Here's what we're facing. The Brits have Teabaggers too.

[Gregorian]

I happen to love this guy's video commentaries. But as I watched this one, in the wake of the Zimmerman trial, I suddenly realized the parallel between the EDL and the Teaparty goons.

I guess I just want to say that, to me, it seems that perhaps all of the problems we see in the world today stem from just one thing. Ignorance.

Even if I'm wrong, have a look. It's always nice to hear the voice of intelligence, even if it is slow and odd sounding.

[Berlin Expat]

1. The EDL is a

quasi-fascist hate group. There's been a couple of bombings (or rather, half-assed bombings) at mosques in England recently, and most likely, the EDL - or EDL fellow-travelers - are behind them. If that's the case, and I strongly suspect that it is, then they're branching out into outright terrorism.

In that case, the British government can - and probably would - take steps to proscribe the organization.

The EDL are violent football hooligans with a thin veneer of ideology as a cover for their violent and hateful activities. Among their most prominent US supporters are Pam Gellar and Robert Spencer, two of the more notorious (and noxious) Islam-bashers out there. The irony in all of this is the point that when you look at the various anti-Muslim memes that the EDL, Gellar, Spencer et al, throw out there for public consumption, they are almost all European/Russian anti-Semitic tropes dating from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. They've simply substituted 'Muslims' for 'Jews'.

If the EDL didn't have Muslims to hate on, they'd go after Jewish folks in a heartbeat.

[Gregorian]

2. It's a bit of an exaggeration for me to compare them to Teabaggers.

I just see where we're heading in this nation. I'd rather be vigilant and wrong than ignorant and regretful.

[Berlin Expat]

3. The United Kingdom Independence Party

(UKIP) strikes me as much closer to the Tea Party movement; a right-wing populist movement, the primary difference being that the UKIP is an actual political party in active electoral competition whereas the Tea Party movement is just that - a movement, not an actual political party.

UKIP, I've noticed, does have fellow-travelers and supporters within not only the EDL but the BNP as well, not to mention disgruntled Tories who feel their party isn't being "conservative enough" in issues such as immigration, membership in the European Union, etc. I know that in the next general elections, UKIP will be actively competing for seats in Parliament; it'll be interesting to see how that goes - whether they make any real gains or whether they simply serve as a drag on the Tories by peeling off Conservative Party voters.