Extremists always pose a dilemma for mainstream politicians and journalists. Ideally, the best way of dealing with them is to ignore them. Hate-mongers thrive when they are able to seize the spotlight and hold onto it. Deprived of attention, they wither on the vine when they are confined to the fever swamps of the far right or left, where most people don’t seem to notice or care about them.
However, if their audiences are sufficiently large and they are treated by people who matter, whether national figures or opinion leaders, as falling within the proverbial Overton Window of acceptable discourse, ignoring them isn’t really an option.
Read Full Article »