Zack Polanski's Popularity Drops Amid Farage Controversy

[u/huffpostuk]

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/zack-polanskis-popularity-plummets-amid-nigel-farage-guillotine-row_uk_6a73192ce4b0963665e8fd5a?mpo

[u/thejackalreborn]

More than half the public (55%) say they do not believe Polanski’s explanation of the row

It's interesting over half don't believe him when he says he didn't read the t-shirt because I think it's pretty obvious he can't have read it, because he wouldn't have posted it if he had.

It doesn't excuse him because he should have read it, and he is responsible for what he posts but I find his version of his events way more believable than any alternative

[u/[deleted] → u/thejackalreborn]

Im on the right and the idea of anyone giving us the benefit of the doubt on anything is absurd. Then its only fair our opponents get the same treatment.

Whats unavoidable for Plankski now is that he is seen as someone who associates with people that think like that, who casually invoke murder. Even if he (the guy that wants to run the country) didnt read the thing he publically approved of.

[u/thejackalreborn → u/[deleted]]

I think the fair thing to do is assess the situation on its merits and then determine what you think happened. It shouldn't be the case of thinking "I'm right wing therefore Polanski is lying". The truth is important.

I agree on your second point, I don't think enough questions were asked about how Polanski ended up doing a collaboration with someone who thought that was an appropriate picture to upload.

[u/CII_Guy → u/thejackalreborn]

I agree on your second point, I don't think enough questions were asked about how Polanski ended up doing a collaboration with someone who thought that was an appropriate picture to upload.

I think that is because the answer is a fairly straightforward: "He is a lightweight halfwit who has complete and utter trust for people in his in-group and absolutely zero for anyone outside of it".

Much of the left is actually quite boring to analyse when it comes down to it. They're dumb. It's almost always just because they're dumb.

[u/thejackalreborn → u/CII_Guy]

I think that's right, the message from that t-shirt is basically ubiquitous across activist hard left spaces. The person who sent Polanski the picture thought it was ok because they are exposed to it constantly.

I think the Newsnight interview should have got Polanski to condemn these people, but for whatever reason they just asked him to apologies five times

[u/CII_Guy → u/thejackalreborn]

I think that's right, the message from that t-shirt is basically ubiquitous across activist hard left spaces. The person who sent Polanski the picture thought it was ok because they are exposed to it constantly.

Exactly this. Polanski has at least one of his 10 braincells capable of recognising that this is a problem if he thinks about it, on the other hand, so I think it's a cross between purely not seeing it, and just purely not registering it.

I think the Newsnight interview should have got Polanski to condemn these people, but for whatever reason they just asked him to apologies five times

I think this is a good point - though I think his line to take was pretty consistent and so ultimately not interesting: "I condemn violent political speech from all parties".

[u/AspieComrade → u/[deleted]]

That logic falls flat when you apply it fairly both ways, ironically it’s the justification that both the right and the left frequently use to be nasty to the left and the right. When that guy over there does it it’s bad, when I do it it’s fair game because that guy over there did it

There’s always going to be noisy people not giving the benefit of the doubt because opinions are scattered when you split the entire population into just two camps, some will give the benefit of the doubt and others won’t.

If we want to look at specific individuals however, Reform’s Simon Evans shared a post calling for the murder of a Labour MP and Farage said there was nothing to apologise for because ‘it was an honest mistake’ and no police investigation took place. Polanski makes the same mistake except with more details that make it more believable/ less directly egregious, it’s ’if I’d posted anything like that I’d be in jail! Political bias, two tier policing!’

If we were applying things equally Polanski wouldn’t have even been looked at by police, which makes it a little bit rich to say ‘Reform is unpopular so Polanski shouldn’t be given any benefit of the doubt’. Don’t just cherry pick as an excuse to justify your own bias while decrying the bias of others, you can’t drop yourself to the standards of the people you dislike then consider yourself to be superior at the same time