Monthly Archives: June 2017

Friday's parliamentary vote in Berlin to recognize the right of same-sex couples to wed was a long-awaited victory for German liberals.Butthe vote was a defeat for the womanwhoseemed to haveemerged as one of the country's most popular icons of liberalism: German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

She welcomed over 1 million refugees, abandoned nuclear energy over safety fears and has urged President Trump to respect human rights.

On Friday, however, Merkelvoted against same-sex marriage, despite having paved the way to its recognition only days earlier.

Theanti-marriage-equality party line of Merkel'sChristian Democratic Union (CDU) had long prevented the law from being passed. But on Monday, the German chancellorclearedthe way for the issue to win approval in the German Parliament by allowing lawmakers to choose according to their personal convictions after being pressured into a vote by the Social Democratic Party. I would like to steer the discussion more toward the situation that it will be a question of conscience instead of me forcing something through by means of a majority vote, Merkel said earlier this week.

German lawmakers vote by a wide margin to legalize gay marriage, although German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she had voted against it. (Reuters)

What she did not say at the time was that shewouldoppose the law.Merkel'sFriday voteagainst marriage equality may have come as a surprise to international observers who consider her an increasingly influential liberal icon or evenleader of thefree world.At home in Germany, not everyone was equally surprised.

[Decades of yearly portraits show how power has transformed Angela Merkel]

Herseemingly inconsequentialvote encapsulates some of the opposing forces tugging at Merkel, said Robert Beachy, the author of Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity. She is at once an exponent of a liberal Western vision and the leader of a country, and party, tied to more conservative values.

It occurs to me that Merkel is feeling increasingly exposed because she certainly wants to align herself with a progressive E.U. culture and tradition, and shes in some ways the leader of that now, Beachysaid. It made the absence of same-sex marriage in Germany that much more glaring.

Thedaughter of a Protestant pastor, Merkel has long sided with the right ofher party on the issue. In 2015, the chancellor said: For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together. She repeated those comments almost word for word Friday. What has since changed, however, is Merkel's stance on the right of same-sex couples to adopt children, which she now appears to be in favor of.

Her ambiguity on the issue fits a common pattern that has shaped much of her 12 years as German chancellor: Merkel hardly defines her role in an ideological sense. As chancellor, Merkel has repeatedly turned her back on herself and her own party when she deemed it necessary to adjust to the political winds.

[Angela Merkel predicts showdown with U.S. over climate at G-20]

On other subjects, her party and supportershave willingly followed suit. In contrast, same-sex marriage has proved to be a more difficult challenge for the chancellor, as many members of her party remain staunchly opposed to it even as most Germanssupportmarriage equality.

Since 2001, Germanyhas allowed same-sex couples to registercivilpartnerships, which afford some but not all of the benefits accruing to married couples. Unlike in other Western European nations, such as France or Spain, same-sex marriage remained a red line for many Christian conservatives.

That red line would have been challenged sooner rather than later.All major parties Merkel's CDU could form a coalition with after the general elections in September arein favor of same-sex marriage. From a tactical perspective, there was no way around marriage equality.

By allowing the law to pass beforethe elections despiteopposing it, Merkel appealedto the majority of voters but might have avoided the angerof much of her party following Merkel's long-standing rationale of trying to make the least enemies whenever possible.I hope that with todays vote not only that mutual respect is there between the individual positions, but also that a piece of social peace and togetherness could be created, Merkel said after the Friday vote.

She likely knew that her personal opposition would matter to her party but not make a difference overall, given that the German parliament voted393-226 in favor of modifying the countrys civil code.

Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed from Berlin.

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Germanys far right preaches traditional values. Can a lesbian mother be its new voice?

The state of gay rights around the world

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Why Angela Merkel, known for embracing liberal values, voted against same-sex marriage - Washington Post

She may have been KO'd in her prize fight against The Donald, but Hillary Clinton is still in the ring.

Sort of.

Thanks to a professional wrestler known as "Progressive Liberal" who wears a T-shirt with photos of Hillary's face on it, the former secretary of state, senator and first lady -- or at least her image -- is drawing big-time attention in some of the nation's reddest of red states.

Meet Daniel Harnsberger, a Virginia real estate agent by day, who represents Appalachian Mountain Wrestling and goes by the stage name of Daniel Richards. The Progressive Liberal, a moniker printed on the back of his trunks, routinely taunts audiences in conservative states by denouncing country music and telling the crowd that they are uneducated and backward.

