a rich history (despite its short existence) of racially charged and outright xenophobic rhetoric, widespread anti-semitism, and close ties to neo-nazi organisations and individuals on ALL levels of the party don't magically disappear by creating flimsy and outright laughable whataboutisms concerning other parties. everyone knows what the AfD, including their CURRENT leadership, is all about and they aren't even trying to be subtle about it. dog-whistling doesn't have to be particularly sophisticated these days, just pretend you're 'just saying what no one else dares to say' and 'trying to protect our society and culture in this war against it' apparently does the trick and has plenty of simple-minded and innately fearful people following them.
but hey, whenever you're not amongst you fellow brownshirts you can still pretend it's just 'certain nonsense' - very much like 'herrenrasse', suggesting 'zyklon b treatments', and claiming your race is 'superior to africans' are just 'jokes / facts / innocent nonsense'...
Quote (zarkadon @ 7 Apr 2018 06:59)
You can't really call some crazy random radio host and journalist who hates everything and everyone that doesn't think the way he does "the anti-separatist camp". Comparing it to the other side just doesn't work too well, because this guy is just some individual who likes trolling and setting the world on fire, with no relationship to the government, or any unionist institution.
I mean, you won't see any politician on the unionist side now calling for a referendum to exit the EU based on this decision (like this crazy journalist has done). Meanwhile, on the catalan's government side it isn't some random radio host that is calling for chaos... remember that Puigdemont was calling the EU a "corrupt association of decaying nations" and saying that he would like Catalonia to consider exiting the union, after the EU said that they wouldn't take part in any negotiations with Catalonia as that was a Spanish internal affair. Also, the radical propaganda institutions like ANC that promote fake history are given public money and voice on catalan public media, and "youth groups" like Arran that call for street violence and pressure on unionist politicians belong to and receive money from parties like the CUP.
The ideas Losantos defends aren't defended by any party inside the spanish parliament. The radicalism on the unionist side definitely exists, but it has no official voice and it is not supported in any way by the government or any relevant authorities or organizations. Meanwhile on the other side, it is promoted with public funds and supported by many of the people, parties and organizations that support separatism...
Comparing them is a false equivalence.
that's why i specified 'a lot' of people in the anti-separatist camp and clearly pointed out that most of them are not THAT radical. that being said though, just because he has no official ties with the central government, and just because he has some other radical ideas, doesn't mean he's not anti-separatist. he clearly is, you're trying to create a condition that is not at all required to justify my evaluation. and just like the government won't charge any of the violent police officers but make an example of one that chose to stand down, it seems like a lot of people in the anti-separatist camp are also refusing to accept any blame on their side...
also, it clearly is not necessary for an 'official' anti-separatist propaganda channel to exist. that side holds all the power, outright dictates policy and official interpretation of that matter, and simply implements their ideas - like physically suppressing a referendum, making political arrests on bogus charges, outright denying catalonia any negotiations about a realistic way out - just 'democracy' things. i mean seriously, how naive would you have to be to expect the other side to play completely 'fair' against that?
and just to be clear, because i know some people struggle with the distinction: i pointed out in previous discussions that i'm personally NOT a friend of puigdemont, his course of action, his rhetoric, or by extension everything the catalonian separatists do. what i'm saying is that i understand where they coming from and that i completely oppose the way spain goes about this. again, just because i support a general RIGHT to self-determination (or at the very least a REALISTIC political path to it) does not mean i favour catalonian independence itself, in fact i really don't.
so while i appreciate the effort, i think it's somewhat ironic that you had to create a such a strawman in order to suggest a false equivalent, not a single person compared this nut job to anything on the other side until you did. also, nice dodge on the political arrests and spain's expected misuse (or at the very least incredibly one-sided charges in that matter) of the justice system in order to punish the catalonian side...