The Witchfinder General

The internet, when first ushered in, it was done so with a mix of hope, hype and fanfare. It was promised the internet would redesign culture (it has), it would be a portal to lots of free information ( it is ) and it would give voice to people no matter what they believed, an egalitarian paradise (it sort of was) .
Alas, as the wild west of cyberspace was taken over by big business, the usual gatekeepers, guarded the usual gates. Algorithms were set that created thought ghettos, where one can only see their own world reflected back at them.
This has created an odd form of brainwashing and a culture where it’s, almost, impossible, to have a reasoned debate, not just on the internet but also in “real life”… Worse than this it has made people hysterical in their intolerance of opposing views.
Nowhere is the hysteria more hysterical than when the cyber crowds think they have discovered a lack in a individuals “virtue” . They then use the supposed lack of virtue as a reason to claim the most fanciful things and outright decimate a person’s life.
In fact, in many ways, the current hounding of anyone who hasn’t managed to lead a moral life on a par with Buddha, is a modern form of witchhunt.
One of the biggest trigger issues for the ” identity politics” brigade is race or to be more exact perceived racism.

For me, I don’t judge by colour – I wasn’t bought up in an all-white English town in 1923 and I wasn’t bought up in Sussex, which is a hilariously white (middle class) place even in 2019.
I also see “right” and ” left ” as pretty useless terms that reek of lies and should have been left in the last century.
The council estates of Oxford (where I was born and bruised) were a mixed affair ( The poor from England, Ireland and Jamacia ..) All raised to be flesh and fodder for the local car factories- unless you wanted to be a hairdresser or in the building trade or a hairdresser in the building trade.
I mentioned this, as such a background fostered an understanding that came from experience and books, which is pretty much a universe away from the modern world where people seem to get most of their views and experience from the click of a mouse and cushioned “safe spaces”.

One of the odd things I have seen on the internet, as well as in the press which to keep up with demand has lowered its standards, is that things that used to be considered centrist politics or right of centre are now considered “extreme far right”.
Thus, both Ukip and For Britain are labelled “extreme far right” and anyone who is in or supports those parties are likewise considered “extreme far right ” and “fascists”. Thus, stigmatising large swaths of the population, who have never committed a crime and never wished ill of anyone. Not to mention stopping any form of open, truthful deabate

Myself, I would never vote for either Ukip or For Britain (I aim in a different direction) BUT I fail to see how both of them are “extreme far right”.
If they are it means the definition has changed, to something, which is, although not the best ideology, not THAT bad and quite understandable – it’s hard for some American’s to grasp, as the white skins there are visitors on a land that birthed coloured skin- it belonged to the native Americans. The South West is Mexican really. Whereas in the UK/Ireland the soil grew whites. Thus, it is a “white land” in that sense ( I’m talking for the last 1000 year and so on)
With that said, its human nature, especially on tiny Island for people to become “protectionist” . If you go to lots of “coloured” countries they are also “protectionist”.

To most people the “extreme far right” means Hitler loving, pure white skin worshipping, gay , black and jew hating killer monsters – the KKK in the USA , The Nazi party in Germany and in the UK the likes of the National Front and so on.
It sticks me as dishonest, at best, to stretch such an incendiary term to include parties like Ukip and For Britain.

Ukip are now merely right of centre, they only had one policy “leave the EU” and that “want” is a mainstream “want”, that was also favoured by Tony Benn, labour, and Jeremy Corbyn, labour, (for different reasons), not to mention 52% of the country.
They also had ITV television presenter Kilroy Silk and film/television star Joan Collins among their membership- these two are hardly Heinrich Himmler

For Britain are a party paid for by the “right wing” of Israel. they are a party that deals in “slight of hand”
BUT their manifesto is not extreme far right”- it espouses animal rights, tighter controls on immigration (much like the Conservative parties) and a crackdown on Sharia Law practises in the UK ( one law for all) .
Their leader, Anne Marie Warters, is a lesbian, animal rights lover, from Dublin who used to be in the Labour party. She is not an”extreme far right ” activist.

I am aware there are people with unfortunate idea’s in both Ukip and For Britain BUT there are in Labour and Conservative parties also- that’s what political parties are though. They are parties that are made of individuals with different ideas that come together for a general goal. I do maintain the general goal of both Ukip and For Britain, in terms of their party manifesto isn’t “extreme far right”.

