There’s a funny internet meme that uses a still frame from a British sketch comedy show in which two naïve Nazis wonder aloud, “Are we the baddies?” The conservative humor site Twitchy is fond of referencing that joke whenever the U.K. government treats George Orwell’s 1984 as an instruction manual instead of a warning. These days, the joke is everywhere because the world is watching Britain nosedive into abject tyranny.
U.K. officials do not like dissent. They do not like free speech. And they certainly do not like it when ordinary citizens criticize the government. For these reasons, the authoritarians across the pond caution their domestic serfs: “Think before you post.” Included in that ominous threat is the promise that the Crown will come after anyone for “inciting hatred” online. What is “hatred”? Why, that’s for government functionaries to decide and for lowly commoners to find out! In a bit of cowardly arm-twisting meant both to encourage community snitching and to terrify concerned family members, Big Brother underscores its warning with this doozy: “Remind those close to you to share responsibly or face the consequences.” The government’s thought police would hate for something bad to happen to someone you love. So don’t force them to be the baddies, okay?
Holy moly, what has happened to the home of the Magna Carta? Did MI5 rip that document to smithereens? Years ago, the wayward nitwit Prince Harry got into some hot water by dressing up as a Nazi for a costume ball. The public was aghast that a member of the Royal Family could be so daft as to minimize the atrocities of the fascist thugs who nearly conquered Europe. Little did they know that Harebrained Harry was way ahead of the game. The threat of fascism isn’t buried in Britain’s past; it’s choking Britain’s future. Maybe Meghan Markle’s leashed poodle should find his old German uniform now that Keir Starmer’s stormtroopers have taken Westminster.
At this moment, government authorities are blocking foreign I.P. addresses from accessing the United Kingdom’s police website. Apparently, the Brits have gotten their knickers in an Oliver Twist over outsiders using words that are now banned in the U.K. One freedom-curious bloke observed, “I see our police is a tad upset with Americans making fun of them.” Over there, the language enforcers are locking up Grandma and Grandpa for saying that foreigners shouldn’t be raping and murdering children, but over here, plenty of First Amendment–loving Americans are sending pictures of General George Washington kicking some serious Redcoat butt.
One transatlantic tweeter jeered, “I’ve never been more grateful that our forefathers crossed the Delaware on Christmas to kill British law enforcers.” If that sentiment doesn’t make you want to shoot off fireworks while grilling a couple ribeye steaks and revving the engine of a monster truck outside a WrestleMania grudge match, you might just be Canadian. Yucky U.K. can’t do squat when Joe America gives his two cents. So the powers that be scream at their I.T. boffins to shut down the internet, and the tech slaves do their best to comply. Surely some North Korean with a secret window to the outside world is shaking his head in disgust. As Amy Curtis over at Twitchy smartly concludes, “From ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ to ‘your Facebook posts hurt my feels’ in 75 years.” So true. RIP, U.K.
It’s hard to believe, but U.K. police officers are actually visiting homes and arresting people for “Facebook Crimes.” The “offenders” aren’t trafficking in drugs, weapons, or human chattel. They are accused of sending online messages — often humorous in nature — that criticize their country’s dangerous illegal immigration problem. Native Brits are upset that foreign nationals are committing crimes, and domestic police officers are using their resources to incarcerate citizens for voicing their concerns. Violent crime is okay, but denouncing violent crime is not. How surreal is that?
In the wake of the U.K.’s renewed war against words, a video from a while back has begun to make the rounds again. In that video, a couple of condescending coppers arrest an elderly gentleman. When he asks why they are doing so, one of the just-following-orders officers replies, “Someone has been caused anxiety based on your social media post, and that is why you’re being arrested.” What had the guy possibly posted on his social media account that caused so much “anxiety”? It turns out he had forwarded an image of the “trans flag” in the shape of a Nazi swastika. As the cherry on top of this police state sundae, an acquaintance who decided to record the altercation was subsequently arrested for “obstruction.”
