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The howl against democracy
Spectator (UK) ^ | 26 June 2016 | Brendan O'Neill

Posted on 06/26/2016 7:52:21 PM PDT by Lorianne

There’s a delicious irony to Remainers’ branding of Leave voters as confused individuals who have simply made a desperate howling noise, whose anti-EU vote was a ‘howl of anger’ (Tim Farron) or a ‘howl of frustration’ (JK Rowling). Which is that if anyone’s been howling in recent days, it’s them, the top dogs of the Remain campaign. They are howling against the demos; raging against the people; fuming about a system that allows even that portly bloke at the end of your street who never darkened the door of a university to have a say on important political matters. That system we call democracy.

In all the years I’ve been writing about political stuff, I cannot remember a time when anti-democratic sentiment has been as strong as it is right now. No sooner had an awe-inspiring 17.5m people rebelled against the advice of virtually every wing of the establishment and said screw-you to the EU than politicos were calling into question the legitimacy of their democratic cry. Apparently the people were ill-informed, manipulated, in thrall to populist demagoguery, and the thing they want, this unravelling of the EU, is simply too mad and disruptive a course of action to contemplate. So let’s overturn the wishes of this dumb demos.

So it is that David Lammy has howled against the ‘madness’ of the vote. We can ‘bring this nightmare to an end through a vote in Parliament’, he said. That nightmare he’s talking about is the people having their say, the throng making a choice. The UN Special Representative for International Migration, Peter Sutherland, has also openly called for the crushing of the people’s will. British voters were hoodwinked by a ‘distortion of facts’, he says — because we’re that stupid — and ‘somehow this result must be overturned’. UN officials condemn African or Asian dictators who ride roughshod over the will of their peoples, yet seek to foment the same in Britain. Media commentary has dripped with contempt for the moronic people. ‘Some of the oldest and whitest people on the planet leapt at a chance to vote against the monsters in their heads’, howled a writer for Esquire. There’s much talk about the people being ‘manipulated’ by lies and misinformation, as if they’re lifeless putty in the hands of the likes of Farage. Some have gone so far as to twist the definition of democracy in an attempt to rubbish the people’s will. ‘The idea that somehow any decision reached anytime by majority rule is necessarily “democratic” is a perversion of the term’, says Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff. Sometimes, democracy means making sure the people ‘avoid making uninformed decisions with catastrophic consequences’, he says. So it can be democratic to thwart the majority’s wishes if we think they’re stupid. And they have the gall to talk about manipulation.

And make no mistake: it is their aim to thwart our will. They want to use the law or politicians’ clout to undermine the result. Alastair Campbell tweeted: ‘EU law allows customers to withdraw from contract if contract based on lies. LEAVE agenda riddled with them. Lawyers on the case.’ Nicola Sturgeon says she’ll veto the Brexit, which would be a blatant, borderline tyrannical misuse of her powers to stymie the views of the mass of society. History would not be kind to her.

9excerpted)


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; United Kingdom
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To: Lorianne

The arrogance and disrespect of these turds is truly astonishing. There’s got to be a way to teach them a lesson that they won’t soon forget.


21 posted on 06/26/2016 10:00:57 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: Lorianne

I despise socialists.


22 posted on 06/26/2016 10:02:00 PM PDT by vpintheak (Freedom is not equality; and equality is not freedom!)
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To: Aliska; Candor7; little jeremiah; PhilDragoo

The Real Face of the European Union

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0WeURiShfU

now there’s a real eye-opener...


23 posted on 06/26/2016 10:32:32 PM PDT by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Brilliant. I salute you.


24 posted on 06/26/2016 10:55:32 PM PDT by Piranha (Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have - Saul Alinsky)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Article from the National Review I posted on FR ....LINK:

Brexit and the end of international progressive inevitability>>>

that’s the guy billy crystal wanted to be president. he sees no similarity with the revolt here in the states which is favoring trump for the same reasons he lists on his pro brexit screed.


25 posted on 06/26/2016 11:03:42 PM PDT by kvanbrunt2
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To: Lorianne
a ‘howl of frustration’ (JK Rowling)

Always thought Rowling was a Muslim supporter. Ever notice that the only gay guy in her books got thrown off the top of the tallest tower?

26 posted on 06/26/2016 11:09:34 PM PDT by Richard Kimball
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To: Fred Nerks

Thank you. DId you watch “Brexit The Movie”? I watched about half of it - I need to watch it all. Horrifying, I knew so little about the EU but hated it, after watching part of “Brexit The Movie” I hated it much more.

