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Toby Buckle

@polphilpod.bsky.social

15K followers 1.9K following 4.7K posts

Host of the Political Philosophy Podcast & occasional writer. US & UK politics, philosophy, religion, & the odd food pics.

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Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 25d

the UK's new anti-trans rules are indefensible & will make global fascism stronger

my latest with @liberalcurrents.com

www.liberalcurrents.com/britains-bat...

Britain’s Bathroom Ban

The UK has gone from a bathroom ban being unthinkable to a Labour government implementing one without a vote

www.liberalcurrents.com

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1m

results

bsky.app/profile/did:...

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1m

i made a UK version of my model & applied to it to 10 politicians, aiming for consistency in grading with the US one

method QTed, results below

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1m

i made a UK version of my model & applied to it to 10 politicians, aiming for consistency in grading with the US one

method QTed, results below

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 14m

yep, i'm mostly just looking at how clearly they identify & describe the problem . . . it should be an easy standard to meet

should

bsky.app/profile/vjy1...

vy @vjy1.bsky.social · 18m

All talk

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 20m

i'd said for a while, that US dems are resisting fascism much more aggressively than their UK counterparts, but doing this exercise is forcing me to grapple with just how big the gap is

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 21m

i'm just gonna let the chips fall where they may, this may not be as interesting as the US one - but that'll be very telling

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 25m

i'm trying to make it consistent with how i ranked US dems & that's just *vaporising* them

like how would you rank a dem on 'trans rights' who didn't speak out against a national bathroom ban?

or for resistance, if they said some of trumps policies were racist, but the man himself wasn't?

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 50m

this is a grim exercise

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 59m

note on trans rights - many on the list have said supportive things historically but have not had much to say, or actively gone along with, the EHRC guidance (ie a bathroom ban), that will bring your 'score' down a lot, to count as pro trans you have to have spoken against that

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h

this'll be the 'method' thread - i'm gonna work through trying to be consistent & objective

results to follow separately

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h

again, i'm not normalising - so i'm not gonna adjust the grade boundaries to ensure at least a few of them get As

same boundaries as the US &, if anything, easier categories - the average dem is about a C

bsky.app/profile/polp...

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 22h

i made a model to assign scores for how robustly US politicians oppose fascism & graded 13 leading dems

criteria & method QTed, individual results in 🧵 below:

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h

rules: for each category, i'll give 10 'points'

0 - opposition

2-3 no stated position

4-5 tepid, recent support

6-7 clear, strong, recent support

8-10 long-term strong support

then sum & translate that to a letter grade F (0-20), D (21-30), C (31-40), B (41-50), A (51-60), AA (60-70)

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h

so 'support trans rights', as much as i agree with that, isn't about issue agreement, i'm using it as a heuristic for do they think they can appease the far-right by sacrificing a minority

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h

as with the US one, this isn't a measure of how much i agree with them, but how strongly they're opposing modern global fascism

again, i'm not trying to asses sincerity, just are they saying & doing the right things - it should be a really easy bar to meet

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h

based on this in the US case, because we're at a different point - the UK one is much more focused on naming & opposing it

tho bonus points also available for having taken personal risks, or put themselves on the line

bsky.app/profile/polp...

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 22h

i made a model to assign scores for how robustly US politicians oppose fascism & graded 13 leading dems

criteria & method QTed, individual results in 🧵 below:

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h

ok, 'resistance to fascism' rankings ok UK politicians

grade based on, do they:

1. call reform fascist (or racist or far-right)
2. call trump admin fascist
3. connect reform to global fascism
4. draw values contrast on immigration
5. support trans rights
6. attempt a coalition

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 19h

christ, i shudder to think what a UK version of this would show

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 22h

i made a model to assign scores for how robustly US politicians oppose fascism & graded 13 leading dems

criteria & method QTed, individual results in 🧵 below:

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 13h

gotta hand it to the . . . *checks notes* catholic church

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 13h

this is the energy we need

Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 15h

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 13h

it seems like the median score for a national dem, with i think a fairly generous model (again, i'm not 2nd guessing public statements, as long as they're consistent), is a C

so, yeah, room to improve

& seems like party leadership is worse than rank & file

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 14h

maybe, although it does weight that quiet heavily, it's 1 of 7 & wouldn't have made that much of a difference here

- trippling it (3 of 10) maybe gets van hollen up to a B, it would boost some lower level dems, but from the main ones . . .there's less to speak of

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 14h

i agree that does seem to leave a bit of a gap. on the other hand, i'm trying to create a measure that's as objective as possible - it's not just my read of someone

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 14h

i'm reasonably explicit about this, i take into account statements, actions, votes, but not "do we buy that the person is sincere?"

bsky.app/profile/polp...

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1d

a few provisos (this will be the 'method' thread, i'll do another for the results)

- i'm just going by public statements & actions, i'm not trying to judge if someone means it in their heart of hearts

Reposted by Toby Buckle

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 19h

christ, i shudder to think what a UK version of this would show

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 22h

i made a model to assign scores for how robustly US politicians oppose fascism & graded 13 leading dems

criteria & method QTed, individual results in 🧵 below:

Reposted by Toby Buckle

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 22h

i made a model to assign scores for how robustly US politicians oppose fascism & graded 13 leading dems

criteria & method QTed, individual results in 🧵 below:

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 18h

that's a good one

Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 18h

I want something that poses an equivalent "difficulty" to the US one - ie demands active opposition, but is by no means unrealistic