We have the second-hand testament of a couple of witnesses who heard the killer shout something like ‘Britain First’, and that is all we have; a phrase that sounds a bit like a political party. There is no evidence, currently, that goes beyond this. It will all come out in the wash no doubt, but at the moment it would be best not to talk about politics. Not due to any sort of anti-intellectualism or other ill will on my part, but because of the paucity of evidence to link the killer to any political party or persuasion beyond what he may, or may not, have shouted.

The fact that a political figure was murdered in public already prima facie suggests that it was an act of political violence — that we have witnesses who heard the killer shout “Britain First” on top of this (and quite a bit more evidence since) makes it all but certain.

That Editorial is utterly abhorrent, trying to link Leave voters to this attack. And you trying to score political points on the same day that such a horrible thing happens makes you much more like Britain First than Jo Cox. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

I think you’d fit in quite well with Britain First actually.

The attempt to de-politicise the obviously political is a standard tactic of those who do not wish to acknowledge what is patently obvious because it reflects poorly on them or otherwise conflicts with their interests and self-image. The death of Jo Cox, by all accounts a wonderful woman, is a human tragedy — and it is also an act of political violence that we who deal in reality shall not hesitate to name and confront.

Shot?
According to the long running and very smug thread about American gun violence here, I thought such things didn’t happen in the UK.

Apparently the firearm was home-made according to plans distributed by an American neo-nazi group, which in fact suggests the difficulty of obtaining regular firearms in the UK and the evident success of British policies in this area.

It is also, of course, yet another indication that this assassination was pre-planned and politically motivated.

Incidentally, The Guardian has another good piece up on the relation between the current political mood and this act of violence.

This attack on a public official cannot be viewed in isolation. It occurs against a backdrop of an ugly public mood in which we have been told to despise the political class, to distrust those who serve, to dehumanise those with whom we do not readily identify. There are many decent people involved in the campaign to secure Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, many who respect the referendum as the exercise in democracy that is it. But there are others whose recklessness has been open and shocking. I believe they bear responsibility, not for the attack itself, but for the current mood: for the inflammatory language, for the finger-jabbing, the dogwhistling and the overt racism. It’s been part of a noxious brew, with a dangerous anti-politics and anti-MP stereotypes fomented by leave and their media backers mixed in.

A random, cowardly and callous attack. At the same time a n exceedingly rare event in this country. I’m reminded of the similar slaying of Jill Dando on 1999. I would prefer it to be acknowledged as a random event, rather than a convenient vehicle for pushing pre-formed political views (on either side) or for speeding draconian laws into place. I won’t hold my breath.

A Labour MP is publicly murdered after a political function and on the eve of a national political event amidst claims that the murderer yelled “Britain First”, the name of another political party and slogan of a broader political movement, and we shouldn’t talk about politics? If this turns out to be a random or otherwise apolitical act of violence, I will be happy to rescind my comments, but I see no reason why we need to wait for ironclad proof before speculating that maybe, just maybe, the public murder of a political figure may have been politically motivated.

Whilst the first half of the Guardian sorta-eulogy is quite thoughtfully written, the witnesses haven’t specified clearly that the killer was shouting ‘Britain First’. Even if he did shout that phrase, it isn’t necessarily in reference to the political party. Perhaps the man was a Europhobe, but shouldn’t the Guardian be doing better than tarring a large portion of the population for the actions of one deranged individual, given that they repeatedly chastise the right wing press and public for over-generalising Islam on similar grounds.

The article is not tarring “a large portion of the population” but rather Britain First and UKIP for fanning the flames of hatred and potentially pushing susceptible individuals over the edge into violence. The analogy with Islam would be criticising a particular preacher, mosque, or political movement for fanning similar hatred — which people do all the time, and no reasonable person objects to.

Read the whole article — I cut a lot of it out (because nobody likes a huge wall of text) and that might be the reason for our differering interpretations.

