Dance with the devil: Tony Abbot may be backing away from last weeks protests, but is he aware of the antisemitic “flavour” of climate sceptic’s rhetoric?

Last weeks events were disturbing to say the least.

An ugly side to Australian politics was revealed.

I wonder how much longer Tony Abbot can try and appease the lunatic fringe of Australian politics and seem like reasoned individual, a leader people would feel comfortable leading the nation.

Abbot is now backing away from his “climate change is crap” line:

”There is a scientific debate. There always will be, but it’s pretty clear from the science that climate change is real and that mankind is making a contribution,” he said.

There are rumblings in the Liberal Party about Abbot aligning himself with the fringe elements that deny climate change.

Did you notice the signs about “New World Order”?

Interesting…

Now Abbot admits that some of those protestors “went to far”:

COALITION MPs have defended abusive anti-carbon tax protesters against Labor claims of extremism, as Tony Abbott expressed regret at the behaviour of some at yesterday’s rally.

Labor and the Greens have condemned protesters, some of whom held derogatory placards attacking the Prime Minister as a “witch”, a “frump” and a “bitch”.

Liberal MP Don Randall said the sentiments were the result of “extreme passions” in the crowd.

But the Opposition leader, who addressed the rally, said some protesters “went over the top”.

“Naturally, I regret that. But I can understand why people feel very passionate,” he said.

Abbot’s antics have no doubt hurt is standing and that of the Liberal Party. Indeed, it was a spectacular “own goal”. If there is one thing the Australian general public does not respond well too is extremists of any stripe.

One can only dance with the devil for short term gain for so long Tony…

But just “who” is Mr. Abbot dancing with?

The conspiracy of “international bankers”

So much of rhetoric of those attending the anti-tax rally was the paranoid style of politics:

The hand-drawn slogans suggested the definition of extreme had been rewritten. ”Carbon dioxide is a harmless trace gas, you are fraudulent criminals,” offered one. ”Carbon really ain’t pollution,” stated another. ”What do you expect of an atheist in Canberra – ain’t that right Ju-liar?”

Some of the earnest scribblers edged right out of the carbon tax theme: ”No multiculturalism: Assimilate and Integrate” and ”Illegals stay, Ozzies Pay”. And there was a hark to the past: ”Pauline knew 10 years ago,” although there was no explanation of what.

Ah, yes, Pauline. Ms Hanson herself strode among the faithful, offering her wisdom to anyone who might listen. One Nation might be buried, but a wrath of fellow travellers also hitched their wagons to the day’s outpouring of dudgeon. The League of Rights, the National Civic Council, anti-gun control enthusiasts and the Lavoisier Group, disputers of climate change science, were all among this representative example of middle Australia.

Reported in the crowd were supporters of the virulently anti-Semitic League of Rights (LoR). The LoR is helping grow the “Anti-tax” supporter base, as indicated on their website:

“…Yes; and there are Sites on Facebook etc. springing up, that have members joining in hundreds; with excellent comments. The movement is growing exponentially; in addition to the established ranks who organised the previous Monckton and Watts Tours. Even though today’s rallies are in business hours, many who are free, are travelling interstate to give their support.

If Christopher Monkton’s events can be outside working hours, we will get huge numbers who earnestly want to protest against Gillard’s Mammoth Con Job (of Libyan proportions). Monkton could find that his mission in Australia is the biggest thing since the Billy Graham Crusades of the 1950s filled the Melbourne and Sydney Cricket Grounds. Gillard likes to talk tough in Parliament; waving her finger at the Opposition and saying “Bring it On”. Well Julia…. we might just Do That, with the help of millions of Australians. “

Racism, paranoia… and climate change scepticism.

Should we be that surprised?

For over a year now I’ve been watching the denial movement talk about “international banking”. Indeed this phrase peppers the language of much of the movement’s writings.

I’m going to put my pet hypothesis out in the open: there is a strong anti-Semitic “flavour” to the sceptic movement.

I’m not accusing all climate sceptics of being anti-Semitic.

However, the “code words” frequently used amongst the anti-Semitic “community” frequently appear in the climate sceptic literature.

Witness the words of David Evans, one of the principal figures cited as an “expert” by the conservative press in Australia in one of his publications:

“…There are a small number of families who, over the centuries, have amassed wealth through financial rent seeking. They are leading members of the paper aristocracy. For example, the Rothschild’s are the biggest banking family in Europe, and were reputed to own half of all western industry in 1900. That sort of wealth doesn’t just dissipate, because unless the managers are incompetent the wealth tends to concentrate. The banking families don’t work for a living in the normal sense, like the rest of us. They avoid scrutiny and envy by blending in and make themselves invisible. Since they own or influence all sorts of media organizations, it isn’t too hard. There are unsubstantiated rumors and conspiracy theories, but nobody can really credibly say how much wealth and influence they have…

…Perhaps today’s fiat currencies—the US dollar, pound, yen and so on—will go up in smoke in an inflationary crescendo in the next few years, perhaps as planned by the paper aristocracy. Maybe they will reintroduce an asset backed currency. And guess who has all the gold? Those banking families have been salting it away for years. Possibly a global currency, so one cannot escape the predations of the paper aristocracy. This is not just about money, but about power, of course. Anyway, these are only unsubstantiated rumors. We shall see.