I understand now why you all identify with country music, he says to a crowd at an Appalachian event. Its slow and simple and its boring, just like each and every one of you.

The crowds appear to relish Richards bravado and effrontery because it lets them give as good as they get from him.

Im having a great time, Im enjoying it, says the wrestler-political activist-provocateur to Fox News. Theres an entertainment aspect to me about weaving political statements taking shots at conservatives into his wrestling performances.

Richards is quick to note that his schtick is no show he really believes what he says about Donald Trump, about Republicans favoring the rich, and about people in red states being backward.

I believe what I believe and no one is going to tell me any different, Richards says. The right-wing do not pay attention to details theyre not interested, or to listening to opinions different from their own.

But its not just the right, its also the left that turns a deaf ear to ideas and views that contradict theirs, he notes.

Thats the biggest problem in today in the country, he said of the polarization.

It all started a few years ago, when the coordinator of a wrestling event encouraged him to play the bad guy, and he decided to taunt the audience politically.

After Trumps candidacy in 2015, I had the opportunity to incorporate it. My message is this, Republican policies are not working for you guys, and yet they continue to vote red. Kentucky is a poor state.

Richards, who voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont lawmaker, in the Democratic primaries, and for Hillary Clinton in the general election, says hes up for his crowds' push-back.

You have to be unapologetic about who you are and what you believe in --dont be wishy washy, he said.

Republicans stick firmly to their beliefs, and he wishes Democrats would do the same.

Im venting peoples frustrations, Im an outlet for them, he said. People who lean left can relate to me, Im speaking the things theyd like to say.

Elizabeth Llorente is Senior Reporter for FoxNews.com, and can be reached at Elizabeth.Llorente@Foxnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @Liz_Llorente.

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Hillary Clinton's image, liberal taunts propel professional wrestler to red state infamy - Fox News

British Columbia premier-designate John Horgan prepares to make a statement following a non-confidence vote in Victoria. Photograph: Kevin Light/Reuters

British Columbias Liberal government has been defeated in a non-confidence vote, as expected, paving the way for the left-leaning New Democrats to rule the western Canadian province for the first time in 16 years.

Such a prospect has unnerved investors in Canadas third-most populous province, not least owners of oil and gas projects, such as Kinder Morgan Incs C$7.4bn (US$5.7bn) Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which the New Democratic party (NDP) has vowed to halt.

But an NDP government, which has to be propped up by the third-place Green party to achieve a slim parliamentary majority of one, is fragile, and few expect it to survive the four-year term.

On Thursday, seven weeks after a knife-edge election, NDP and Green lawmakers used their 44 votes in the 87-member legislature to pass a non-confidence amendment to the Liberal governments Throne Speech.

After the vote, NDP leader John Horgan told reporters he had met the provinces nominal head, Lieutenant-Governor Judith Guichon, and that she had invited him to form a new government, making him British Columbias next premier.

Well have access to government documents tomorrow to start working on a transition, Horgan said. I cant predict when that (transition) will be, but its going to be soon.

Incumbent premier Christy Clark told media she offered her resignation to Guichon, but asked for a dissolution of the legislature, which the lieutenant-governor did not grant.

Dissolution would trigger another election. While Guichon technically has that power, such a move would go against convention for the largely ceremonial leader.

Guichon said in a statement she will accept Clarks resignation.

The NDP and Greens struck an agreement last month to oust the right-leaning British Columbia Liberal party unaffiliated with the left-leaning federal Liberal party of prime minister Justin Trudeau after a 9 May election reduced Clarks party to a minority.

The NDP and Greens, which will form the provinces first minority government in 65 years, have accused the Liberals of trying to retain power after the election by stealing their election promises and introducing them as last-minute legislation to delay being voted out.

Yet those same promises could be hard to deliver under an NDP government, which needs Green cooperation and every legislator to be present for every vote to pass laws, said University of British Columbia political science professor Hamish Telford.

The NDP may decide on its own accord that it needs to have a fresh election, he said.

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No-confidence vote for British Columbia Liberals delivers blow to pipeline project - The Guardian

On a cloudy day in early November 1979, a caravan of Nazi and Ku Klux Klan members careened into Greensboro, North Carolina, winding toward a local Communist Workers Party protest that had gathered in the city to march against the states white supremacists. The communists, wearing berets and hard hats, spotted the fleet and taunted the new arrivals with chants of Death to the Klan! The KKK convoy slowed, and stopped. Far-left protesters, bearing both wooden planks and concealed pistols, began surrounding the motorcade, beating the doors. As TV cameras rolled, the trunk of a Ford Fairlane, stuffed with shotguns and rifles, popped open. Someone yelled from one of the cars, You asked for the Klan! Now you've got em!

