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  The Radical Right in Europe and America Comments by Frnak Brittain

  The Radical Right in Europe and America Comments by Frnak Brittain

Commentary
At last week’s NSF on “The Rise of the Radical Right in Europe and America”, several members expressed a strong desire to separate out legitimate right-leaning opinion from what was referred to as the “radical right” or the “violent right”. 
 
Frank Brittain expressed that view eloquently and we are reprinting his remarks to the Forum.
 
However, in fairness, it should be pointed out that Frank was reacting more to the announcement Ty drafted than what the speaker, Prof Leonard Weinberg, actually said, since Weinberg did not equate the Tea Party or other right leaning elements with the violence committed by some groups.
 
Here are Frank’s remarks:

The Radical Right in Europe and America Comments

 

  • By Frank Brittain

I want to give an alternative assessment of today’s talk, with an emphasis on the announcement.

It seems clear that Europe has long tried to suppress conservatives in general, and more recently anti-Islamic speech.  Fortunately, such speech in the US is still constitutionally protected.  I refer to peaceful politicians and political parties, and exclude those, like skin heads, who resort to violence.  The speaker labeled Marine Le Pen of the French National Front as a radical right.  She was recently tried by in French Court for “disruptive” speech, and found innocent.

The program’s announcement categorized the Tea Party as part of radical right, which is both unfair and inaccurate.  I am not a member of the Tea Party, but I find lumping it with militias, neo-nazis and sovereign citizens to be irresponsible.  The Tea Party has three main goals – each of which is incompatible with violence.  In summary, these are personal freedom for all, economic freedom for all, and government fiscal responsibility.

The danger here is not from the peaceful Tea Party; rather it’s from those in Europe and America who are trying to suppress them or free speech.

My question to the speaker is how do these three peaceful principles place the Tea Party in the radical right?

I hope my assessment will included my alternative assessment is usually distributed by e-mailed after the talk.