Tommy Robinson, Hitler and wooden crosses

[noblegiraffe]

Tommy Robinson is having his 'Festival of Free Speech' in London tomorrow.

I'm also seeing attempts on social media to rehabilitate his image as a 'concerned citizen' and pleas from him to keep things civil, not wear masks and not drink alcohol. Jolly good.

So let's be clear that he has also posted an image promoting his 'free speech festival' standing with Ant Middleton next to a bus, number 88. The far right will be well aware of the use of the number 88 to denote 'Heil Hitler' where H is the 8th letter of the alphabet. This is not an accident.

He has also posted on social media that he is planning to bring a large number of wooden crosses to his 'free speech festival'. This would appear to be an odd choice for a free speech festival but makes more sense if you want to bang on about how England is a Christian Country and Muslims are Not Welcome.

Either way, he is trying to appeal to a wider crowd while at the same time signalling to his racist contingent that it's business as usual.

Can we use the word 'Nazi' when people are using coded messages to signal the phrase 'Heil Hitler'?

@Anyahyacinth "Does it only feel palatable as nazism if it primarily affects white people?"

no. And I'm not white by the way.

What I'm objecting to is the use of a very specific term about a very specific group of people - which in recent years has been thrown around as an accusation in contexts where it makes no sense.

When words lose meaning, conversation becomes nonsensical

If you have a concern with anyone, why not articulate it properly? The only logical explanation is that you can't articulate it properly so you resort to insult. Like a child saying the worst word they can think of.

So do you actually mean it when you say "lies are Nazism"?

I realise this is a distraction from what this road is about. But as I say, if words become meaningless, conversation becomes pointless. Unless that's the aim.

And no, I did not need a link to explain the Nazi party to me. I read extensively on the subject as well as conversing with people who had experience of living in Nazi Germany.

Yes, I'd probably go for neo-Nazi though.

I hope the police realise those wooden crosses can be used as weapons and ban them.

It's the same person you were just objecting to being described as espousing Nazism though.

You don't see the link?

No, the quote was "lies are Nazism". Would you agree with that? Politicians lie all the time, often to create division.That doesn't make them Nazis or neo Nazis.

Its not complicated his lies are nazism...lies about other groups of people being a problem gathering momentum to seriously harm that group. It's the nazi playbook

Simpler, easier to understand...hope so.

Nazism never stayed in a crystal case after WW2, you can't ring fence it only to be experienced by one precious group; It never was Roma, trade unionists, Communists, people with learning disabilities and more...all demonised by lies.

His lies are nazism

@Anyahyacinth I wasn't trying to ring fence it or deny that those groups were targeted.

Happy to agree to disagree on the lying thing.

It's obvious to anyone, accept those who are further defending this flag-madness as "patriotism". They will carry on making excuses for Stephen and his pals.

Well no, but when have someone telling lies about immigrants, exploiting division and sending coded Heil Hitler messages, then objecting to the word Nazism to describe their methods seems a bit of a waste of time.

You just TR'd me there is a whole sentence beyond lies are nazism you chose not to quote 🤦‍♀️ which links to his exact behaviours and lying words

I just noticed you just picked 3 words from a much longer sentence...poor show

Islam isn't "encroaching" on anything. And your use of the term "Western civilisation" says a hell of a lot about you and your views.

What does remigration mean?

and who would be affected?

Remigration seems to be a coy way of saying 'mass deportations' which is what they normally call for.

Yep. And not just recent immigrants too. Its them, their kids and some even want the grandkids to go.

Quite hilariously, I'll be sent packing to a country that no longer exists.

'Hostile environment'.

Perhaps Tommy Robinson could be sent back to Ireland?

What we now recognise as Western society, culture and, if you like, civilisation has been almost entirely forged by thousands of years of influence (and yes, encroachment) from other cultures, religions and peoples.

Everything from our our idea of what a garden is to the food we eat is a melting pot of the world. If we'd pulled up the drawbridge 2,000 years ago you'd never have eaten onion.

Rats. The weather is much better than I anticipated. The huge rain clouds has disappeared.

Shout out to any police with cancelled leave

I think its not unreasonable to think that anyone and everyone who goes to this event is Racist.
There is literally no other reason to be there given who has organised it

For setting fire to, maybe?

Exactly this. Robinson has the sort of brain that thinks this sort of reference will win him friends in high places. It will impress the knuckle draggers, but anyone further up the food chain will run a mile.

He really is a despicable thug.

I doubt many Robinson followers check peoples religion and heritage before they spit at them and call them Paki.

In what universe is he likeable?