Eighty-eight seconds and 39 shots later, five communists lay dead. Eight other demonstrators were wounded, some permanently paralyzed. For a brief moment, the Greensboro Massacre became one of Americas most notorious acts of political blood-letting. And yet, unlike Wounded Knee or Selma, Greensboro has over the decades largely faded from memory.

Story Continued Below

Except in Portland.

Among the fringe political groups currently waging battle in the City of Roses, Greensboro is well-remembered, even idealized. It is increasingly seen as the inevitable end of the escalating violence that has rocked this city since Donald Trumps election in November. Left wing antifas, wearing red bandana masks alongside other far-left protesters, have rioted multiple times and caused millions of dollars of damage, with threats from left wing groups even forcing the cancellation of a parade because it featured a float from the local Republican Party. Eager to push back against the opposition, white nationalists have begun mixing with anti-government militia members for free speech rallies. A man who attended one of these rallies would later stab to death two men on a train when they intervened to stop his anti-Muslim rants against two young women. The norms of protest and counterprotestmostly verbal shouting and sign-wavingare quickly crumbling in Portland. The left wing antifa have even threatened preemptive violence in the name of the defending the city from groups they say promote violence.

In Portland, Greensboro isnt a past mistake to be avoided, but a future clash to be courted. Both sides mention Greensboro in conversation. Both sides know the details and the death toll. And both acknowledge Greensboro as an event that may well serve as a model for whats just around the corner. My big concern is sooner or later is that were going to have another Greensboro Massacre type of event, Mark Pitcavage, who researches domestic political extremism with the Anti-Defamation League, added. This is so unlikely to end well.

***

The fact that Portland erupted as the epicenter in Trump-era political violence in the U.S. is, in a certain sense, surprising. A liberal nirvana, a crunchy, weed-and-hops city where Republicans and plastic bags alike have been all but evicted, Portland has embodied and outpaced many of the urban trends of the early 21st century: gentrification and co-ops, food trucks and footbridges, transitions to a bike-and-pedestrian economy. It is, as a conspicuous show has encapsulated, a progressive paradise.

And yet, as many within and without the city have begun realizing, Portland is a town leavened with a history of rampant racial strife. As the whitest major American city, Portland blossomed in the lone state that constitutionally barred blacks from living there through the 19th century, that acted as one of the primary concentration centers for incarcerating American citizens of Japanese ancestry during World War II, that redlined as severely as any major metropolis elsewhere. That in 1922 saw its chief of police posing alongside hooded Ku Klux Klan members. That brought Jim Crow to the Pacific shoreline.

Its the type of legal legacy, the type of nod-and-wink encouragement of white supremacy, that not only welcomed any number of Confederate families to relocate to the region in the aftermath of the Civil War, but that, toward the close of the 20th century, saw neo-Nazi and skinhead groups begin to extend their tendrils through the area. Before Portlandia, there was Skinhead City. In the mid-1980s, skinheads began marching through downtown, hauling bats, pipes and axes. Not long after, the city birthed Volksfront, a neo-Nazi contingent that eventually expanded internationally. In 1988, a trio of skinheads bashed Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian student, to death; the three all received prison sentences, with one tabbed as a prisoner of war by other white supremacy groups.

Locals began pushing back. In 2007, a group called Rose City Antifa took form, borrowing the shortened form of antifascist for its name. The crew pointed to similar European movements, which had, in places like Germany and Italy, arisen in response to the fascist movements that would eventually crater Europe in World War II. It also tapped into regional currents of anarchism and latent communism. These were the political strains that had sparked, among other things, the 1999 Battle of Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization, which resulted in millions of dollars worth of property damage in the city.

From its inception, Portlands antifa contingent cloaked itself in anonymity; as a 2009 story in Portlands Willamette Week noted, Little is known publicly about Rose City Antifa. And little seems to have changed in the decade since. Its unofficial uniform comprises blood-red and black bandanas and hoods, but the group doesnt keep any official membership rolls, let alone share last names with anyone outside of its circle. Why do we wear masks? Because [of] instances of antifa people [who] have been assassinated, says David, a member of Rose City Antifa who, like all group members before him, declined to share his last name with POLITICO Magazine. The historical examples are not recent, but they are well-known in the group: Skinheads murdered a pair of anti-racist activists in Nevada in 1998, luring them to the desert outside Las Vegas, and local antifa have claimed that a 2010 incident in Portlanda shooting that left a self-described anti-racist skinhead in critical conditionwas also politically motivated.

For much of its existence, the group largely relied on shout-downs and public displays of force as their primary tactics. Recently theyve added the cyber weapon of doxxingexposing personal information such as addresses, places of employment, and dates of birth and schools, even if it means innocent families mistakenly targeted by antifa begin receiving threats. Such tactics have been effective because they raise the cost of participation, Stanislav Vysotsky, who researches political extremism with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, told POLITICO Magazine.

But now, for antifa, its not enough to simply outscream their opposition; rather, those far-right forces must, in a bizarre nod to the Bush Doctrine, be preemptively denied a voice from the outset. We are unapologetic about the reality that fighting fascism at points requires physical militancy, Rose City Antifas Facebook page reads. Anti-fascism is, by nature, a form of self-defense: the goal of fascism is to exterminate the vast majority of human beings. The group does not specify what physical militancy means, but their page makes clear that the definition includes any means necessary.

Were seeing more people be like, Whats antifa actually about? Do you just like going and smashing Starbucks windows? David says. And no, we dont smash Starbucks windowsmost of the time. Or as one of the Rose City Antifas Facebook profile pictures read, Set phasers to kill.

***

Unsurprisingly, antifas assault-related tactics, despite their continued usage, have proven less than effective, according to those who closely follow political extremism in the U.S.

It just makes [antifa] feel goodthey think they made a point, the ADLs Pitcavage said. But their tactics are counterproductive. They havent made any dent over the years with those tactics. And it gives the white supremacists an unbelievable amount of publicity. After all, a lack of anti-Nazi brawl-and-bash protests werent the reasons fascists rose to the fore in Germany and Italyand theres little reason to think that depriving neo-Nazis of their First Amendment rights will prove any more successful than the myriad pre-WWII street brawls that failed to slow the rise of fascism in Europe. Pitcavage points out that the far-right has been far deadlier, far more corrosive, than any American antifa contingents over the past few decadesbut antifa tactics have only exacerbated and inflamed far-right rosters: All the antifa tactics do is give extremists more attention, make extremists feel good, feel like warriorsand give them an opportunity to recruit.

Its impossible to tell whether the antifa protests have boosted the recruitment efforts of nationalists and white supremacists, but the groups tactics have not endeared them to mainstream critics on either the right or left. Shortly after Trumps election, anarchist and far-left protesters rioted in Portland, bringing at least a million dollars worth of damageand resulting, in the eyes of the Department of Homeland Security, in domestic terrorism. Further riots followed Trumps inauguration, and more in the months thereafter. Their actionsconducted anonymously but brutallyshow them to be punk fascists, wrote an editorial in The Oregonian, slamming those leading the greatest political violence Portland had seen in a generation.

Then, in late April, organizers behind the 82nd Avenue of Roses Paradea spectacle through one of the more multiracial neighborhoods in Portlandreceived an email ratcheting tensions even further. Sent from an anonymous account, the email targeted the inclusion of a Multnomah County Republican Party float: You have seen how much power we have downtown and that the police cannot stop us from shutting down roads so please consider your decision wisely. This is non-negotiable. Shaken, organizers canceled the parade; The Atlantics Conor Friedersdorf wondered who this faction on the left will next label a Nazi or a fascist in order to justify their own use of fascistic tactics. Or as James Buchal, the Multnomah County Republican Party chair, told POLITICO Magazine, The real concern going forward is that its a totalitarian sort of mind-set, where basically [theyre] not going to tolerate Republicans in our city.

When asked about the threats made to parade organizers, Rose City Antifa didnt blame right-wing provocateurs posing as local leftists, although they did note that no one knows who sent [the email]. Rather, the groups spokesman characterized the cancellation as an overreaction. The email had some sort of oblique promise of some sort of altercation, they shut down the entire parade, and then acted as if it was a whole big deal, David says.

Shortly thereafter, alt-right actors organized a free speech rally near the parades canceled routea rally attended by a man, Jeremy Christian, who donned an American flag cape, gave Nazi salutes to passers-by, and, a few weeks thereafter, allegedly killed two Portlanders defending a pair of teenagers from Christians Islamophobic slurs on a train.

