To not understand the JD Vance weird face meme all over the Cotswolds?

[BlueJuniper94]

So I understand he is not popular and has recently been holidaying in the Cotswolds. But I don't understand this big exaggerated AI face some group has been putting on billboards and driving around.

Firstly, are they mocking his appearance? That's not very nice, no matter what someone's politics are, their actions should be the target not what they look like.

And if it is about his remarks about free speech - again, I really don't understand how this image "owns" him, he's a foreign politician. UK gov aren't going to care about that, wouldn't it make sense to prove the point by criticising power that is actually British?

Fill me in please, I don't understand - what am I missing?

I don’t think far right means what you think it means 😊

The difference is that Lucy Connolly chose to plead guilty. Had she not done that and gone to jury trial instead, I doubt the verdict would have been Guilty. That would have been wrong; the Ricky Jones verdict is also wrong. But two wrongs do not make a right.

I have as little to do with that topic as I possibly can, especially on Mumsnet.
You are correct that I don't care: about what you believe the truth to be. I have seen some horrendous twisting going on in various places and I don't engage.

Actually it is really annoying to have yet another thread be brought down to this.

I am someone who has been aggressively challenged in a female toilet because clearly I don't woman well enough. Don't tell me the GC brigade are all well meaning, decent and acting in my best interests. Bollocks to that idea, there are as many zealots on one side as on the other.

I'm not sure I'd call Nigel Farage far right.

I was expecting you to say he'd been meeting up with Tommy Robinson!!

I think it does

I certainly perceive his repugnant views as to the far right of politics.

Really? You don’t consider Farage far right?

Thank you, didn't know that re: US visa types. I expect it to look for possible links to terrorism.

Wrt entry into the US. Imo it's always been a bit crazy. I can remember being surprised at getting the 3rd degree the first time I went there in about 1994.

A few years before that I worked with someone (middle aged staff nurse, not obviously public enemy number 1) who was actually refused entry to the US and escorted to a return flight !!

She was really upset, had planned the holiday for some time and to make it worse they wouldn't tell her why she was refused entry.

US border control have always been a bit maverick i think.

I can't be bothered getting into it with you, you aren't interested in anyone's opinion other than your own.

Technically, he's a populist, not far right. If the public wanted to abolish the monarchy and introduce the Internationale as the new anthem, he'd be advocating it everywhere if it would get the most votes.

Populism is generally constructed on foundations of right wing thinking because it puts "us" on a collision course with an alleged corrupt or out-of-touch elite, is often characterised by anti-establishment rhetoric and a claim to represent "the will of the people". It frequently involves a strong sense of nationalism and a suspicion of outsiders, including immigrants and other minority groups. It's about lowering everything to an emotional level with a distinct lack of any real ideology or thought process involved. It's harder (but not inpossible) to get that "rampant" single-mindedness on the left because the left is chracterised by ideology and therefore debate. Hence the left fractures more around disagreements on policy / ideology; the right fractures around people.

The results of the court cases prove that the law was on the side of free speech all along. Despite the attempts by some organisations to "get ahead of the law"

All of this.

Plus he wants to reduce women’s rights wholesale.

Why WOULDN’T people take the piss?

Not really, no. I suppose it depends where you're viewing him from. I'm viewing him from the centre but if someone is very left wing then he'll appear to be far right to them.

No, we don't have "freedom of speech" in the UK. They are not incorrect. Read @Tryingtokeepgoing's post on the different systems. Maybe we can say what we want unless it's illegal to say it, but that is not the same as the constitutional right to free speech Americans have (or are supposed to - currently debatable).

I’m viewing him from the centre too! His long- held views on immigrants, his xenophobia, his views on women, etc, qualify him as pretty far right to me, and indeed how many ‘ centre ground’ media outlets describe him.
Perhaps a more useful debate opener would be, why do you consider him not far right? Genuinely interested in your view, not trying to be snarky!

I am very, very left wing. I still say he isn't far right. He's a populist.

To be fair, if he was to the far right of me by about 500 miles right now, I'd be happy with that position. He'd be somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic and hopefully without a boat of any size.

anyone can buy his views
NRA
pro life Christianity

It's harder (but not inpossible) to get that "rampant" single-mindedness on the left because the left is chracterised by ideology and therefore debate.

With respect @PhilippaGeorgiou as
a recovering Guardian reader I would strongly disagree with the lefts openess for debate 😂

My far-right-a-meter uses someone like Hitler to compare against. Farage is no where near that right wing.

I’m centre left and think his views are far right.
i hope this explanation makes sense.
the amount of coverage he’s had means he’s legitimised racist views. He’s made it ok and normal to say abhorrent things. Which has made him seem not so far right. Ultimately he’s still spouting racist, misogynistic xenophobic views. Putting him on the bbc every week, doesn’t make that ok. It’s just normalised it

With respect, there is no "the left". There are so many differences that you could not possibly get a uniform view. I didn't suggest that "debate" is the same thing as "agreed conclusion". I also don't think the Guardian has ever been "the left". I am not requiring recovery from Das Kapital. It is still the only rational explanation for the last 150 years or so of the world economy.

I grew up in a town with a massive national front group. The stuff Nigel Farage says is the same stuff they spouted. He just does it with a smile and a suit

@PhilippaGeorgiou,
Sorry, you've lost me. You were the one who initially referred to 'the left'.

He was pretty mocking and disrespectful about Zelenskys attire at the White House so I feel lost any concession to that card a long time ago.

And he’s a shit stirring, disrespectful twat anyway.