The Guardian has posted a powerful and moving editorial on the murder of Jo Cox and its broader implications:

The slide from civilisation to barbarism is shorter than we might like to imagine. Every violent crime taints the ideal of an orderly society, but when that crime is committed against the people who are peacefully selected to write the rules, then the affront is that much more profound [….]

What nobler vision can there be than that of a society where people can be comfortable in their difference? And what more fundamental tenet of decency is there than to put first and to cherish all that which makes us human, as opposed to what divides one group from another? These are ideals which are often maligned when they are described as multiculturalism, but they are precious nonetheless. They are the ideals which led Ms Cox to campaign tirelessly for the brutalised and displaced people of Syria, and – the most painful thought – ideals for which she may have died.

This was no random event, and the police are investigating reports that the assailant yelled “Britain First” during the attack. This is not merely a chauvinist taunt, but the name of a far-right political party, whose candidate for City Hall turned his back in disgust on Sadiq Khan at the count, in sectarian rage at a great cosmopolitan city’s decision to make a Muslim mayor. The thuggish outfit denounced Ms Cox’s murder, as it was bound to do. But their brand of angry blame-mongering could very well serve to convince particular individuals, who may already be close to the edge, that some people are less than human, and thus fair game for attack [….]

The time for imagining that the Europhobes can be engaged on the basis of facts […] has passed. One might have still hoped, however, that even merchants of post-truth politics might hold back from the sort of entirely post-moral politics that is involved in taking the great humanitarian crisis of our time, and then whipping up hostility to the victims as a means of chivvying voters into turning their backs on the world.

The idealism of Ms Cox was the very antithesis of such brutal cynicism. Honour her memory. Because the values and the commitment that she embodied are all that we have to keep barbarism at bay.

What is? Be more specific.

Umm, there is a link in my post. The same story that snafu just posted. That is condoning the massacre.

That humans are tribal creatures is a statement of fact. Meanwhile, the history of civilisation is the history of breaking down and transcending tribalism — chiefly through the act of creating larger and larger tribes incorporating a sense of shared identity through shared values and rituals, shared stories and symbols, a shared language, a sense of the general welfare that transcends the individual or the immediate family, and so on and so forth. Historically, as with the history of Britain, this has usually been achieved through violence. The European project is the attempt to do the same thing, but without violence. While those on the more enlightened side of the bell curve may be up to the challenge, there are evidently many who are not. Of course the irony is that those who live in places like London and who are directly exposed to the diverse characteristics of European and Global society, by and large do not fear it or the EU. It is those with almost no experience of the dreaded ‘other’ who fear them and wish to retreat gibbering into their caves.

Here‘s a good piece.

Warn about the loss of workers’ rights and they don’t listen – maybe that’s already irrelevant to millions in crap jobs such as at Uber or Sports Direct. “We’re full up. Sorry, there’s no room for more. Can’t get GP appointments, can’t get into our schools, no housing.” If you tell these Labour voters that’s because of Tory austerity cuts, still they blame “immigrants getting everything first”.

This is, of course, entirely understandable and predictable. When the elites have betrayed you so thoroughly and for so long, why would you listen to them now? The ruinous policies of the right — neoliberalism, financialisation, austerity, the deification of the market, the dismantling of the state, the denigration of real intellectualism in favour of suited thuggery — and the failure of the left to confront and oppose all of these things, is finally bearing its inevitable fruit. Of course the fruit is rotten and poisonous, but there it is.

The radical politics and earthquakes of the first half of the 20th century eventually led to the pragmatic equilibrium of the post-war era, a compromise in the form of the welfare state that served to dampen the excesses of capitalism and thereby effectively suppress the radicalism of the past. Thatcher destroyed that compromise, and we have slowly been drifting back to the early 20th century ever since. The whirlwind is coming, and we will have brought it upon ourselves. One can only hope that, amidst all the other suffering to come, at least some is reserved for those most responsible: the tories, the bankers, and the media barons.

This is what happens when you drink the kool-aid of neoliberalism.

But sure, blame Brussels instead of Thatcher, that’ll do the trick. :rolleyes: