From "Farage’s rules for free speech: talk about anything but your lunch/The Reform leader defended Democrats’ right to say dreadful things about him — but said some things were better left unsaid" (London Times).
The headline referred to Farage's "discretion" in refusing to say who he needed to leave to have lunch with — clearly, the President.
Also interesting: Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson talked so much, asking questions and interrupting answers, that "Farage asked the chairman if he could go and 'get a cup of coffee or something' until it was his turn to speak."
Also interesting: Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson talked so much, asking questions and interrupting answers, that "Farage asked the chairman if he could go and 'get a cup of coffee or something' until it was his turn to speak."
Here's the video. I love the freeze frame:
FARAGE: [T]he Labor government now are intending to pass a law that that has a definition of Islamophobia. They're intending to put that into law. And that effectively will mean that criticism of a religion — mocking of a religion — would become an offense. And that's totally against everything because, you know, we've always given the Pope a hard time. We've always given the Archbishop of Canterbury a hard time. Um, so we're finishing up kind of with two-tier law. Yeah. And two-tier justice....
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৭৫টি মন্তব্য:
Hate speech laws coming to the US if democrats get power again.
UK culture was ruled by the Romans for close to 400 years, then a bunch of foreigners, and by queens for very long periods (Elizabeth I, Victoria, Elizabeth II). Follow the rules. Follow protocol. Behave child. Don't rock the boat or you'll get in trouble.
Yea, the suppression of unacceptable speech and the oppression of those that speech it is a Davos Directive. The cabal would still be doing it here if not for…voters.
The UK today is an ever present democrat fever dream for America. Not surprising when one remembers that democrats, liberals, the left all hate Americans and America.
"Raskin pointed to alleged examples of censorship under Trump, concluding, “There’s a free speech crisis in America today. But there’s no free speech crisis in Britain.”
Black is white. Up is down.
"In a brief response, Jordan was ready with a sharp rejoinder: “The gentleman alleges there’s no free speech in America under Donald Trump while his staff member holds up countless articles criticizing the Trump administration.”"
The Commies are on the wrong side of the crime issue. Now they transition seamlessly to be on the wrong side of the free speech debate.
When the hate term “hate speech” came into the lexicon years ago, even Stevie Wonder could where it was headed - another tool in the left’s toolbox.
IF England is to be saved from its woke decline, THIS is the man to do it, assuming he survives long enough (see Germany re AfD) and the elections are actually held on schedule (see Ukraine re Lil' Z).
Sticks and stones may break my bones (and that's OK now), but saying hurty things will get you arrested by 5 cops with guns (and that's UK now).
" “I’m delighted to reacquaint with the charming Mr Raskin,” he said, to a ripple of laughter from the gallery behind him. “Delightful testimony! But hey! That’s fine. You can say what you like.” "
Farage is one of those Brits who is quite skilled at charming repartee. It feels like the Brits tend to be better at that in general compared to Americans though.
Too bad Farage was unfamiliar with Hank Johnson before taking his seat. Instead of asking for a coffee break, he could have asked whether Guam is still afloat.
@Humperdink on hate speech:
Hate speech became a political thing circa GHW Bush and Bill Clinton in the early 1990s. It filled the public morals vacuum after the anything-goes Bohemian lefty politics of the 1960s to early 1980s.
Prior to the 1960s, the large majority of the USA identified as Christians. Old-school leftists had melded their change goals with conventional Christian moral standards. Later vote-gettting diversity efforts (Catholics, secular Hollywood and urban culture, gays, atheists and non-Christian immigrants) led to the concepts of Hate Speech and Woke.
The left abstracted and tried to homogenize public morality. It's now trying to serve too many masters and includes arch-enemies with opposing views. These contradictions baked failure in from the start.
I watched the entire Hank Johnson (D-Box-of-Rocks) - Farage exchange. The Dems need more Hank Johnson’s in congress.
Withdraw from NATO, end Five Eyes, economic sanctions, arm the resistance in the UK.
" he could have asked whether Guam is still afloat."