The stabbings of Ricky Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, only emboldened the antifa protesters, who saw Christians ability to speak publicly as a precursor to his violence. Having a place where you can feel free to express these sorts of racist, bigoted beliefs enables you to go and make rants on a train, David claimed. It makes you want to defend yourself when people in the community step up against you.

One week after the murders, antifa and far-right actors clashed once more, this time at a Trump Free Speech rally. Epithets soon transformed into the kind of physical violence antifa had advocated earlier: Portland police said counterprotesters at the alt-right rally sparked the violence by slingshotting bricks, rocks and feces alike, forcing officers to unleash pepper spray on the crowd. As Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson told the local Willamette Week in late May, It's never been as vocal as it has been in recent months. While they're not street gangs, the threat of violence is there. Or as Kyle Chapman, one of the alt-right spokesmen at the rally, said about the possibility of advocating violence, Its not such a bad idea, is it? This, after Chapman tweeted that it was open season on antifa.

And the likelihood of a confrontation may increase if Buchal, the head of the local GOP, follows through on his plans to hire militiasOath Keepers and Three Percentersas security at future events, a development he told POLITICO Magazine hes still considering. What were really seeing are these very strong alliances being forged between Oath Keepers, Three Percenters, and white supremacists and white nationalists, Vysotsky said. Added Pitcavage, the Oath Keepers especially have really, really come on strong against the antifa. So now into the equation you not only have antifa versus white supremacists, but now you have antifa versus a much larger swath of the far right, which really increases the possibility for all sorts of things going on.

As of now, any possibilities of dialogueof a negotiated off-ramp to de-escalate tensionsseem negligible. When somebody is threatening you with bodily harm, as many of these groups are, sitting down for a conversation is not really something you want to do with somebody like that, David said. Thats the unfortunate truth.

Meanwhile, the next round of protest is scheduled for Friday in downtown Portland. The right-wing Patriot Prayer group has organized a freedom march that is expected to attract white nationalists, neo-Nazis, militia and white supremacists. The antifa have pledged to block them. The Rose City Antifa wrote on its Facebook page, that, this time, enough is enough.

Casey Michel is a writer from Portland, Oregon, and can be followed on Twitter at @cjcmichel.

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How Liberal Portland Became America's Most Politically Violent City - POLITICO Magazine

When Daniel Harnsberger leaves his home on the East Coast and drives into Appalachia, he usually packs a T-shirt covered in Hillary Clinton faces and spandex wrestling briefs that say "Progressive Liberal."

That's his wrestling persona and his costume. And most weekends, Harnsberger dons it to work in semipro regional circuits as a stereotypical coastal elite who trolls in Donald Trump country. (He sometimes also wears a shirt that says "Not My President.")

He's wrestled for years until recently, without the left-leaning political tilt in conservative corners of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. It's a grind. These are small gigs, often in high school gyms or on county fairgrounds. On these regional circuits, wrestlers often schedule a match at a time.

"I was wrestling for $5 and a hot dog and a soda," Harnsberger tells NPR's Steve Inskeep. "There were times I didn't get paid at all."

But two years ago just after Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign Harnsberger made politics part of his act.

He was wrestling in a small town in West Virginia. As Harnsberger recalls, the promoter told him to "be the biggest heel you can be." That was easy for Harnsberger, who's always been a fan of wrestling heels cartoonish bad guys whose job is to rile up the crowd.

So he took the microphone and brought some of Trump's campaign rhetoric into the ring: "I said, 'I hope Trump doesn't build a wall around Mexico. Instead I hope he builds it around this town so you people can't infiltrate the population.' And that got a heated reaction."

And his shtick kept getting that reaction. He honed it into a character named Dan Richards, The Progressive Liberal, that he kept playing throughout the election. When Trump won in November, crowds hated Dan Richards even more.

In character, Harnsberger tells crowds he'll take their guns. He says he wants to "reprogram" Trump supporters to make them favor renewable energy over coal.

"I know how you stupid Trump voters think," the Liberal Progressive says in one video for Appalachian Mountain Wrestling. "Allow me to illustrate: dur-dur-dur, I love coal. Dur-dur-dur, I love mountains."

And in the ring, he finishes off opponents with a move called the "Liberal Agenda" he described recently to Sports Illustrated:

It's just a cross-arm neckbreaker, so if I'm standing in front of you, I'm grabbing each of your wrists, crossing your arms, then twisting you for a standard neckbreaker. I call that the Liberal Agenda so then the announcer says, "Oh, he hit him with his Liberal Agenda!"

