Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Fun with Fascism

People do really enjoy saying fascism is bad and wearing horrible woolly Tibetan hats with hanging strings. Both make them feel warm inside. One shouldn't really object. Both sides - Nick Griffin of the BNP and the anti-Fascists - were obviously having a whale of a time, made even whalier by the presence of dozens of cameras. Both sides vindicated, they all went home happy to watch the show. 'Ah,' you say, 'but the BNP has had a breakthrough, they're dangerous.' I think they might be dangerous but not because they're likely to get a grip on power. More likely, they will not achieve any kind of grip and, drunk on all this publicity, they'll start doing really nasty stuff to get more attention. That's what fame does to people, especially thick, ugly ones. The silly hats are, therefore, making matters worse. Yet better for themselves, of course, throwing eggs is fun, as is righteous indignation. Being a prig does more for your self-esteem than a gym membership. These things pass the time in the absence of truth, beauty etc..
Posted by Bryan Appleyard at 8:32 am

12 comments:

  1. wormJune 10, 2009 9:19 am

    In just the same way that Hitler instigated the 'path of legality' and changed the thuggish image of the Nazis to facilitate their rise to power, I wonder if the yoghurt-knitting Left will ever muster enough energy to realise that they have to ditch the stupid tibetan hats and scraggly facial hair before anyone will take them remotely seriously

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  2. Gareth WilliamsJune 10, 2009 9:46 am

    What's your view of the Battle of Cable Street? Were cloth caps more 'right' than woolly hats?

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  3. maltyJune 10, 2009 9:46 am

    It does make good television, no beating a rollicking good stooshie for audience satisfaction. Two observations, one of the Greenham common beanies, interviewed aftewards seemed to be saying that the way to tackle them was, sorta, punch their friggin' heads in, well, really.
    More can be gleaned about the BNP by watching the antics of their bouncers, I swear that I saw Julius Streicher and Sepp Dietrich last night.
    Hey ho, things are looking up, Jeff's on telly shortly.

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  4. Bryan AppleyardJune 10, 2009 9:48 am

    Definitely, Gaw, Tibetan hats for Tibetans, I say

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  5. Ian russellJune 10, 2009 9:56 am

    please! no more predictions. not with your recent track record.

    ditto dress sense. at least the Tibetans have a hat...

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  6. MarkJune 10, 2009 10:14 am

    Those woolly hats sound more like chullos from the Peruvian Altiplano, a mere 10,000 miles away. Tsk tsk! I blame the Incas, and Gordon Brown of course. Maybe the anti-fascist protesters could issue a press release clearing up this controversy. Aye, by their hats ye shall know them ...

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  7. SpongebobJune 10, 2009 10:28 am

    Dave Spart and his former anti-Nazi league chums are back - yesterday with Nick Griffin and today with the Tube strike. Feels a bit '70s again doesn't it?

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  8. MinnieJune 10, 2009 11:30 am

    I'm with you on this one, Bryan. Once the spotlight's on the BNP, they'll be revealed for what they are: pathetic, pig-ignorant bullies (bullies are invariably cowards). But, yes, sickening how many of the would-be virtuous are standing up and declaring "I'm an anti-fascist" as if that automatically both conferred righteousness upon them and made everything ... all right. It doesn't, and it doesn't.
    Both sides too stupid to do anything for the causes that really need fighting for - democracy, for example, and radical reform of our financial systems (oh, and how very closely the two are allied, under NuLieBore!).

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  9. MarkJune 10, 2009 5:17 pm

    I think what to wear at these events may have been completely trumped by Gadhafi at Ciampino where an old pro shows how these things are really done. You could drive a 40-ton truck laden with 10,000 eggs at those huge epaulettes, peaked cap and outrageous wig and it would just bounce off.

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  10. KurtJune 12, 2009 8:42 am

    C'mon worm you can't have it both ways. Do you want your Left to be woolly hatted yoghurt munchers or dressed in best car salesmen's suits? Damned if they do or don't. The idea of the left as a bunch of Dave Sparts is as well past its sell by date as the BNP.

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  11. Ares VistaJune 22, 2009 5:24 pm

    This is ridiculous. Are we really having this discussion?

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  12. Ralph MusgraveOctober 25, 2009 4:56 pm

    Re the somewhat over-used word fascist, George Orwell said the word was meaningless. Prof. Timothy Garton Ash said in an article in The Guardian recently that the word has been “hollowed out to mean little more than something the left hates at the moment”.

    Are the above commentators using the word in the Orwell sense, i.e. “totally meaningless”, or in the Garton Ash sense: almost meaningless?

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