[Bones McCoy]

I didn't spot an existing topic, so started one for this week's hot slogan in the culture wars.

* The frogman's AWOL form his Clacton job, whining about it to his American handlers.

* Yesterday's "martyr" (The bloke who wrote Father Ted) is today's court defendent - seems it wasn't just "hurty words".


Graham Linehan goes on trial over alleged harassment of trans woman

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0x2kx08wdo

Father Ted co-creator Graham Linehan has gone on trial in London on charges of harassment and criminal damage against a transgender woman.

The Irish comedy writer, who also created The IT Crowd and Black Books, has pleaded not guilty to the two charges.

Before going into Westminster Magistrates' Court, the 57-year-old did not speak to the media but did pose with a supporter's sign saying "There's no such thing as a 'transgender child"' on one side and "Keep men out of women's sports" on the other.

This trial is not connected to the allegations that led to his much-publicised arrest at Heathrow Airport on Monday.

[Oboogie]

Farage is in the USA demanding that a foreign government impose sanctions on the UK because we don't allow free speech. Meanwhile here are his supporters chasing off a local who complains that their protests keep him awake at night. They didn't call him "woke" because that would require a certain level of wit, instead they called him a "Lefty in-Phil-traytor" and a "peee-dough" and chased him away.

#FREEDUMB

[Boiler]

Timothy Snyder on "me speech": https://snyder.substack.com/p/free-speech-and-me-speech

“Me speech” is a common practice among rich and influential Americans. Practitioners of “me speech” use the phrase “free speech” quite a bit. But what they mean is free speech for themselves. They want a monopoly on it.

They believe that they are right about everything, and so they should always have giant platforms, in real life or on social media. They people with whom they disagree, however, should be called out and intimidated in an organized way on social media, or subjected to algorithmic discrimination so that their voices are not heard.

[Abernathy]

Isn't it strange that one of the worst insults that Americans throw around at each other (see Kimmel vs Trump, etc etc), is to call someone "unAmerican ??

[Andy McDandy]

Not really. It's a quick and dirty way of othering someone, just like if you want to win the crowd, you invoke freedom or liberty. Nobody wants to be seen as against those things, so if you're for them, so good. Likewise un-American. In a notoriously inward-looking country, where (at least in better times) sense of place and belonging mattered ("Let's give a great New York welcome for...", etc), to label someone as outside the main populace is to basically declare them an un-person.

Of course, it's another PC Gornmaaad, simply a label for "anything I don't like".

Meanwhile, Toby Young's Free Speech Union seem to have been a bit quiet of late.

[Oboogie]

Not really. It's a quick and dirty way of othering someone, just like if you want to win the crowd, you invoke freedom or liberty. Nobody wants to be seen as against those things, so if you're for them, so good. Likewise un-American. In a notoriously inward-looking country, where (at least in better times) sense of place and belonging mattered ("Let's give a great New York welcome for...", etc), to label someone as outside the main populace is to basically declare them an un-person.

Of course, it's another PC Gornmaaad, simply a label for "anything I don't like".

Meanwhile, Toby Young's Free Speech Union seem to have been a bit quiet of late.

"You're not English anymore" is a favourite chant of the Fash when confronted by anti-racists.

[Abernathy]

Well, yes. But it seems to be a uniquely American thing. Broadly speaking, we in the UK don't tend to call each other "Un-British", and if somebody called me that I wouldn't even be slightly bothered.

I think it must be tied into that rather sickly American patriotism that is so widespread in the USA - all that hand-on-heart pledging allegiance to the flag in schools and at football games, and singing their god-awful national anthem.

We just don't get that here, but if and when we do it seems to be confined to sad gammony knuckle-draggers cable-tying nylon flags of St George halfway up lamp-posts. - the preserve of the wanker.

[Samanfur]

The only time I remember it coming into the mainstream consciousness in Britain was when British Airways had the audacity to send Hamster Woman and her crucifix home from work.

Damian Green (remember him?) used when when he likened the incident to banning the burqa.

[Boiler]

Mahmood has just used "un-British" - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgy8kvvkp3o