Wrestling fans seem to eat it up. In one video, a gym full of spectators boos Harnsberger as he makes his entrance before a match; a group of kids scream at him from just a few feet away. In another video, Harnsberger gets into a shouting match with a fan. The man calls him "D.C. girl" and starts a chant of "Bye, bye, Hillary!"

Harnsberger goes out of his way to make wrestling fans hate his character. Turns out the left-wing views of the Progressive Liberal aren't an act.

"I'm the progressive liberal in real life," he says, "so I think this would generate a reaction from fans, especially the places I was going."

And that's probably what makes Harnsberger such a good villain. A great heel, he says, is one who "believes what they're saying and feels justified in their actions."

Jacob Pinter

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Appalachian Wrestling's Greatest Villain: 'The Progressive Liberal' - NPR

British Conservatism with both a big and small c is once again feeling the pangs of crisis. Tory optimists might be hanging on to the fact that their party has just scored its highest vote share since 1983; as Brexit grinds uncertainly on, Britain remains in the grip of an avowedly rightwing vision. But the last time a Tory government was elected with a convincing majority was 1987. The UKs big cities seem more impervious to Conservative politics than ever. The fact that the Tories did so badly among people under the age of 45 55% of whom backed Labour, while only 29% voted Conservative underlines the sense of slowly gathering twilight.

What has happened? Conventional political commentary quite rightly points to the aftershocks of the EU referendum, and younger remain voters being shocked into action. But beneath that immediate development are much deeper factors, bound up with 50 years of cultural change, and millions of peoples embrace of the permissive, live-and-let-live set of values highlighted by this weeks publication of the latest British Social Attitudes Survey.

Moreover, in what the survey said about peoples views of the welfare state and public spending, there was a sense of something equally important: a fuzzy collectivism that stops well short of any kind of hardened socialism, but that defines a whole swath of the country that has not soaked up Thatcherism and its legacy to anything like the extent that the Tories would have liked.

On the face of it, it should not be beyond the wit of modern Conservatives to embrace those shifts. But ingrained Tory instincts seem to always get in the way: the overriding tendency of the partys individualism to turn cruel and cold; its attachment to moralism and the manipulation of base prejudice; and, in the case of Theresa May, a fusty, back-to-the-1950s spirit that arguably sealed her electoral fate (and is now symbolised by the governments dependence on the reactionary DUP).

Meanwhile, despite the support for the Tories politics from the Mail and the Sun, something much more powerful seems to be driving Britain somewhere else: the onward march of post-Elvis pop culture, and the way it now sits at the heart of a majority of peoples lives, along with a set of values that Conservatism still seems unable to convincingly accommodate.

Clearly, the country we live in is no idyll. Inequality is rampant; racism and bigotry have hardly gone away; there is a coarseness and impatience at the heart of everyday living that was not there 30 years ago. The country that voted for Brexit is hardly at ease with itself. But at the same time, when I think back to my early upbringing in the 1970s when the second world war was still a conversational commonplace, and my grandparents hung on to an essentially Victorian view of the world and compare Britain then and now, the sense of a quiet revolution seems pretty much inarguable.

Again, this is less about politics than values. British people are more liberal on such issues as same-sex relationships and abortion than they have ever been. At the last count, one in 10 people in couples in England and Wales were in what the official statistics call an inter-ethnic relationship. Cannabis smoke regularly wafts around our town and city centres; Glastonbury is as much a part of the national calendar as Wimbledon or the Grand National. And throughout our waking hours, there is one constant above all others: what the dictionary still calls pop music, probably the most potent means of communication human beings have ever come up with, now the lingua franca of all but the oldest generations, defined by a tangle of non-conservative ideas, and right at the centre of our everyday experience.

Cynics might point to the times when pop culture has seemed anything but progressive, from the time when Britpop spawned the oafishness of lad culture, back through the flimsy materialism that ran through the 1980s (watch any Duran Duran video for the proof), to the thuggish, nasty turn quickly taken by punk rock. But by far the strongest philosophical thread in pop culture has been there for around six decades, and steadily moved from the countercultural fringe to the very heart of national life. It is internationalist, open, permissive, implicitly anti-racist and, as evidenced by the modern festival crowd, as much communal as individualist.

By way of proof of all this, after years of people proclaiming the death of ideology, pop still steers well away from the political right. Aside from Gary Barlow of Take That, I cannot think of a single high-profile modern musician who has officially endorsed the Tories, nor of any moment in the past 10 years when a Tory politician appearing at Glastonbury would have been greeted with anything other than boos.

