Political Extremism (at Home and Abroad) Dominates the Blogosphere

Reaction to two events that put the spotlight on political extremists overwhelmed the discussion in the social media last week. One, widely covered in the U.S. media, was the attack at the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. by a white supremacist. The other, barely noticed in this country, was a European Parliamentary election that seated two members of a hard-line right-wing party.

Together, these two stories generated almost 60% of the week's links on the Web tracking site Icerocket, according to the New Media Index by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. The two events also produced a similar pattern of response in the social media-outrage followed by more polarizing commentary about the causes and impact of ideological extremism.

Stories about the European election generated nearly a third (30%) of the week's links, a clear indication of the international flavor of the online community. While a few American bloggers reacted, the vast majority of commentary came from British bloggers upset at the election of two members of the anti-immigrant British National Party (BNP) to represent the U.K.

The shooting at the Holocaust museum (29% of the week's links) by white supremacist and Holocaust denier James W. von Brunn was primarily of interest to American bloggers who quickly turned to the question of who deserved blame.

The third-largest story, at 10% of the week's links, was the latest chapter in a saga that has generated significant interest in the social media. Last week, Miss California Carrie Prejean was stripped of her crown by pageant producers. She first gained attention back in April when her opposition to gay marriage-in response to a judge's question at the Miss USA pageant-prompted bloggers to cheer her willingness to stand up for her beliefs. The pageant producers stated that she was dethroned for contract violations and not for her stance on gay marriage.

The fourth-largest story last week (at 8%) was a June 9 BBC report that downplayed the hype over the popular Web site Twitter. The story described a Harvard study finding that just 10% of Twitter users generate more than 90% of the site's content, and that the majority of users update their page less than once every 74 days.

The fifth biggest subject (also at 8%) was a June 8 CNN.com story about two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea after a closed door trial that generated international protests.

PEJ's New Media Index typically utilizes data collected from two different Web tracking sites, Icerocket and Technorati. (Technorati has been having technical problems so this week's NMI is based solely on daily figures from Icerocket.)

The top stories in the mainstream press last week were largely different from those online. With the exception of the Holocaust Museum shooting, which filled 11% of the week's newshole in the traditional press, the other top stories received very little attention online. The No. 1 topic was the ongoing economic crisis (at 13%). After the museum shooting came the debate over health care reform (7%), the Iranian elections (6%), and the troubles plaguing the U.S. auto industry (6%).
European Parliamentary Elections

Some reaction to the European Parliamentary elections was a response to a June 8 BBC story that described the outcome as a victory for center-right parties and a defeat for the left. A number of U.S. conservatives took the results as a sign of hope.

"In an economic downturn, the Europeans are making the right choices, voting for parties that promise to cut government expenses, tighten immigration policies and trim social welfare," wrote Laer Pearce at Cheat-Seeking Missiles.

"Can it be that Europe will be more conservative than Obama and the Democrats?" asked Merv Benson at PrairiePundit. "It is looking like that is very possible. It could be a good sign for conservatives in the 2010 election here. Liberalism is failing everywhere."

But most of the attention to the EU results came from British bloggers who focused on the election of two members of the anti-immigrant British National Party. (The stated goals of the BNP include reversing the tide of immigration to restore the overwhelmingly white dominance that existed prior to 1948.) Much of the commentary included expressions of outrage that the group could win seats in an election and be part of the EU's governing body.

"Lets be clear here: all the BNP represent is a future of isolation, humiliation and disaster for the UK," declared Hard Graft. "They seek to deny Britain its future and only offer a future of division, of sectarianism and of hate." **

"The BNP winning seats in the European parliament is a bit like the Nazi Party winning a Grammy; nobody quite knows how it happened, no reasonable person thinks it's warranted, and everybody is filled with a sort of horrified curiosity to see what they're going to do with it," analyzed Andrew at Plethoric Pundigrions.

More fuel was added to the fire when a press-conference by BNP leader Nick Griffin outside Parliament was interrupted by protestors chanting anti-Nazi slogans and throwing eggs -- a video of which became quite popular. Bloggers who opposed the BNP debated whether the protest tactics were an appropriate response. "The ‘egging' of BNP leader Nick Griffin...is not good for democracy," declared Chris at TD Blog. "No matter what we think of him and his party, they have the right to say their piece. They are a legitimate party, and they did win their seats in a democratic election. And the best way to deal with their disgusting and racist views and policies is to expose them in rational discourse."

"This is a bloody stupid thing to do. The protesters should grow up; they need to realise that all they have achieved is make Griffin look good," criticized cabalamat.

One dissenting view came from the blogger A Bit More Wit: "It's heartening to hear about Nick Griffin getting egged and subsequently prevented from holding his wee fascist press conference in Westminster today," the blogger cheered. "Hopefully, Sunday night's appalling election returns will result in more militant anti-fascism, and turn into a long term strategic problem for the BNP."
Shooting at the Holocaust Museum

The initial response to the shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. was of anger and disgust.

"My heart grieves today," wrote Michael Sean Wright after reading about the news.

