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Carl Benjamin: The problem with the British right...
Carl Benjamin
04, August #BrokenSystem

Carl Benjamin: The problem with the British right...

The problem with the British right is that nobody is able to create a big tent which can encompass those who wish to push hard on certain issues alongside the wimpy types who can't help but be obsequious to the liberal opinion. It should have been Nigel Farage, but he didn't have the stomach to follow in the footsteps of Trump and repudiate the media and rely upon the online cohort to project his message. He also wasn't brave enough to stake out a popular but controversial position and judo-flip the media into spreading this message for him. Purging his right has just created more problems, in fact, worse problems than having the hardliners inside the tent. This is the lesson that Keir Starmer also learned the hard way: you might not like your radicals but they are a non-trivial percentage of your coalition, so you must tolerate them. Starmer didn't, and they went to the Greens. Farage didn't, and they became Restore. Labour are rebuilding their tent as Burnham is morally more aligned with his radicals than not. Farage doesn't seem to be able to extend this kind of sympathy to his flank, so it seems he will be unable to make any progress on this issue. The Reform goose is cooked if their star player is the reason that they can't advance any further. No good moves left for them to make.
Carl Benjamin: The problem with the British right...
https://x.com/Sargon_of_Akkad/status/2084606818555232423
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Carl Benjamin: This would actually be an inredible...
Carl Benjamin
07, July #BrokenSystem

Carl Benjamin: This would actually be an inredible...

This would actually be an inredible riposte by the establishment to Farage. Farage calling the by-election was a savvy move on the assumption that everyone would actually treat it like a by-election and that his victory would signal strength, in much the same way Andy Burnham is leveraging his win in Makerfield. However, that assumes that everyone else recognises the legitimacy of the challenge. If nobody stands opposed then Farage is left looking lonely and rejected. Worse still, if Farage is only entertained by court jesters, then he looks ridiculous himself. What was a masterstroke turns into a ritual humiliation before the entire nation--and that's assuming that he wins.
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Carl Benjamin: Rupert was doing something about the state...
Carl Benjamin
28, June #BrokenSystem

Carl Benjamin: Rupert was doing something about the state...

Rupert was doing something about the state of the country: he became a Reform MP. Then Nigel Farage felt upstaged and conducted one of his patented political assassinations against Rupert, but it didn't work. Now Reform talking heads are complaining that Rupert is still continuing to be a politician and that he's not exactly a fan of people who made up false allegations against him to ruin his career and possibly get him jailed--what a shock! The conceit that underpins this latest round of Reform whining about Restore is the belief that Nigel Farage ought to have the power to dictate who may and may not engage in right-wing politics. When Farage feels you are a personal threat, he ought to have the ability to ruin you and drive you out, no matter what the consequences to his victim. It is going to come as a surprise to Reform to learn that we do not actually need their permission and we are not bothered about their complaints about it. We know what to do to fix the country, and we are going to spread this message to the public. The public are, as Matt knows, eager to hear it. Reform's wimpy "well not like that!" attitude is the sole reason they are failing and we have moved past it. We are not apologising to the liberal centre for not being liberals. We are going to keep moving forward because we are right and everyone else is wrong, and Reform know it. Why they don't have the guts to stand on their convictions with moral force is anybody's guess, but it isn't our problem.
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Carl Benjamin: The coping and seething that Reform folds…
Carl Benjamin
13, June #BrokenSystem

Carl Benjamin: The coping and seething that Reform folds…

The coping and seething that Reform folds to the slightest competition is the real embarrassment. You have no energy, no vision, and a party leader who keeps getting pictured with his head in his hands. Worst of all, you did this to yourselves. You don't get to decide if we engage in politics or not, and when you are losing because of it, you don't get to whine like an entitled baby that we didn't vote for you. No more fell for it again awards. No more stabs in the back from the literal ministers of the Boriswave. No more bitch politics from insecure party leaders lying to the cops and smearing peoples' reputations. We have had enough of business as usual. No excuses. No surrender.
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Carl Benjamin: Read what he's saying here…
Carl Benjamin
16, May #BrokenSystem

Carl Benjamin: Read what he's saying here…

Read what he's saying here and take it seriously. To him, you are not British if you don't worship the NHS and BBC: it's purely the institutions of society that matter, which is why the people are fungible and can be replaced as long as the institutions survive. This is a kind of wet fascism, where the state is the god that exists eternally and crafts the people in its image. The irony is, of course, that legacy 20th Century institutions are not eternal, they are temporal, fallible, and unfit for purpose now. It also ludicrously implies that Nelson and Wellington were not British as they didn't sacrifice their firstborn to the holy NHS or BBC. Torsten won't engage with these critiques because he can't, indeed, he will likely block me because he's Swedish.
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