I think that would have been a little bit too much for the situation. It would have been too antagonistic. He isn't trying to cow the Democrats, but charm them, win them over, maybe even make them smile. If he can get interactions like that he can take that back across the pond to the British voters and show how he can be friendly, cordial, and at least somewhat effective with either of the US political parties. His tone seemed about right to me, and reminded me of the way Dolly Parton handles disagreeable people.
One clarification of my comment above...it's OK to use sticks and stones to break someone's bones IF the one doing the breaking is an illegal immigrant (or a member of a specific protected class of people) and the breakee is a citizen who is NOT a member of said protected class. And the reason is Just Because. (I have pictures and videos and articles about subsequent dismissed court cases.)
Ha! I just noticed Althouse took Mosby's suggestion re: the masthead.
Common law doesn't protect free speech. You need it in a constitution.
Raskin left a Freeman like meatball for Jordan and Farage to hit by complaining that Trump is censoring the media while showing off media reports criticizing Trump, thus counter proving his point. Democrats really have a leadership problem.
"He isn't trying to cow the Democrats, but charm them, win them over, maybe even make them smile."
No need for boulders, Sisyphean tasks come in all forms and flavors these days.
Farage is a Happy Warrior.
...and Nigel lacks the tits for Dolly Parton tactics.
Where in this 3-hour video am I supposed to watch?
...and Nigel lacks the tits for Dolly Parton tactics.
And if Graham Linehan has his way, that's not likely to change.
Start at about the 40:45 mark to hear Nigel.
ICE obtains access to Israeli-made spyware that can hack phones and encrypted apps
"When it is successfully deployed against a target, the hacking software – called Graphite – can hack into any phone. By essentially taking control of the mobile phone, the user – in this case, Ice – can not only track an individual’s whereabouts, read their messages, look at their photographs, but also open and read information held on encrypted applications, like WhatsApp or Signal. Spyware like Graphite can also be used as a listening device, through the manipulation of the phone’s recorder."
https://x.com/OwenGregorian/status/1963568042035876018
"I love the freeze frame"
Farage was on the verge of spilling "hurty words".
Enigma said: “ The left abstracted and tried to homogenize public morality. It's now trying to serve too many masters and includes arch-enemies with opposing views. These contradictions baked failure in from the start.”
I went to a community college, you’ll need to translate this.
Did Hank Johnson ask if Great Britain was going to tip over?
Fake crimes by Smollette - he isn't punished.
Yes- the corrupt universal left are the same everywhere on the globe.
Corrupt.
Raskin is a joke.
The Democrat party media is OPENLY 100% critical of Trump and his administration - 100% of the time.
CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR CNN MSDNC - is anyone in jail?
Speaking of glossy magazines, that freeze frame could be on the cover of In Fisherman.
They've already made criticizing the Holocaust ( our new 21st century religion) or the Genocide in Gaza or Jews in General a crime. Why shouldn't Islam or Christianity get protection?
I'm for one rule for everyone. If upsetting the Jewish community is a crime in the UK, then Christians and Muslims should get the same treatment.
Of course, the Labour doesn't want one rule for everyone. They want to shut up people they don't like, and let people they do like "hate" the "haters". In the UK if you have a "mean tweet" against "Refugees" - thats prison for 3 years. If you say a Rightwinger or Lafarge should be horsewhipped or attacked, that's OK.
Leftists see free speech as a weapon to be used when they're out of power. Once in power, they have no intention of letting the "other side" have it.
I notice they had to invite Farage, becaue the Conservative party actually stands with the Labour party on hate speech. The Tories, in fact, are responsible for most of the laws. They will attack Labour for politicial gain, but if put back in power they will do nothing. Reform is the only hope.
Since Trump was re-elected, I've been hearing European business colleagues saying how fearful they are of traveling to the United States. "Will I be held incommunicado by ICE?" "Do I need to leave my laptop/phone at home and only travel to the US with burner devices?" "Will I be detained and denied entry immediately upon arrival?"
Somehow, they are completely silent about what is going on in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.
I'm always struck by difference in IQ and speaking ability between UK leaders and the USA ones. But goes all the way back to Churchill vs. FDR. The only exceptions seem to be the current lot. Starmer comes off as a dunce, and the same is true of the current Tory leader.
