3 thoughts on “AS264: Sarah Haider, Part 2”

1. You keep going after Tommy Robinson with lines about him being a bigot and a racist but you’ve NEVER sufficiently backed it up. It kind of feels like you’re expecting us to be right there with you and – honestly – I’m not. I’ve seen SEVERAL interviews with him and a bunch of hit pieces on him and I am not seeing where he is this terrible racist bigot.

   You brought up the twitter spat with Namazie – who I defended when she was messed with at Goldsmith – but that didn’t prove that Tommy Robinson is a misogynist (can’t believe you even used that word I nearly face desked). That twitter row proved one thing: Tommy Robinson doesn’t like Maryam Namazie. He has every right to not like her, she came into that exchange looking to shame him and ruin his character. She calls him a bigot and fascist (kind of like you do) at damn near every turn and if you’re going to do that – and have nude pics of yourself at a protest – you had better expect to be mocked for it. You can say it’s wrong, sure, and that we should all be like Spock and remain emotionless but that isn’t how people work and Namazie can be petty AF and it’s not sexist to be petty back.

   I don’t believe for a second that Tommy Robinson is a misogynist and it’s because I don’t believe for a second he hates women. I think Maryam Namazie pushed his buttons and he pushed back and there was some low hanging fruit and he took it. Oh well…you aren’t automatically granted deference just because you thought you were changing the world by stripping naked and shouting in a public square.

   I think YOU think saying Tommy Robinson is a racist bigot over and over again and use lines like “target of Tommy’s hatred” you’re being convincing. YOU’RE NOT. All you are doing is justifying Haider when she says that the left is responsible for the rise of Trump. Personally, I believe she means the far left because I’m a leftist too and i’m getting sick of the PC b.s. coming from our ‘camp’ but I guess us ‘new atheist’ ‘gamergate’ (yes, Gamergate was right from the start) ‘anti-3rd wave feminist’ types do bare some responsibility for letting this Bolshevik nonsense run amok.

   When the left screams that trump is a BIGOT RACIST FASCIST ISLAMAPHOBE MISOGYNIST BLAH BLAH even people like me – who would never vote for him in a million years – scoff and say “coming from you, who isn’t?”.

   This wasn’t meant to be dickish, I just felt it might be of worth to get a glimpse into the mindset of some of your “new atheist” cultural libertarian listeners when names like Milo or Trump or Robinson (who i don’t think belongs with the other two) come up.

   You get noticeably exasperated when you talk about Rubin/Trump/Robinson and you sigh audibly. I do the same thing, but for different reasons.

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2. you didn’t give any examples of horrible things tommy robinson said.

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3. I felt so incensed listening to him talk about Tommy Robinson, but the first comment by Devin Carey has made me feel so much better.

   I have been following Tommy for over 7 years now. He is such an easy target for people because he really fits the bill – education-wise, looks, accent, background, etc. People form their opinions about him not based on what he says or does, but from what they hear other people say.

   I remember when he was talking about Muslims grooming gangs raping hundreds of white girls in the UK and I thought he was indeed a crazy racist who was coming up with lies to smear Muslims. I began to reverse my impression of him when I the UK government admitted that this had in fact being going on… to 1000s of girls.

   It was shameful to see the interviewer trying to get Sarah to get on board, but had zero evidence to back up his claim. And the example about the nude pics is not dispositive at all. Tommy gets called the harshest things and he tends to hit back. People need to learn to deal with this fact of life. When someone repeatedly calls you a bigot and racist (and Namazie has on several occasions) are you suggesting one should shut up and humbly accept the rebuke?

   And I really used to respect Namazie (and I still support a lot of her work) but I’m not a fan of her personality. If she disagrees with you, she is very quick to shame you and make the nastiest insinuations about your motivations, all the while attempting to come off as an innocent victim when people respond in kind. Her interview with Sam Harris was the last straw for me.

   Anyway, great interview overall. Just the last part that really stuck in my craw a bit. I strongly suggest you go watch videos of Tommy on Youtube (rallies, interviews, and all) and develop a more informed opinion. There are many things you could call him, but to say he is a racist is certainly inaccurate.

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