lee Anderson and other figures such as Calvin Robinson and Laurence Fox have on our discourse. It’s like that scene in The Simpsons where Homer’s colleagues are all watching him, waiting for him “to do something stupid”. All too often they end up doing just that to our detriment.