So we've had #thingsthatarenotmosques, Ostentatious breastfeeding mothers who should go and sit in a corner, spoof accounts, Ukip Trumpton, sluts cleaning behind the fridge, and now Farage thinks the M4 is no longer navigable to Wales because, you guessed it, foreigners.
The Ukipists are busy trying to spin it all away. Some of the outrage is manufactured, but some of it isn't, but in any case, Ukip seems to spend most of its time putting out brushfires and working hard on damage limitation. In and of itself, it's all rather trivial but it does point to a more serious andyawning credibility gap emerging from the Ukip end of things.
I'm not the only one to remark that Ukip spoof accounts are only barely distinguishable from the real thing, and when it comes to Farage, his galactic ego means he will never turn down an opportunity to waffle on at length which increases the odds of him either contradicting his own policies or simply stating something utterly stupid. This is Ukip's unswerving ability to make every unforced error possible, gradually painting a canvas of an unelectable rabble lacking ideas and competence.
The Times is still digging for that killer blow, but it seems like Ukip is determined to hoist itself with its own petard. Sooner or later something the Times digs up will stick but the the thousand small self-inflicted flesh-wounds are starting to reach critical mass. Ukipists think these nontroversies only carry weight with the "metro-elite" but they do have a way of filtering through to become the received wisdom of the apolitical. It's more about the vibe than the substance, and no amount of backpedaling can undo an avoidable mistake. Ukip gives off a vibe of being incompetent and shallow because that is precisely what it is, personified by Nigel Farage.
We were told that this rampant populism was to expand the party beyond that of a single issue party but now thanks to Farage, it's more of a single issue party than ever it was, only that issue is no longer about the EU. It is now known globally as the UK's anti-immigration party and is now a laughing stock - made immeasurably worse by the cult-like adulation of Farage's followers and their total lack of self-awareness.
None of this permeates the walls of the cult mind you. In their eyes it's a "LibLabCon" liberal establishment media conspiracy to discredit them - and rather confront the glaringly obvious elephant in the room they cry unfairness and bias. This is how children behave. A grown up party would have recognised long ago that the playing field was not level, the game is indeed rigged and there are ways to play the game. Ukip have manifestly resisted any such realities, attacked anyone who dared to criticise, and even now as their chickens gradually return to the roost in greater numbers, they are still blind to the causes of their woes.
Now I know full well I'm sounding like a broken record by this point. I would rather be doing something else. I would actually prefer it if the eurosceptic party was competent and wasn't so lamentably inept at everything it does, but I think it necessary to record this slow motion trainwreck, not least so I can remind all those obnoxious Ukipists that they applauded their leaders in bringing a disaster to hand.
Ukipists defence is to latch on to any poll that tells them what they want to hear, but anyone with halfway sophisticated understanding of psephology knows that voting intention polls do not paint a national picture, nor do they accommodate localised nuances. The LibDems are trailing badly but will still hang on to a respectable number of seats, when Ukip will barely scratch three seats IF they can hold Rochester, which on current form is not guaranteed. This time last year I would have been a little saddened that such hard work had come to naught, but ever since they became a sanitised BNP, I can't help but think "good riddance to bad rubbish". It is a fate they richly deserve.
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