Trump jailed Rachel Maddow?
she was really scared.
Two Progressive Soviet Leftist democratics wear handmaid
Tale costumes - Assume it proves that Handmaid's tale is real. LOL.
No. DC's crime is real.
I am proud of our National Guard. Democrat females showcase mental illness
Almost every Democrat asked loaded and often stupid questions. When they weren't filibustering. But when have they ever been serious? its just propaganda and politics 24/7 from them. They're dangerous clowns.
"I notice they had to invite Farage, becaue the Conservative party actually stands with the Labour party on hate speech. The Tories, in fact, are responsible for most of the laws."
I can't claim any great or even moderate knowledge of British politics but this seems about right to me. The Tories never had a similar Tea Party moment in their recent history so the Tories and Labour are even more a uniparty than what 2010's-till-Trump Republicans and Democrats were. I had forgotten about this event, but recently on a Podcast someone mentioned the primary loss of Eric Cantor in 2014. That was really a big sign of the Republican base asserting itself and casting out, to a large degree, uniparty Republicans. I don't think the Tories have had anything like that or the Tea Party. If Farage and his Reform UK party can get control then there will be real change.
Averting tyranny (I almost wrote heading off!) in England usually took a Cromwellian trajectory -- a few noggins rolled and that happy breed of men rejoiced. Today, there aren't enough spikes for the guilty conks. Perhaps shame... How to shame the shameless, that was a job for Britain's bright and bold comedians, but not anymore.
Democrats who interrupt should be placed with gags in their mouths and made to wear dunce hats and clown noses as they stand facing the corner.
What a pack of assholes.
I really don't understand why the British people are letting there country be destroyed. A cautionary tale for America.
Democrats scream about "Their Democracy!" like little children who had their toy taken away because they screamed and threw a tantrum at walmart after mom refused to buy the candy they wanted.
Tofu King,
First the left lie. Act like the cool kids, get everyone on board with their free stuff and free abortion shiny objects.
Then the corrupt globalist left allow in millions of unvetted illegals - FOR THE VOTES.
Then the corrupt left are then in power... forever.
COVID was a trial run of the types of things they will do.
I'm just now noticing the subtitle of the blog is "Strewed over with hurts since 2004." When was this changed? Was it when the recent "Hurty Words" post was put up? This feels related to free-speech which seems a topic of this Farage post.
I was triggered by Jamie raskin’s pink haired twink.
“They've already made criticizing the Holocaust ( our new 21st century religion) or the Genocide in Gaza or Jews in General a crime”
Where? When? Who was arrested? What was the charge?
Vault Dweller--My sense is that Brexit was the British Tea Party moment. The British people voted for Brexit and the Tories sided with Labour to kneecap it. The Reform Party is unfortunately nowhere near as strong as MAGA. The supression of speech in Britain is a big factor in this, in my opinion.
"I really don't understand why the British people are letting there country be destroyed."
The UK suffered a series of divisive blows (Scottish independence referendum, Brexit referendum, Brexit mismanagement, COVID lockdowns, political leadership hypocrisy over lockdowns, faltering response to illegal immigration, revolving door at number 10--Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak) under Tory government that caused the Tories to lose massively at the last election to both Labour and the Lib Dems. The next election is four years away, and Labour is determined to show the British people that they are the bosses now. Continued immigration and differences in birthrates portend more conflict ahead, not less. What path is open to moderate things? The lid is going to blow off sometime in the next two years. For comparison, consult the fall of the Fourth French Republic in 1958 and the May 1968 French protests. Is there a British DeGaulle? I think not.
The braying will progress with liberal garnish.
"My sense is that Brexit was the British Tea Party moment."
It does feel that way as far as the people getting their voices heard but as you acknowledged, Brexit was not supported and even opposed by much of the Tories. While there were Republicans who were not exactly Tea Party Republicans their opposition wasn't as diametrically opposed and their power has waned. The Tories don't feel like they represent a Right, Center-Right voting base. Rush Limbaugh used to admonish Republican politicians to not try to out Democrat the Democrats or to try and be Democrat-Lite. There doesn't seem to be any meaningful similar pushback against the Tories in that regard.
