The common ancestor of the species Politicus taxthearseoffus.
(Apologies in advance for typos. I spilled a very nice Rioja on my keyboard and it’s still a bit sticky)
Obo makes mention of the ‘shock result’ that gave the BNP a seat on Kent council. Like Obo, I barely raised an eyebrow. I’d go so far as to say my eyebrow hairs remained entirely undisturbed at this news, apart from the long one on the left who said ‘So what?’ He’ll be well plucked for doing Ed Balls impressions later.
Why is it a surprise? The rest of the article lists other election results, in which the BNP share of the vote puts them in serious contention with the three main parties. They are not fourth in these lists, they are beating mainstream parties. There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth among the Righteous over this because they are terrified that Nick Griffin will send shaven-headed madmen round to beat them with recently deceased sparrows. How can it be, they cry. How can people be voting for a racist party?
It’s actually very simple, Righteous. You have spent the best part of a decade telling everyone who disagrees with you that they are racists. You have drummed it into them and screamed it at them. Why, then, would they fear voting for a party deemed ‘racist’? It’s what they’ve been told they are.
These people don’t know why they have been classed as racist, but they have. For years. For every utterance that does not accord with Righteous thinking. Especially when they say that maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t let absolutely anyone into the country without let or hindrance. This is not a white-only thing. First and second generation immigrants, of all skin tones, of all religions, all of whom came here to find work and a decent life, are saying it too. Only we palefaces can be racist in Righteous terms. The others just haven’t tuned in to the message.
‘Racist’ is the battle cry of the Righteous. They think it still works, as the Dripper has demonstrated recently. Say ‘racist’ and the world clutches their collective handbag and goes ‘Ooooh’. Not any more. Still they persist.
Mary Honeymonster, all in one post, claims that UKIP are the Sinn Fein to the BNP’s IRA. She claims that the Lib Dems are Nazi sympathisers and the Tories, well we all know that Atilla the Hun was a Tory. In short, she sums up her world view as ‘anyone who doesn’t vote Labour is a racist’. She is an amazing example of pure Righteousness, and owns a prime example of an unoccupied head. Sell your brain, Mary. You won’t notice the difference and neither will we. Since it’s still in its original wrapping you’ll get a decent sum for it. Oh, she also thinks all smokers are Tory voters. Put a bid in for that brain. It’s never even had batteries installed.
Every time the BNP make a gain, there is shock and horror. Nobody seems to consider that there might be a reason people vote BNP. A reason other than the snazzy short hair, drainpipe jeans and ska music. A reason other than racism. I now know several who say they would vote BNP, though not in Scotland, and one of my long-time friends (currently in Wales) has joined the party. He’s never had a skinhead, never beaten anyone up and he hates ska. His reasons are not racist.
His reasons mainly involve a) all three main parties being the same; b) out of control borders; c) the EU. I have to say I agree with his reasons. I have pointed out some potentially deeper problems but as he says, the BNP won’t win the next election. If they get a couple of MP’s it will certainly have the rest of them shitting ball bearings. On that, I can’t argue and it would be worth seeing.
Doing down the BNP on racism charges does not work. The reason it doesn’t work is that we have all been called racist now. Even when arguing on subjects that have no connection with race, any disagreement meets the chant ‘racist’. The typical British response to this is not to hide away and cry a bit. It’s to say ‘Bollocks. If you want to call me racist, I’ll vote for the ones you call racists’.
Douglas Carswell, whose constituency I am not in but if I was, I’d vote for him, has articulated the reason for the increased BNP support but I’m not sure he realises it. In his post on immigration he said:
It’s time to reduce immigration into Britain. I’d personally like to see net settlement reduced to zero. Shout me down for saying so – but I know whose side my constituents are on.
Whose side his constituents are on. Indeed, he has measured the depth of feeling in his constituency. But can he deliver? Is it a core party policy to deliver what his constituents want?
It’s core BNP policy. People want control of the borders, not control of their eating and drinking habits. Many British of all creeds and colours want this.
I don’t want to drink my whisky like you do.
I don’t need to spend my money but still do
Sums it up really. It’s not what the BNP promise, unfortunately.
The Righteous, confronted with a BNP gain, run about waving their hands in the air and shrieking ‘The Bogeymen are here!’ They follow up with ‘We must stop the BNP’. This naturally leads to ‘If you don’t vote Labour, you aren’t helping us stop the BNP, therefore you support them, therefore you are racist’. Righteous logic comes from a different plane of existence.
Don your shiny hat and scream it out: Ma, Papa, we’re all racists now.
I have issues with the BNP because they are, despite protestations to the contrary, seriously authoritarian and still at heart obsessed with ‘outsiders’. I see them as the Local Shop in the League of Gentlemen, terrified that strangers might come to town. Not all immigration is bad (well I would say that, wouldn’t I?) but it should be controlled. Very controlled. Douglas Carswell is right about that. The BNP are right about that part too. The BNP also want to get out of the EU, but the Tories don’t. That puts the BNP one up on the Tories in many people’s eyes. You might not like that. I don’t like it. Many people do and their numbers are growing.
Labour have spent the last few years telling us all that the other parties are terrible, evil monsters who will enslave us while Labour will make us free and prosperous. Meanwhile, we dare not look a policeman in the eye and we’re as prosperous as a plantation owner who negotiated contracts for bananas and planted onions. All other parties look good compared to Labour now. The Church of the Militant Elvis might beat them in the next election.
There is no surprise in the rising support for the BNP. Shouting them down is no good. Shouting down Tories is no good. Shouting down the Lib Dims is no good. Adding the qualifiers ‘xenophobic’ and ‘right wing’ to Libertarians is no good. Out here in real people land, we don’t give a rat’s arse about any of it. Only the Righteous luvvies, most of whom are employed by the Mouth of Gorgon, the BBC, worry about such things and they only care about their extortion racket that keeps them all in worthless jobs. We have all been called racist. We have all been called bigot. We have all been called Nazi and much, much more. Water off a lacquered silicone breast. Go on, say it again. Some of us remember when ‘racist’ really meant something but now it just means ‘don’t agree with labour/EU drones’. People don’t care any more. They don’t care at all.
So why is there so much surprise when people vote for what they want? Isn’t that the basic idea behind democracy?