Clearly, attitudinal shifts do not happen by accident. Our culture has long privileged musicians with a pre-eminent importance, to the point that their views still make headlines. Fifty years ago, the Beatles played a huge and leading role in pulling down the walls of class-based deference. A little later, David Bowies defiance of the conventions of gender and sexuality changed tens of thousands of lives. The arrival after punk of 2 Tone, the genre-cum-movement that made a stand against insurgent racism via the simple idea of black and white musicians updating Jamaican ska, was another huge breakthrough. And so the list goes on: the global sensibilities embodied by Live Aid; more recently, the anthems to confidence and assertiveness that have made Katy Perry the latest embodiment of pop feminism (or, as the Spice Girls used to call it, Girl Power).

Thirty years after it first stirred, we also need to talk about acid house, which began on the fringes in the late 1980s, symbolised a massed upending of that decades individualist attitudes, and then bled out into everyday life. Matthew Collins definitive book on the subject, Altered State, rightly says that acid house was the most vibrant, diverse and long-lasting youth movement that Britain had ever seen, built on deeply felt desires for communal experiences. For all that it also involved the cheap and nasty entrepreneurialism that inevitably came with illegally organised parties and drug dealing, its legacy was pretty obvious: the imperative, simply put, to be nice kind, caring, open, accepting.

Earlier this week, the Daily Telegraph published a letter from Marianna, Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley. She furiously claimed that Jeremy Corbyns appearances at Glastonbury were an utter disgrace, little realising that the festival is the perfect example of the way that ideas that are still anathema to far too many Conservatives have gone from the countercultural margins into the mainstream, and that Corbyns presence made perfect sense.

I first went 27 years ago, when the Pyramid Stage was adorned with a huge CND symbol, the organisers would not let the police in, the BBC was nowhere to be seen, and there was a clear break between the outside world and the festivals licentious wonders. These days, by contrast, one blurs into the other, which highlights the Tories big problem: the fact that even when the tents have been packed up and the comedowns have kicked in, millions of us still live in a reality in which the politics of parochialism, nostalgia and moralism make precious little sense.

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How pop music built liberal Britain | John Harris | Opinion | The ... - The Guardian

A bill that would enshrine ultra-Orthodox monopoly over Jewish conversions in Israel will hopefully be postponed to allow time for the thorny issue to be resolved, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday in an apparent attempt to calm tensions with U.S. Jewish groups.

The bill, along with a decision to scrap plans for a mixed-gender prayer area at Jerusalem's Western Wall this week, has angered liberal American Jewish groups, which have hinted the issues could undermine their longstanding political, financial and emotional support for Israel.

Ultra-Orthodox rabbis rigorously govern Jewish practices in Israel such as weddings, divorces, burials and conversions. Their strict interpretation of religious law often puts them at odds with liberal Jews practicing their faith in Israel. Most American Jews belong to the more liberal Reform and Conservative streams and feel alienated by Israel's ultra-Orthodox authorities, who frown on many of their rituals.

"Domestic peace among the Jewish People is important to me. It is important to me both as Prime Minister of Israel and as a son of the Jewish People," Netanyahu said after a meeting with the heads of the coalition parties over the crisis.

Netanyahu said it was decided legislation, as well as an appeal over the issue, will be "frozen" while a team works for about six months "on finding solutions for an agreed-upon arrangement." He said the government together with the appellants will on Sunday ask the High Court of Justice for a stay on its decision.

"I very much hope that the High Court of Justice will accede to this joint request because it will calm things down and also open a door to hope for an agreed-upon arrangement among our people," Netanyahu said.

The bill could be revived if the court turns down the request.

Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who heads Israel's Reform Jewish movement issued a statement together with Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism in North America, saying they hope the delay "marks a return to a process of dialogue." He stressed that they "we will not hesitate to go back to the courtroom" if necessary.

The rabbis wrote the delay is "an important rebuke to the aggressive behavior of the ultra-Orthodox toward diaspora Jewry and the non-Orthodox streams."

They also expect Netanyahu to act on the "despicable decision" made regarding the mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall, according to the statement.

"We will not allow the unity of the Jewish people to be placed in the hands of parties and politicians who have hardened their hearts to compromise, mutual respect, and dialogue. As long as this one-sided government decision is not overturned, the crisis in the Jewish world will continue," they said.