"I really don't understand why the British people are letting there country be destroyed."
The Fabian Socialists. They've been working on it for a long time.
Look at their original symbol:
https://www.clipartmax.com/middle/m2i8N4K9A0b1G6m2_note-the-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing-on-their-coat-of-fabian-society/
Curious as to whether Farage will be greeted at Heathrow by a host of Jami Raskin’s friends.
"I really don't understand why the British people are letting there country be destroyed."
I don't have a weapon of any kind, but my impression is that the right to have a firearm, emboldens, puts teeth in a southerner's sense of freedom and independence, unlike any other source, up to and perhaps including the Almighty himself. Down here, God and Gun are in perfect harmony.
I am reminded me of Sharansky's public square test:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_square_test
Given the news that we read out of the UK and other "Western" countries, I fear that we are farther away from passing that test than when Sharansky wrote that.
IF England is to be saved from its woke decline, THIS is the man to do it, assuming he survives long enough
I like Farage and would enjoy having a beer or three with him in a cozy English pub. His bizarrely comical facial expressions and jolly demeanor would have made him a great character actor.
He's the best of a pretty bad bunch, and I do hope he makes it to No. 10. But the savior of Britain? I don't think so. He's infected with the wokery just like all the rest of them. For example, he thinks it's fine to put mentally-ill men who claim to be women into prison cells with actual women.
I don't have a weapon of any kind, but my impression is that the right to have a firearm, emboldens, puts teeth in a southerner's sense of freedom and independence, unlike any other source, up to and perhaps including the Almighty himself. Down here, God and Gun are in perfect harmony.
This is 100% true, and it's pretty much the only reason the kind of scum who love government for its own sake are always clamoring for gun control.
You think today's Democrat Party cares about crime control? You gullible fool. They WANT crime, they WANT disorder, they WANT tribalist rancor between different groups of people, they WANT poverty, ignorance, dependence, squalor, fear, and misery. That is how they seize and hold power. Their policies are plainly designed to bring it about. Any place that is a filthy, crime-ridden shithole will always have a Democrat in charge.
They have no desire to make Americans self-sufficient and prosperous and safe. There's no path to power for them that way. And the very , very last thing they want is for free Americans to look at the rifle hanging on the wall and say to themselves, "Boy, I live in a shithole, with the worst political class the world has seen since the Byzantine Empire, but by God, if things truly become intolerable, at least we can pick up our guns and get rid of them."
“[T]he Labor government now are intending to pass a law that that has a definition of Islamophobia. They're intending to put that into law. And that effectively will mean that criticism of a religion — mocking of a religion — would become an offense.”
A Irish comedian is one thing. Richard Dawkins, probably the most prominent British intellectual of the past fifty years, has made a second career out of saying hurty words about religion, Islam in particular. I’d like to see them try to arrest him.
Who, exactly, gave black Democrat politicians carte blanche to ignore the rules, including the rules of civility? Was it Barack the Lightbringer?
Smilin’ Jack: “Richard Dawkins, probably the most prominent British intellectual of the past fifty years ….” Richard Dawkins was merely the equivalent of an assistant professor at Oxford until one of the Microsoft guys spent millions to buy him a promotion. He is a very prominent atheist who has written several books capitalizing on the “new atheism” which is just a nastier, more confrontive, version of the old atheism.
from ColoComment's link:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Town square test is a threshold test for a free society proposed by a former Soviet dissident and human rights activist Natan Sharansky, now a notable politician in Israel.
In his book The Case for Democracy, published in 2004, Sharansky explains the term: "If a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm, then that person is living in a fear society, not a free society. We cannot rest until every person living in a 'fear society' has finally won their freedom."[1]"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indeed.
Why I refer to the modern Democratic Party as--> Soviets.
meanwhile, people at the NYTs are probably sad today..
Paramount in talks to buy Bari Weiss’ Free Press for up to $200M, give her senior editorial role at CBS News
https://nypost.com/2025/09/03/business/paramount-to-buy-bari-weiss-free-press-for-up-to-200m-give-her-senior-editorial-role-at-cbs-news-report/?utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
Tofu King said...
