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What says it all are the comments in the Express about his C4 interview where he tries to say that being against brexit is 'anti-democratic' and that the supposed rise in political correctness since is preventing discussion of these oh so vital issues...
The commenters don't give a flying fuck either way, and are indeed proud to be thought of as racist.
Being able to peacefully march against something you disagree with is the very definition of democracy.
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@ffm
No, I think the quote you're looking for (and I know you'll like it being such a fan of critical thinking and all) is
"But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright Brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan
If people are telling you that your comments are abhorrent, it doesn't mean that you're actually conveying some important but uncomfortable truth, nor that defending your views is a mark of your integrity. It could just be that you are or, more generously, are acting like, a turd.
I've seen this happen in a few different forums and it's always very odd to observe. There's always someone who still seems to be the slightly weird kid who volunteered to be in the centre of whatever violent playground game was flavour of the month. It didn't matter to them that they were getting a kicking, just as long as they were getting, momentarily at least, some attention.
I don't care whether the thread stays open or not. I think that Thom has done a semi-Ratner by egregiously misjudging what this thread is. He seems to think it's a opportunity to justify his opinions and so suggest that they shouldn't be damaging to his brand. The problem is, it was never that, his opinions are out there for all to see and everyone had already had a chance to make up their own mind on the content of his character. What's astonishing is that he has doubled-down on them by rattling out quotes and videos from the alt-right Top 10 (I think we're just short of Jordan Peterson) whining about safe spaces while accusing people of bullying him, and generally acting like the tediously predictable archetype of a teenage keyboard warrior. The fact that he has done this in a forum that is huge, international and speaks to his target market would make me very wary if I were thinking about having any association with him or his brand.
At the beginning of this thread, I didn't particularly want his brand to be damaged, since it does at least have locally produced kit and I'm fairly tolerant of obnoxious views as long as they don't directly incite violence. I this stage though, I'd quite happily see it crumble just because he's made it clear that he's a nob as well as a right-wing turdbag.