Letters to the Editor
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The British National Party...
...are Britain's right-wing fringe quasi-neo-Nazis. Not that his statements aren't worth getting worked up about, but this isn't coming from someone who would be considered a mainstream political candidate. They routinely make jaw-droppingly awful statements about non-Whites as well -- in fact, they're mostly known for racism, so it's nice to see that they're broadening their horizons a bit by dabbling in sexism.
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Where's Samantha Power?
Ms Power, meet an actual monster. Monster, meet Ms Power.
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He needs some time
in a British jail.
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Oh, dear
This is quite bad, actually. So he's like a Bill O'Reilly type, who says outrageous things that sensible people don't take seriously? That's good, I guess.
Of course, I know a few Broadsheet posters who'll likely agree with the entire post...
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He can go Heimlich himself.
Since the concept of choice is not a valid one to Eriksen, I don't see how he can possibly object to being "misunderstood," deliberately or otherwise. According to him, he doesn't get a say in the matter. Next.
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not bill o'reilly...
Treepie, the BNP are less like the right wing of the Republican party and more like the Klan. They don't have the mainstream respectibility that someone like O'Reilly does. Really, I know it's awful what this guy, but the fact that a BNP candidate said something awful really isn't news at all.
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Perhaps you should stop paying attention to the BNP
OK. I didn't even read the post. All you need to know about it is that your title refers to the BNP. It's a party that exists purely on the power of outrageous headlines. I know this and I'm not even British. Stop paying attention to them.
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Gagging can be traumatic
Not that it was his intention, but being force-fed something can be painful, damaging, and potentially lethal. If I saw someone gagging on some gooey cake that was being forced into their mouth while they were held down, I would consider it to be assault.
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Oh so it is only the BNP.
You don't suppose he is our own Obnoxious Anonymous or Ben Dover? One really wonders where these nuts come from.
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That's appalling
But it reminds me of an ex-boyfriend who insisted that a woman being raped is no different than a man being beaten up.
He was an abuser, too.
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how can rape NOT involve violence?
Ok, looking past the source of this quote being from the BNP...
Maybe this is a really naive question, but how can a rape not be violent?
Unless a women is drugged, or incredibly afraid of violence (most likely because it has occured in the past), how can a "non-violent" rape occur?
If someone says "no" and resists an assualt (of any nature), presisting in physically forcing someone to do something is by definition violent.
So yeah. I can't really understand how this nut-jobs comments even make sense (in OR out of context).
Perhaps he SHOULD spend some time in a hardcore British jail, so he can experience first-hand the "non-violent" nature of rape.
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Oh, please
This is the BNP. Your astonishment is akin to expressing indignation that David Duke said something racist. Get real.
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What's really scary...
...is that senior BNP officials like Nick Griffin enjoy a certain gravitas with some American paleocons (e.g., Jared Taylor).
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The BNP is a fringe group
that disgusts most of Britain. The only way they maintain visibility is by being outrageous to get press attention. Guess what! You've fallen for their ploy.
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Please...
This is actually rather mild compared to their views re Jews, Muslims, non-whites, homosexuals &c.
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Cake
Amazing that he manages to not understand rape and not understand what force feeding is.
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Okay, the Nazi said something repulsive.
Do you expect better from Nazis? Not much of a story here, except to confirm that there will always be a percentage of horribles among us.
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I expect better from Salon
Yes, it makes for a salacious headline, which is probably why the British tabloids are covering this "story," but I expect a somewhat higher standard of journalism from Salon.
The BNP is nothing more or less than the British Nazi Party -- and this is not exaggeration; the party's founder has said that "Mein Kampf is my bible," their current leader has dismissed the Holocaust as "propoganda," and one of their Parliamentary candidates was actually arrested on suspicion of trying to assassinate Tony Blair. As a result, they've never gotten as much as 1% of the vote in any national British election.
This context is an important part of the story, making it both less surprising (because, well, he's a nazi), and less worrying (because he's a fringe candidate for a fringe party). This context is completely missing from your post.
The story here is: "An avowed Nazi, leader of a political party that believes that Jews, non-whites, gays, and non-Christians are not human and have no rights, also believes that women are not human and have no rights. And, shockingly, other avowed Nazis don't condemn him very strongly! Is this really newsworthy? To me, the most surprising thing is that he was removed as a candidate.
I expect this kind of tabloid journalism from the Evening Standard, the British tabloid that broke the story. All they care about is a good headline that gets people to pick up the paper, and Eriksen's statements make for that. I expect better from Salon.
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No, we shouldn't just ignore this.
Even if the BNP is an extreme group akin to the Klan, statements like this -- from a group that does have followers, few as they might be -- just show you that these attitudes still exists, even in places like Britain that are "enlightened" and "civilized."
To add a personal anecdote, I knew a guy (who I thought was rather nice and reasonable) who, when a topic rape came up, said, "I don't know why women don't just sit back and enjoy it."
I'll leave my reaction to your imagination.
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I'm torn on this. . .
Brightstar, can I just say that you always bring a smile to this scurvy feminists face. I'm sure your are not being intentionally hilarious, but when amid the predictable discussion you pop up feeling earnestly torn on the question of whether rape is wrong, I can't help but laugh.
But seriously, though, consider for a moment that you're turned on by a woman, your wife, even, but you're not in the mood to have a large dildo up your bum, and she goes on ahead and puts it there, anyway, against your wishes. Sure, you like having sex with women, but that would probably still be unpleasant for you, at the very least. Can you see what I'm getting at, here?