I really don't understand why the British people are letting there country be destroyed. A cautionary tale for America.
For the same reason that Romney voters thought Romney would make things better. The GOPe even had followers of Desantis in 2024.
We just figured it out a few years earlier.
Peachy said...
from ColoComment's link:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Town square test is a threshold test for a free society proposed by a former Soviet dissident and human rights activist Natan Sharansky, now a notable politician in Israel.
In his book The Case for Democracy, published in 2004, Sharansky explains the term: "If a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm, then that person is living in a fear society, not a free society. We cannot rest until every person living in a 'fear society' has finally won their freedom."[1]"
There is a notable caveat here. In order to have a free society you need the ability to do as he says above.
If you want to have a free high trust society you must accept you will have a large prison population and people who are exiled.
The Labour Party won their current majority with the fewest votes in forever for all intents and purposes. Nobody wanted them in power but they got their opportunity and now they are destroying freedom.
You can’t have people like that hanging around in numbers that could ever result in political power.
@hombre: "Who, exactly, gave black Democrat politicians carte blanche to ignore the rules, including the rules of civility? Was it Barack the Lightbringer?"
It happened way before that. This followed the Black Power fists at the Olympics (1968), as well as the contemporary Black Panthers and Louis Farrakhan. There were plenty of Marxist revolutionaries in the 1970s.
Following the assassination of MLK Jr., blue cities turned a blind eye. D.C. received permission for "home rule" in 1973, and they elected crack cocaine smoker Marion Barry mayor in 1979.
Equity.
There will be no revolution in Britain. They are largely without guns.
you’ll need to translate this
I don't understand the first sentence, either, but the rest: the Coalition of the Fringes has become a circular firing squad.
Brexit was mostly an attempt to stop mass immigration, so similar to Trump 2016. Boris and his successors then increased it. Hence Tory collapse in last summer's election. Unfortunately, the King can no longer dissolve Parliament on his own, which is what needs to happen soon. Starmer doesn't have to call an election until 2029, by which time Britain will be either beyond hope or at war with itself.
"This is 100% true, and it's pretty much the only reason the kind of scum who love government for its own sake are always clamoring for gun control."
Of course they are. You can't get the deplorables in the Stolypin cars if they're armed.
Interestingly enough Richard Dawkins, the author of The Selfish Gene feels that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and calls religious faith a delusion.
He says that that delusion is Just a construct of people, who need to believe in "something".
Here's the interesting part:
in The Selfish Gene (from what of it i've read), he claims that an individual almost certainly does not exist and calls belief in such faith a delusion.. BY genes.
According to him, genes are the ONLY actual life form, and that higher creations are just constructs of those genes.
I'd like to ask him how HE feels about atheistic genes that don't believe in Richard Dawkins?
@gilbar: Dawkins coined the modern word "meme," and may be remembered more for describing standardized social media topics than for genetics.
Lawnerd: hate crime laws opened a back door to hate speech laws by creating certain protocols for enforcing vandalism and simple assault, plus additions to more serious crimes. And what the government won't do, academia and the business world, including access to participating in banking, has stepped in.
More than a decade ago.
Colorado is a clearing house for children brought here illegally and forced into human sex trafficking.
Democrats - do. not. care.
Farage is twice as popular in the UK as the Tories and Labor combined. I haven't fact-checked that, but it seems right to me.
As for whether individuals actually exist, I guess that's what you call an intellectual conceit. Like the fact that of the 30K eggs your mother produced, and the roughly two trillion sperm the average man produces over a lifetime, that makes the odds that you would have been born to your parents about 60 trillion to one against. In other words, impossible, and therefore you don't exist. That's holding constant that your parents met and decided to have children. The actual odds against you being born are incalculably high.
The results of the Infinite Improbability drive (Hitchhikers Guide) have nothing on the likelihood of humanity even existing, much less you and I talking about it on Althouse.
My impression from afar is that the Tories are not the conservative party, but rather the party of the status quo.
Having ineffectually watched as Labor tore down Chesterton’s Fence, they say ‘Well, yes, it never should have been torn down, but now that it’s down we can’t put it back up again.’
Politicians sound about as smart as a news comments section. Take that as you will.
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