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYqzcqDtL3k


27 posted on 06/26/2016 11:22:55 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: Fred Nerks

I’m about half way through. Riveting of course.


28 posted on 06/26/2016 11:39:55 PM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: Fred Nerks

I watched it all. Thank GOD they voted out of it!


29 posted on 06/27/2016 12:02:22 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)
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To: Lorianne

Elites also say we must not allow states to decide issues like gay marriage or abortion


30 posted on 06/27/2016 3:14:40 AM PDT by ReaganGeneration2
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To: little jeremiah

I watched it all. Well worth an hour of your time. Analogous, I think, to America’s surge for Donald Trump.

TC


31 posted on 06/27/2016 4:41:19 AM PDT by Pentagon Leatherneck
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To: little jeremiah

thanks, like the man said at the end; what price freedom...

That EU is a frikken octopus that is sucking the life out of its member countries.


32 posted on 06/27/2016 5:03:42 AM PDT by Fred Nerks (Fair Dinkum!)
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To: Lorianne
They don't like us. They really don't like us.

And that is the problem.

33 posted on 06/27/2016 5:08:36 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Proud Infidel, Gun Nut, Religious Fanatic and Freedom Fiend)
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To: Flash Bazbeaux
You can’t win.
You can’t break even.
You can’t even get out of the game.

The Leaves have just proven Ginsberg’s theorem wrong.

That has yet to be seen. If the powers that be actually allow Britain to exit the EU, then I'd agree. It is entirely possible that TPTB will overturn this vote, and would be a great example of exactly how the theorem operates.

34 posted on 06/27/2016 6:26:20 AM PDT by zeugma (Welcome to the "interesting times" you were warned about.)
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To: Lorianne

A government that cannot abide by the consent of the governed has no legitimacy . Hence the Federal government of the US surrendered it’s legitimacy when it overruled the states on gay marriage.


35 posted on 06/27/2016 6:33:06 AM PDT by GenXteacher (You have chosen dishonor to avoid war; you shall have war also.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
As I indicated in other post, I downloaded the movie. So I could more closely examine some areas the producer brings out in what the EU really is, and how it operates.

Most of the full length versions I see at Utube will not allow the movie to be downloaded.
I found one that allowed it, after I had updated my Utube Downloader app.
I should have made note of what one, so that I could share that info with Freepers etc.. : (

For me it is not an issue. I have a copy on my PC.
36 posted on 06/27/2016 9:23:55 AM PDT by Marine_Uncle (Galt level is not far away......but alas! Honor must be earned...)
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To: Lorianne
‘The idea that somehow any decision reached anytime by majority rule is necessarily “democratic” is a perversion of the term’, says Harvard professor Kenneth Rogoff. Sometimes, democracy means making sure the people ‘avoid making uninformed decisions with catastrophic consequences’, he says.

This is utter nonsense. One of the principal criticisms against direct democracy is that it does result in "uninformed decisions with catastrophic consequences," as any casual reading of the history of Athens will demonstrate. If a demos has its decisions overturned by another body in government that is superior to it, then you don't have a democracy at all, you have an oligarchy or a republic, (equally noted is the tendency of a republic to turn into an oligarchy - ours has. That is, however, another conversation).

It is dismaying to hear this from a Yale professor - of economics, incidentally - who presumably ought to know the difference. It is less dismaying to hear it from J. K. Rowling, a spinner of fairy tales whose hefty bank account appears to have conferred a sense of political acumen for some unknown reason. The EU, however, is not Hogwarts, and the people in charge aren't faculty imbued with magical superpowers, even if occasionally they act that way.

37 posted on 06/27/2016 9:40:55 AM PDT by Billthedrill
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To: Billthedrill

Exactly. I can’t imagine what these people think democracy is.

That said, I’m not an advocate for direct democracy on a large scale (national matters). Works OK for smaller countries like Switzerland and on local issues. But not a great idea for entire large countries.

Still, if you’re going to have a national referendum, then you have to abide by the result. If they didn’t intend to do that, they should not have held the election in the first place. Seems more than dishonest to hold an election if you have no intention of abiding by the results should it not go your way.

They are playing with fire here.


38 posted on 06/27/2016 10:10:40 AM PDT by Lorianne
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To: Lorianne

Why is “white” an insult? Why is “old” an insult?


39 posted on 06/27/2016 10:14:06 AM PDT by chesley (The right to protest is not the right to disrupt.)
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To: generally

Don’t forget “white”. What a bunch of racists!


40 posted on 06/27/2016 10:15:21 AM PDT by chesley (The right to protest is not the right to disrupt.)
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