Does anybody here take the Greens seriously?

[briantrumpet]

for obvious reasons I think Farage looks like a massive hypocrite in calling for Polanski's arrest for a swiftly deleted bad taste social media post.

I probably ought to resist the urge to call that whataboutery 😉

So I shall. Not least as I think you're correct.

In the longer term, though Polanski might have got the media's attention in a way that Caroline Lucas never did, I don't think he's going to be an asset in the longer term, as I think his allegiance to the actual Green agenda is fragile at best, and his slapdash social media activity is several accidents waiting to happen. I don't think the general public will register the difference in his status with the Green Party and that of Burnham (say) with Labour, and they'll tar the whole party with his many indiscretions and missteps.

Which is a pity, as I want Greens to have a strong and believable voice, even if I might not want them being the party of government.

 

[icowden]

He is not the selected candidate in the party to become Prime Minister - there isn't one, and won't be one until the days comes. His role is to be leader. We might say the same about Farage, I don't happen to know, but has Reform every been given the opportunity to decide who will become PM if the party win a general election?

Usually it's whoever the leader is. The Greens have an odd system, but it would be considered very strange if Greens won power and Polanski wasn't PM.

 

[matticus]

I really don't know why it's so hard for politicians just to make a proper apology. A life lesson I suggest to the impressionable minds I get to play with is that it's better to apologise at the first opportunity, even if you're not sure you've screwed up.

It makes no difference. Whoever you are, whatever the "crime":

- The Apology Police will always get involved ("that's not a proper apology! etc ... ")
- The "Well he would say that, his advisors made him!" brigade will turn up. And
- Everyone with an axe to grind will not shift their opinion one iota.

Here endeth my homily for the day :-)

 

[AndyRM]

It makes no difference. Whoever you are, whatever the "crime":

- The Apology Police will always get involved ("that's not a proper apology! etc ... ")
- The "Well he would say that, his advisors made him!" brigade will turn up. And
- Everyone with an axe to grind will not shift their opinion one iota.

Here endeth my homily for the day :-)

When you wrote "axe to grind" goddamn it reminded me of an absolute classic album.


View: https://youtu.be/EMsSvJB8IDc?is=_2VCO1W0P-3M8K71


Legends.

 

[First Aspect]

He isn't. You just don't like him, and nobody requires you to. When Polanski was first elected to his role he did say he intended to mirror Farage's populist approach without the nationalism.

This doesn't mean that I think Polanski is the solution to what was becoming a rise of Reform, but he has certainly damaged the dogma of Starmer in Labour, and damaged Reform.

My objection is, that unlike Caroline Lucas, he seems to have forgetten his place within the Green Party. He is not the selected candidate in the party to become Prime Minister - there isn't one, and won't be one until the days comes. His role is to be leader. We might say the same about Farage, I don't happen to know, but has Reform every been given the opportunity to decide who will become PM if the party win a general election?

Moron is a bit strong, but he's making a lot of mis-steps. At some stage the net effect for the Greens won't be positive.

 

[Shortfall]

Moron is a bit strong,

Oh I don't know. His teeth aren't great either.

 

[briantrumpet]

Oh I don't know. His teeth aren't great either.

Now you're being toothist.

 

[Beebo]

What about the person who was wearing the t-shirt? is Fárange calling for that person to be arrested? What about the company making the t-shirt and why no Police dawn raid? ...

Plausible deniability in that the t shirt has no detail of which Nigel it is referring to.
You would have to ask XTC about their motivation back in the 1970s.
Maybe Farage is reading too much into this?

 

[secretsqirrel]

Plausible deniability in that the t shirt has no detail of which Nigel it is referring to.
You would have to ask XTC about their motivation back in the 1970s.
Maybe Farage is reading too much into this?

let’s face it, if Fartage he had been on a boat in the channel yesterday instead of Chris Pilp he would have claimed that the French were shooting at him.

 

[bobzmyunkle]

Who'd have guessed. Two tier policing? Establishment conspiracy? Poor old Nige.

BBC News - Police to take no further action against Polanski over guillotine re-post
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwylrnxxl77o

 

[HMS_Dave]

It's not surprising there is no further action. There is no credible threat. It might have been distasteful and subsequently deleted, but surely that is just playing the game at Farage's level who himself is reported by many witnesses to have made very distasteful, alarming and threatening comments at Dulwich College when he himself was a younger man, notably "gas them"....

"Zack Polanski is allowed to get away with inciting murder whilst ordinary people up and down the country get a knock at the door for making a joke online."

Neither of which is true, either....

 

[Psamathe]

It's not surprising there is no further action. There is no credible threat. It might have been distasteful and subsequently deleted, but surely that is just playing the game at Farage's level who himself is reported by many witnesses to have made very distasteful, alarming and threatening comments at Dulwich College when he himself was a younger man, notably "gas them"....

"Zack Polanski is allowed to get away with inciting murder whilst ordinary people up and down the country get a knock at the door for making a joke online."

Neither of which is true, either....

Isn't it just Fǎrange just trying to distract from his and Reform's financial "questions"?

 

[First Aspect]

Isn't it just Fǎrange just trying to distract from his and Reform's financial "questions"?

Yes. In a day or two none will remember what Polanski did, just that he buggered up a non apology. And at that stage the ongoing investigation into Reform funding will still be news, and Farage will be back in hiding. He will stay in hiding for asong as possible, before the consequences of calling a by election against a waste disposal unit one back to bite him.

 

[Psamathe]

Isn't it just Fǎrange just trying to distract from his and Reform's financial "questions"?

Yes. In a day or two none will remember what Polanski did ...

But ! suspect if just adds to the overall impression as to Polanski's capability and character. Just another contributory impression forming event where event forgotten but impression remains.

 

[First Aspect]

But ! suspect if just adds to the overall impression as to Polanski's capability and character. Just another contributory impression forming event where event forgotten but impression remains.

And rightly so. He botched the response in largely the same way as he botched the tax.tbing by claiming he didn't live on a boat. His political first instinct is to save face and double down. It will be his undoing.

It turns out the t shirt is based on a 70s pop song, and no doubt worn intentionally. There was a missed opportunity to apologise and make light of it.