Yee Haw! If you don’t love Dale Peterson, you’re a pantywaist liberal

If you have a moment, please take a look at the political video advert contained in this Daily Telegraph blog. I’ll return to the evidently formidable Dale Peterson later, but first…

I’ve always had a sneaking admiration for those who choose which part of the political spectrum to occupy based on a careful study of the issues. Similarly, when people decide to change their vote at an election, I’m rather impressed (and, often, equally infuriated). Because my political attitudes are at least three-quarters visceral – probably more than that. 

How about you?

Here’s a useful test to tell whether you’re a natural right-winger. (I can’t remember who suggested it, but it’s effective.)

If you see footage of a demonstration in the UK getting out of hand – i.e. there’s some argy-bargy between the police and those attending the demonstration – and you don’t know what it’s about, or don’t particularly care about the cause being supported - do you tend to side with the police or the demonstrators?

I side with those trying to bring order, whatever the cause. When people who chose to attend the demonstration get hurt, I feel absolutely no sympathy for them whatsoever. The standard excuse – that a “tiny minority” caused the trouble that led to people getting hurt, followed by the ritual attack on police tactics (“heavy-handed”, “insensitive”) and accompanied by demands for individual officers to be tried and imprisoned – doesn’t interest me. If you choose to attend a demonstration which acts as a smokescreen for the enemies of democracy to run riot, that’s your problem.

In our democracy, you get to vote every few years. If your lot don’t get in, tough. The people have spoken. If you can’t find a party which represents your views, form one. 

(And before you ask, when police quell rioters in non-democratic countries my views are the exact opposite: I’m with the demonstrators. But, before I learn that’s it a dictatorship or a pseudo-democracy, my first visceral response is still to side with the police.)

So, a UK demo turns ugly. Who are you for? If it’s the demonstrators/rioters, you’re a natural left-winger. If you’re with the police, you’re a natural right-winger. 

That used to be my acid test for discovering where one’s fundamental political sympathies lay. But now I’ve discovered an even better one. 

If you watch Dale Peterson’s advert and you experience a longing to vote for him – you’re right-wing. No question!

What a hero!