Commentary — Feb 3, 2014
The Independent’s headline says it all:
France’s politics of hatred: Move towards traditional family values risks being hijacked by anti-Semites and homophobic nationalists
Extremists march at an earlier protest in Paris. click to enlarge
Extremists march at an earlier protest in Paris. click to enlarge
Widespread demonstrations across France unite people from all walks of life and faiths in defence of traditional family values and The Independent reports it under the headline: “France’s politics of hatred…”
We shouldn’t be surprised though. After all for many years the Independent featured Johann Hari as its lead writer. Not only was Hari later revealed as a confirmed plagiarist he was also found to be the author, under the pseudonym of David Rose, of a work entitled: “How my little brother learned to be a whore”, a pornographic fiction that dealt with homosexual incest.
So after having featured Hari as its star writer for many years, The Independent’s take on the French protests was almost predictable. Suggesting, as it did that protesters were susceptible to the dark influence of “conspiracy theories”.
In doing so The Independent echoed French Interior Minister Manuel Valls who charged that protesters were “anti-elite, anti-state, anti-tax, anti-parliament”, and “anti-press …”
Mr Valls told French newspapers Saturday: “We are witnessing a union of extremes, never before seen in France.” Above all, Valls said that union was “anti-Semitic, racist and homophobe.”
A groundswell of popular protests in defence of traditional values and the media in conjunction with politicians are rushing to condemn protesters as “extremists” of one sort or another.
If nothing else that should tells us something about how politicians and the media are both reading from the same script sheet.
It might have been convincing once but not anymore. Times have changed and with the advent of the Internet word is spreading and not everyone is now buying into the government-media line.
According to one protester, quoted by TheIndependent at Sunday’s demonstration:
Alain, 67, a businessman, said: “Valls thinks that he can contain these protests by painting us all as dangerous extremists. When I was young, every left-winger was accused of being a communist. Now, to this government and the mainstream media, every right-winger is a fascist.”
No doubt there were some “extremists” in Sunday’s protests but the vast majority were probably like Alain, quoted above, ordinary people who don’t like where the French mainstream media and politicians are trying to lead them.
Such sentiment isn’t confined to France though. It is being echoed in many other countries across the world. Politicians and the mainstream media are no longer entirely trusted because of the agenda they seem to be promoting worldwide.
A glance through the same edition of The Independent reveals other aspects of the same agenda:
Why can’t we cast trans people in trans roles?
“When will TV and film start opening the door to transgender actors?”
Or from a few days before:
“Homophobia doesn’t just oppress gay people, it affects us all”
“To be thought of as gay still elicits a fearful response in far too many people…”