I’ve said it before, but these concise news items “from beneath the surface” should be appreciated and commented on more often, with the one-liners at the end of each from within the Unherd staff worth waiting for.
“Or half as much as Bono pays for Botox.” Classic.
Arthur King
7 months ago
Antifa has functioned as Democrat Brownshirts. BLM as well.
Ex Nihilo
7 months ago
One may fantasize that the Antifa will be tried, convicted, and then sent to the same penitentiaries where the Proud Boys are now serving time. Think of all the delightful conversations they can share at the lunch tables! Perhaps they might commiserate against “The Man”, join forces, and rename themselves: the Anti-Proud-Fa-Boys. Yeah, probably not 🙁
Cantab Man
7 months ago
“In Italy, fascists divide themselves into two categories: fascists and antifascists.”
-Ennio Flaiano
In America, fascists also divide themselves into two categories: fascists and antifascists…
…but we are also emphatically told (with parental finger-wagging) that ‘antifascist’ fascists don’t really exist in America…
…but when it becomes obvious that they do exist, we’re told that there’s only a handful of them…
…but when it becomes obvious that there’s more than a handful of them, we’re told that they aren’t a threat to civil society…
…but when it becomes obvious that they are a threat to civil society, we’re told that they are really ‘freedom fighters’ on a Savior mission to save us all from ourselves…
…but when it becomes obvious that we don’t know what the hooligans are trying to save us from, what they’re talking about, and that we didn’t ask for any saving in the first place, we’re told that ‘antifascist’ fascists don’t really exist….
The same psychopaths who planted bombs in the 1960s and shot police offices in urban areas in the 1970s. In the US, the underground Left seems to attract very violent people. They must emerge organically from an ultraviolent culture. The tendency to wage (reheated) civil war is another factor, conveyed by the media, political class and activists alike.
Tony Price
7 months ago
I suggest that you read the link to the Antifa trial – it gives a rather different viewpoint to that of the author of this piece.
The linked article is the most pathetically pro-antifa piece I’ve yet seen. These are violent political radicals who physically attack their enemies. I am glad the author had the foresight to omit the drooling obsequiousness of the article and focus on the trial itself.
John Riordan
7 months ago
“Some lawyers are fretting about whether this opens the door for those who protest as anti-fascists to be pursued by law enforcement, and whether this hinders free speech.”
Fretting? About the fact that left-wing extremists are not in fact allowed to include violence as part of their legitimate right to protest? As if this is some sort of precedent that’s being set, instead of what it actually is, namely the belated reassertion of what the law has always been?
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SubscribeI’ve said it before, but these concise news items “from beneath the surface” should be appreciated and commented on more often, with the one-liners at the end of each from within the Unherd staff worth waiting for.
Agreed
“Or half as much as Bono pays for Botox.” Classic.
Antifa has functioned as Democrat Brownshirts. BLM as well.
One may fantasize that the Antifa will be tried, convicted, and then sent to the same penitentiaries where the Proud Boys are now serving time. Think of all the delightful conversations they can share at the lunch tables! Perhaps they might commiserate against “The Man”, join forces, and rename themselves: the Anti-Proud-Fa-Boys. Yeah, probably not 🙁
“In Italy, fascists divide themselves into two categories: fascists and antifascists.”
-Ennio Flaiano
In America, fascists also divide themselves into two categories: fascists and antifascists…
…but we are also emphatically told (with parental finger-wagging) that ‘antifascist’ fascists don’t really exist in America…
…but when it becomes obvious that they do exist, we’re told that there’s only a handful of them…
…but when it becomes obvious that there’s more than a handful of them, we’re told that they aren’t a threat to civil society…
…but when it becomes obvious that they are a threat to civil society, we’re told that they are really ‘freedom fighters’ on a Savior mission to save us all from ourselves…
…but when it becomes obvious that we don’t know what the hooligans are trying to save us from, what they’re talking about, and that we didn’t ask for any saving in the first place, we’re told that ‘antifascist’ fascists don’t really exist….
Poetically, and brilliantly, expressed.
The same psychopaths who planted bombs in the 1960s and shot police offices in urban areas in the 1970s. In the US, the underground Left seems to attract very violent people. They must emerge organically from an ultraviolent culture. The tendency to wage (reheated) civil war is another factor, conveyed by the media, political class and activists alike.
I suggest that you read the link to the Antifa trial – it gives a rather different viewpoint to that of the author of this piece.
“but that they did so as part of a broader conspiracy to commit violence” do you dispute that Antifa frequently, always, conspire to commit violence?
The linked article is the most pathetically pro-antifa piece I’ve yet seen. These are violent political radicals who physically attack their enemies. I am glad the author had the foresight to omit the drooling obsequiousness of the article and focus on the trial itself.
“Some lawyers are fretting about whether this opens the door for those who protest as anti-fascists to be pursued by law enforcement, and whether this hinders free speech.”
Fretting? About the fact that left-wing extremists are not in fact allowed to include violence as part of their legitimate right to protest? As if this is some sort of precedent that’s being set, instead of what it actually is, namely the belated reassertion of what the law has always been?