The plan to officially recognize the special mixed-gender prayer area at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, was reached in January 2016, after three years of intense negotiations between liberal Israeli and American Jewish groups and Israeli authorities. Under ultra-Orthodox management, the wall is currently separated between men's and women's prayer sections. This week Netanyahu's government scrapped the plan.

Israeli media reported that ultra-Orthodox politicians stormed out of Friday's emergency meeting.

The meeting came after Netanyahu met with a senior delegation from the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC Thursday night.

This week's conversion bill and Western Wall decision touched a raw nerve and sparked a rare display of public anger from American Jewish groups.

Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Israel in turn ramped up their criticism and said diaspora Jews would have no say in how religion was conducted in Israel.

The ultra-Orthodox religious establishment sees itself as responsible for maintaining traditions through centuries of persecution and assimilation. It resists any inroads from liberals, who it often considers to be second-class Jews who ordain women and gays and are overly inclusive toward converts and interfaith marriages.

The liberal streams have made some progress in recent years, but have encountered ultra-Orthodox resistance when it comes to official state recognition and having a say in religious practices.

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Israeli PM wants bill that irked liberal Jews delayed - ABC News

In the future, if any sci-fi film worth its salt is to be believed, well all knock around in the same uniform the silver jumpsuit with a lightning flash down the front.

So John Bercows directive that ties are no longer necessary to House of Commons business seems a bit tame, really. Why not go the whole hog and alter the parliamentary rule book to insist the space suit fashion starts now?

You might be forgiven for thinking Bercow had announced something that radical if you listen to the Colonel Bufton-Tufton types that stuff the Tory backbenches, and the newsrooms of the Burma Road the corridor of Parliaments press gallery where most of the right-wing titles home their politics operations.

Hes not. Hes just moved parliament with the times.

And anyone who does disagree with the move ought to look at the company they are keeping. Backbench bore Peter Bone, Geoffrey Cox a man censured by the standards committee for forgetting to declare 400,000 of outside income, surely a more serious obstacle to being a good parliamentarian than not wearing a tie and Nigel Farage who is barred from sitting in the Commons, not due to his attire but because the British public, despite numerous opportunities, keep declining to elect him. Because hes appalling.

Outside the door to the press gallery above the Commons chamber there is a hat stand festooned with ties from down the ages as a handy resource for those who have forgotten to don appropriate neckwear. Doorkeepers will actually refuse entry to anyone tie-less. Ive even seen particularly sniffy staff insist the tie is done up properly to the neck rather than what might be known these days as Jeremy Corbyn style.

And every Wednesday, a few minutes before Prime Ministers Questions starts, youll find a queue of men hastily donning the appropriate neckwear before entering the chamber. For most of them do not wear a tie the rest of the day. Consequently, it is patently ridiculous to insist men do wear a tie in the chamber as some sort of magic adornment only needed for that one room. (Its even more daft to apply the rules to reporters who are never seen on camera during parliamentary coverage.)

This week Laura Pidcock, the new Labour MP for North West Durham, was praised for her maiden speech in which she drew attention to parliamentary dress codes among the many things she claims are "intimidating"about the Palace of Westminster. Did her words help sway Bercows decision as much as Lib Dem Tom Brakes challenge to the norm by asking a question while tie-less?

If so, that puts her in the same category as Stella Creasy, whos chalked up a victory in the first days of the new parliament. Now, clearly there is a magnitude of difference between what stellar Stella Creasy achieved a government climbdown that means Northern Irish women can now get abortions in England for free and the definition of business attire. But if dropping ties shows something good about parliament, the way it will be reported does not.

The Queens Speech votes mattered. Whether MPs wear ties does not.

But sit back and watch the right-wing press draw an equivalence in terms of column inches. One story is about a female MP winning for women in Northern Ireland. The other is about middle-class men and what they wear. Which one will the sketch-writers alight upon for their material?

The lobby, still overwhelmingly male and pale, will focus on Labours splits over Europe (failing to learn from recent criticism that its obsessed with personality over policy) and dress code flim flam at the expense of what Stella Creasys success really means for people and policy.

If ties dont matter, why write about them? Their removal from parliament is likely to be the end of an item of clothing that will soon be as esoteric as a ruff or a top hat, and thats of interest to students of fashion.

But for those interested in politics and parliament, the reaction to Speaker Bercows ruling shows that Westminster and the people that report on it have some way to go in getting their priorities straight and giving us the democracy we deserve.

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Angela Merkel's vote against equal marriage shows that she's no liberal hero - New Statesman