To lump the likes of Kiljoy Silk, Joan Collins and Anne Marie Waters ( a gay, animal loving woman from Dublin ) in with Hitler and David Duke helps nobody…

Operation Snide

It seems Dave ‘I got a post card from Morrissey ‘ Haslam is advertising a free anti Morrissey gig to coincide with the singers concert in Manchesterford in July .
Haslam took to social media and said

“How can we respond to Morrissey’s hatful of hate, and his support for the far-right? With a free LOVE MUSIC HATE RACISM party on the Sunday he’s in Manchester, July 8”

Div Haslam says he’s putting on the show to protest against the singers ‘Hateful hate’ Now if you feel people are spreading hatred and racism then having any form of protest is fair enough.. However I have to ask myself what hate?In another social media post he elucidates on his reasoning for the protest party – anyone would think he has a new book to sell….Oh yeh, he does .

“A free party to coincide with Morrissey’s forthcoming visit to Manchester, featuring more than a dozen of the city’s top DJs – in response to Morrissey’s divisive views, and his support for the far-right.

In recent years, the ex-Smiths singer’s views on race have become particularly strident. Morrissey has described the Chinese people “a sub-species”, heavily criticised Angela Merkel for opening German borders to refugees, and has gone on record supporting far-right figures like Anne Marie Waters and EDL founder Tommy Robinson. He does, however, claim to have “Muslim friends”.

Morrissey hasn’t lived in the city for thirty years – he lives abroad in tax exile – and has now joined the ranks of various right-wing politicians, tax exiles, tabloids, and media hate-slingers seeking to divide our community.

Manchester is our home, it’s a city built on immigration, a city with an amazing legacy of great bands and wonderful clubs.

How do we counter the hate? Let the music do the talking; by throwing a free party, a celebratory all-dayer of beautifully diverse soul-filled, hope-filled music… ”

Now it’s true Morrissey, over the last 8 years, has shown elements of being misguided, at times has been a bit of a twit and may have displayed the worsening of a malady but I wouldn’t go as far as suggesting he is trying to spread “hateful hate” as such.

It’s true the party For Britain that he has shown support for does spread hate BUT Morrissey hasn’t himself .

This isn’t the only element of truth bending in Haslams glory seeking comments, the “Chinese are a sub-species” comment were actually a “Stitch up job” by The Guardian and Poet and fan with an Oedipus complex Simon Armitage- Simon is a talented enough poet, that unfortunately has a face designed to be nothing other than the first point of contact at a Ramsgate unemployment office..

The Guardian were swift to run a teaser campaign for the interview between Morrissey and Armitage, that went along the lines of “Tune in and see what the singer said this time” trying to gain maximum interest for their hurried hatchet job.

In a breezy interview, in regards to a news report on the Chinese Cat and Dog trade , which included very graphic footage of dogs and cats being maimed , murdered and even skinned alive, all Morrissey actually said was “Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can’t help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies.”

Now in the context of what the singer was talking about, is his comment racist or merely a human reaction to inhuman acts? I personally would consider it the latter. It’s no different from any conversation that goes on up and down Britain (if not the world) on seeing humans inflict such cruelty on defenceless creatures, especially dogs and cats that are seen as family members by millions of pet owners .

This is Simon Armitage’s response when being quizzed about the singers comments , after the interview had come out “I thought at the time it was a dangerous thing to say into a tape recorder. He must have known it would make waves, he’s not daft… But he’s provocative and theatrical, and it was one of dozens of dramatic pronouncements. I’m not an apologist for that kind of remark, and couldn’t ignore it. But clearly, when it comes to animal rights and animal welfare, he’s absolutely unshakable in his beliefs. In his view, if you treat an animal badly, you are less than human. I think that was his point.”

A couple of points that may be worth nothing but are worth noting the newspaper, that were asking for Armitage’s thoughts, were part of the same organization that ran and hyped the original interview.

Armitage is clearly saying Morrissey wasn’t being racist just stating he considers anyone who mistreats animals to be inhuman .
Thus, if Armitage thought he wasn’t being racist, one would think he would have spoken to the editor of the paper that is running the piece, thus they would know he wasn’t being racist ..So why write the article and advertise the article as if he was ?
The answer is obvious , the lying press were lying again ..Anything to make up the numbers . They don’t care if they ruin careers as long as they sell copy

Haslam states Morrissey “heavily criticised Angela Merkel for opening German borders to refugees”.
This is true and its false. The interview Haslam is referring to was with Der Spiegel. Again the interview (you can listen here)was a laid back affair , Morrissey remained, as usual , softly spoken and playful ..Though admittedly this interview wasn’t his brightest hour and he came out of it sounding very ill informed.
Morrissey, was critical of Merkel (is that now a crime?) but not because of the opening of boarders to refugees per se , more about the amount of unchecked immigration in Germany, and Europe in general – which is a concern for people , to use last centuries terms, on the “left ” as well as the “right”.
I suspect Merkel represents to Morrissey a bland version of Europe where all nations mingle and merge and lose their identity..Which is something he’s always seemed to be against. Now thinking like this may make him a reactionary but it doesn’t, in of itself, make him a racist .

