This entry was posted on
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006 at
9:19 am and is filed
under The War on Stupid.
Independent – BNP to use Prophet cartoon in campaign: The British National Party is seeking to exploit controversies involving Muslims in its campaign for local authority elections in May. The extreme right-wing party, which hopes to field 1,000 candidates in England, will include in its campaign material one of the cartoons which sparked outrage among Muslims across the world, showing the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb in his turban. One leaflet asks voters: “Are you concerned about the growth of Islam in Britain? Make Thursday 4 May Referendum Day.” It adds: “We owe it to our children to defend our Christian culture.” … Ian McCartney, the Labour chairman, said: “The BNP’s strategy is straight out of the Nazi textbook. Their tactics are becoming increasingly sophisticated but they always involve blaming one part of the community for local problems. They take up legitimate grievances and they exploit those issues for their own racist aims.” A BNP spokesman said it would campaign mainly on local issues and denied it was “exploiting” recent events. “We are saying that there are worries in society about these issues,” he added.
Just chew on that last bit for moment… they’re not saying that there’s a problem.. only that people are concerned that there might be a problem. So they’re acting on that concern by increasing the amount of concern. Remind you of anyone?
Labour representatives are bleating ‘loud and clear’ about how wrong this is… but it’s been New Labour and its role in the ‘war’ on terror that has ferried the BNP to its recent successes.
Let’s begin by playing soldiers…
When John Reid insists that the majority of soldiers are professional, well-meaning souls and that we shouldn’t be too hasty in blaming them for recent atrocities committed by a ‘a few bad apples’, what’s he really doing is absolving himself and the government of any blame.
This is a useful and effective political gambit, but it places a dangerous seed in people’s minds.
From the Iraq policy itself, right down to ‘minor’ operational details such as the use of hooding (see: Iraq, Friendly Fire, Civilian Casualties, and a Total Lack Of Torture)… all of this can be dismissed as irrelevant. No, the real problem lies with the soldiers. Not all of the soldiers, just a small minority of them.
Them. Bad.
The result? Any time you find yourself standing next to a soldier, the primitive side of your mind wonders; “Is he one of Them?”
Similar treatment is afforded the Muslim community. After the London bombings, it was the official government line that Iraq played no role in the attacks. Because extremism breeds in a total vacuum, obviously. Well, not a *total* vacuum… because the real problem lies with the Muslims. Not all of the Muslims, just a small minority of them.
Them. Bad.
The result? Any time you find yourself standing next to a Muslim, the primitive side of your mind wonders; “Is he one of Them?”
And, as we all know, Islam is the only religion that breeds extremism. No self-proclaimed Christian, Hindu or Sikh has ever committed an atrocity. Ever.
This message was helpfully reinforced by The Downing St Echo just the other day, when they boldly stated; “And right now, almost all terrorists are acting in the name of al-Qaeda.”
And on and on and on it goes…
Not all immigrants are dangerous aliens, just a small minority of them.
Not all protestors are violent, just a small minority of them.
etc. etc. etc.
In closing, I would like to send a message of support to all New Labour politicians, representatives, campaigners and supporters (the vast majority of which are decent, law-abiding citizens who would never malign, abuse, torture or murder anybody, not even if they thought it was in the public interest).