But the commentary quickly took a turn toward the political and ideological. Some bloggers on the left argued that the shooting by white supremacist to James W. von Brunn reflected a dangerous hatred by right-wing extremists and that it vindicated an April Homeland Security warning about violent extremists that had been attacked by some conservatives. Some conservatives countered that von Brunn was not a man of the right and may have been influenced by radical Muslims and their left-wing defenders.

"Von Brunn's despicable act today might serve as a temporary wake up call to the world of the dangers posed by the unstable elements among the racist right, but unfortunately I suspect that the shock value of the killing of [museum guard] Stephen Tyrone Johns will only last a few days," posted historymike. "The racist thugs who are convinced of a Jewish conspiracy to exterminate whites will continue to spew their idiocy, and occasionally the more demented in their lot will continue to kill."

"Brunn's hateful rhetoric followed by today's violent outburst chillingly echoes a controversial warning issued by the Department of Homeland Security concerning a rise in ‘rightwing extremist activity,'" stated the liberal blog Thinkprogress.org.

"More right wing terrorism, do you suppose [conservative blogger] Michelle Malkin will retract the criticism of DHS now?" asked Elvis Andretti.

Several conservatives -- noting that the address of the right-leaning Weekly Standard magazine had been found in von Brunn's car -- asserted that his political leanings were not conservative after all.

"Weird, huh? What possible grievance could a Jew-hating 9/11 Truther who ranted about Bill O'Reilly and ‘neocons' have against a magazine owned by Rupert Murdoch and edited by Bill Kristol?" puzzled Allahpundit at Hot Air. "Maybe he detected a leftward drift in the Standard's editorial slant lately? You know how irascible those ‘right-wingers' can be, especially when they're fed a steady diet of Fox News. Which, um, Von Brunn hated."continues here

Govt. urges Commonwealth citizens to join EU vote

LONDON (AFP) — Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Sunday urged European and Commonwealth citizens living in Britain to vote during next month's European Parliament elections.

Citizens of European Union and Commonwealth countries legally resident in Britain are entitled to cast a ballot in the June 4-7 polls.

Miliband's Labour Party estimates there are around 500,000 Europeans eligible to vote in the United Kingdom.

"You have every right to vote in Britain if you're from a Commonwealth or European country," he said before an international audience in London.

"We have to explain that to people because I think the exercise of democratic rights is a very important thing."

He predicted the economy and climate change would be among the big issues, and highlighted the need for a high turnout to prevent victories by the far-right British National Party.

Miliband was addressing a meeting organised by Labour with others from the Party of European Socialists caucus in the European Parliament. continues here


They’ll do anything won’t they, anything at all to keep their noses in the trough, whether its smear stories of such incredible stupidity such as this or alien elements thwarting democracy(sic) they’ll do it all. They’ll go to the poles, “excuse the pun”, as they did here or rouse any and all as the above article makes clear, of course its not for democracy the supposed system of government they claim to represent, it is purely to, as the above article notes, “to prevent victories by the far-right British National Party”, there then is your democracy, your system of government ,exposed in a single sentence, vote for your children in June, vote right because it is right. 

New Labour wants Poles at polls

The UK’s Labour party appeals to Poles to vote in the European elections and see off the nationalist threat.

One of the largest of the UK’s trade unions, Unison, and the Labour Party are encouraging Poles who live in Great Britain to take part in elections to the European Parliament.

They claim Polish voters will help prevent the far-right British National Party, which stands against immigration, from entering the European Parliament.

Critics, however, claim that the Labour Party is desperate for any votes it can get as it languishes far behind the opposition Conservative Party in the polls.

Yesterday British trade unionists and politicians met in the House of Commons with Polish organizations, including Poles to Polls, Poland Street and the Federation of Poles in Great Britain to discuss the participation of Poles in EP elections.

European Minister Caroline Flint urged Polish nationals to register to vote in the European elections. She warned that the British National Party (BNP) is using the elections to try and stir up anti-immigration sentiments among the electorate.

“Polish people have contributed their skills to our economy, paid taxes and worked hard here, so we should respect them,” said Flint and added that Poles and the Labour Party have a common aim.

Greg Thompson from Unison, the second largest trade union in the UK, gave three reasons why Poles should vote in the EU elections. In his opinion, they should enjoy their rights as European Union citizens, oppose the BNP, which wants to get rid of immigrants, and show the British how influential they can be.

Thompson described the BNP as a party which propagates hatred, questions equality among people and creates divisions. “If the BNP wins, Great Britain will no longer be in the EU, and Polish immigrants will no longer have the right to work here,” warned Thompson.

In the discussion, Labour Party MP Andrew McKinley mentioned former PM Tony Blair, who opened the British market for Poles in 2004. McKinley remarked that immigrants have gained from the New Labour government as it introduced the minimum wage and the monitoring of recruitment agencies.

Both McKinley and Thompson defended Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who used an expression “British jobs for British workers”, later adopted by the BNP. According to them, the British Prime Minister meant providing job opportunities for the British, not depriving Polish immigrants of their work places, as the BNP wants to. continues here