The Rothschild family (financiers of Jewish decent) has long been the focus of conspiracy theories decades – if not centuries;

“Over more than two centuries, the Rothschild family has frequently been the target of conspiracy theories. These theories take differing forms, such as claiming that the family belongs to the Illuminati, controls the world’s wealth and financial institutions…”

The Rothschild’s are haunting the lunatic fringes of politics, as the blog “NWO Observer” demonstrates;

“…One of those in the forefront of exposing such schemes has been Lord Christopher Monckton[1] who has focused on the climate change scenario as part of a world state agenda. Only after threatening a diplomatic incident, Lord Christopher obtained the draft of the Copenhagen treaty that would have imposed an international 2% tax on all financial transactions, a 2% tax on the GDP, and established 700 new United Nations bureaucracies, with the international tax revenue going to the World Bank. However, the 2009 UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference ended in disarray without the formal imposition of international taxation and bureaucracy. Lord Monckton stated of the agenda at Copenhagen: “Once again they are desperately trying to conceal from everybody here the magnitude of what they’re attempting to do – they really are attempting to set up a world government.”

…This at least would appear to be the Rothschild plan: to create an international authority on the pretext of saving the world from global warming, this salvation being somehow achievable by creating a “carbon exchange” as another source of speculative profit for the Rothschilds, et al. The international authority leading towards a “new world order” would have The City of London as its world capital.”

Or the notoriously paranoid and over-the-top Prison Planet (USA):

“…Allegations that skeptics of the man-made explanation behind global warming are somehow doing the bidding of the elite are laughable in the face of the fact that Rothschild operatives and the very chairman of British Petroleum are the ones orchestrating an elitist plan to push global warming fears in order to achieve political objectives.”

What is surprising is how often “Lord’ Monckton appears in this posts and blogs. Monckton is well known for his view that global warming is a ruse to establish a “world government”.

I’d also note Perth based Evans is married to Jo Nova – another prominent climate sceptic.

The roots of the Rothschild connection: centuries of paranoia

During the 19th century the Rothschilds were favourite figures of anti-Semites as noted in Antisemitism: a historical encyclopaedia of prejudice and persecution.

It has long been understood that the phrase “international bankers” is a code words for “Jews”.

Indeed, the Australian Leauge of Rights still use these codes words today:

“…Anti-semitism has been the “touchstone of the League’s ideology”. The League has described the Holocaust as the “alleged Holocaust” and the “Holocaust Hoax”. Its founder, Eric Butler was well known for his anti-Semitism and support of such documents as the Protocols of Zion. The historian Andrew Markus wrote that “In the 1990s league publications were still promoting The Protocols, describing the Holocaust as a ‘hoax’, the invention of Zionist propagandists, identifying prominent Jewish individuals in public life and declaring that modern Christianity was ‘little more than a form of Liberal Judaism’. The Jewish plot was also described using various code words, notably the ‘one world conspiracy’ hatched by ‘international elites’, international bureaucracies, international bankers, members of the Fabian Society, or the United Nations.”.

Angry Anderson, former “rocks star” and now the public face of the anti-tax movement states rants about the “new world order” and “international banks”:

“…do we really think that this present government are about the people,for the people,of the people?…do we really believe that this push for a TAX on Carbon pollution is about anything but raising more revenue for the government and the United nations,….in league with the International banks using the “New world order”as blueprint for the Globalization of the now free world?

wouldn’t be the first time the internationsl [sic] banking cartels have duped and enlisted the young and outraged to do their dirty work whilst preying on the fears of the older working population threatening them with their morgtage and livelihood,keeping us distracted with issues, like trying to educate our kids and keeping a roof over our heads, while they plot and scheme to fleece yet more of our money away from us;….more later…”

The Rothschilds still feature in many of the writings of the extreme right wing and conspiracy theorists.

As noted in text “Conspiracy theories in American history“:

“…anti-Bliderberger rhetoric focuses on the an international cabal run by the Rockefellors and Rothschilds…

Critics of these “international bankers” and “secret governments” tend to draw their metaphors, figures and arguments from a vast conceptual reservoir that includes… the so called Jewish-Masonic world conspiracy…

…groups highly attuned to the language of antisemitism (such as the Anti-Defamation League) often detect antisemitism in certain code words (i.e. the Rothschilds, “international bankers” etc.)

In the extreme fringes, antisemitism and the coming New World Order are strongly linked.

I smell something rotten in the language of the sceptics. There is something “off” about some elements of the climate sceptic movement.

Clearly we are surfacing the darker elements of Australian political culture.