Lastly Div Haslam states that Morrissey

” has gone on record supporting far-right figures like Anne Marie Waters and EDL founder Tommy Robinson. ”

Again this is true and it’s false , Morrissey has , unfortunately, given strong, support to For Britain and fired off praise for the parties leader Anne Marie Walters.
Anne Marie Walters is a handsome man that just happens to be a woman. Think a young Bryon Ferry, albeit a young Bryon Ferry with rickets.

Now it’s true that Annie Marie Walters seems askew and fulled by muslim hate but she isn’t a “far right figure” as such , in fact she was only in the labour party a few years ago and came to For Britain via UKIP , which in the UK in 2018 is virtually centrist right.

As for Tommy Robinson, Morrissey hasn’t given any public support to him (yet). All he said, in a soft bowl interview was he thought the treatment of Tommy was “shocking”.
Saying you think someone has been mistreated doesn’t mean you support the person .

Morrissey’s views on Tommy being mistreated aren’t even extreme, lots of people think that . Lots of us in the UK don’t agree with Tommy’s views and don’t like him as a person , however it’s obvious he has been misrepresented in the media and treated badly by the law….
13 months prison time for contempt of court, reporting on FaceBook about a court case, is a harsh, to say the least . I know of people who have tried to kill people who have done less time than that .
13 months hard labour for filming yourself , on your mobile phone, outside a court is “shocking” and this is very much the common view in the UK

If you have been a visitor on Haslams social Media pages over the years you would be witness to his limitless anti Jeremy Corbyn posts and endless name calling and putting down of people who voted for Brexit .Aren’t his own comments a form of hate?
Of course, the only reason Div has ago at Brexit and Corbyn is because almost everyone else who works in the British media does and Dave is too much of a coward to think and act for himself .

I’m all for protests against racism, hatred, bullying and the bedroom furnishing of mismatching eiderdown and pillowcase sets . The trouble is it’s a bit rich when Div Haslam (who remarkably has a head that looks more like a King Edward potato than a King Edward Potato does ), Whom for years, has been dropping the singers name when it suits him posting his ‘Morrissey postcard’ on, seemingly any and all social media outlets. Boring the world with his gushing, groupie like encounters with the singer.
Even this year after the singer had made ‘iffy’ remarks he took part in a Mozarmy event (a get together for the singers fans) in Manchester. Not to mention using his meetings with the singer to sell his awful new book- which is basically a book that says ‘ooh guess which pop stars I met’.
I would suggest if you don’t like the singer, if you see nothing but hate and malice in him then stop trying to make money from him and using him for publicity . Essentially Div Haslam strikes me as incredibly disingenuous and incredibly snide
The type who will never take a real stand, only ever doing what is considered popular, the type who can only make their name on the backs of others but then he is a DJ and what are DJ’s but people whom make their name and status playing other peoples records . Hip by Proxy merchants.

What the media and people like Div Haslam leave out with their clumsy , ripped screaming from context, collection of remarks and incidents that are meant to prove the singer is an ultra right little Englander and a hate filled racist is that Morrissey is, and for years has been, a vegetarian, pro women’s rights, pro gay rights, anti war and anti royalist. As well as being anti England’s rule of Northern Ireland and The Falklands. He also wrote a song called See You In Far Off Places, which is anti USA’s Middle East operations.These are hardly the opinions of someone on the politic hard right.

The singer routinely travels the globe has stated his love yes for England but also Ireland, Scandinavia, Mexico, America and Israel as well as singing about the wonders of Turkish city Istanbul. This doesn’t strike me as the actions of a St George tattooed little Englander

Morrissey has been a long time fan of black author James Baldwin, he dedicated his last LP Homo In Highschool Low In High School ( which was rather good thank-you-very-much ) to black comedian/social observer Dick Gregory,. At gigs he’s been supported, among others, by David Mcalmont ( black singer), Sonya Madan (an Indian singer, born in Delhi), Murray Lightburn (black singer), Buffy Sainte-Marie (indigenous people’s of Canada singer ) and of course Kristeen Young (a singer who may not even be from this Galaxy, let alone Earth). Morrissey also dedicated his autobiography to a lady called Tina who happens to be from Iranian Muslim stock. This may not be a faultless defence against being a racist but it’s also not the role call and choices of you’re average BNP, EDL or even UKIP member….Even a member only on the part time Saturday cleaning rota.

Being a pilok, at times, doesn’t make one Heinrich Himmler

I here finish , as I’m Finished

Love music, Lamp Haslam