Apparently I’m a Nazi
Earlier this morning, while seeking to defend journalist Alex Massie’s right to be vaguely sensible about immigration, I made mention of that law of the early internet about Hitler, which I’ve now looked up and reads:
‘As a usenet discussion grows longer, the of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.’
Imagine, then, my surprise when I click on the very same Alex Massie’s blog at the Spectator and find he’s gone one further than Godwin’s Law, and called me a Nazi without even waiting for the comments to start.
His rationale for this ‘ is a decision taken by city councillors in some part of the US Midwest not to allow residents to keep chickens. In an extrapolation his colleague Melanie Foaming Phillips would be proud of, he is able to conclude that this is:
‘The usual bullying, domineering nonsense from jumped-up little gauleiters of the sort who infest local councils everywhere’.
That’s me told, then.
No matter that I’ve just spent hours putting successfully together the case for the relaxation of greenbelt rules so that a sensible extension to the Parish car park can be added to aid road safety.
No matter that I recently spent hours preparing and successfully arguing in planning committee a ‘special circumstances case’ for the relaxation of overly restrictive planning rules which would have meant a disabled person had to leave their home.
No matter that I’ve spent hundreds of hours developing and successfully presenting the case for the sensible relaxation of planning rules so that a nursery can be built on the school field and the long term viability of a village school can be assured in defiance of bureaucratic wishes.
Nope, some councillors several thousand miles away taking an odd view on chickens proves I’m simply a wanabee regional bureaucrat for the Nazi party.
People have reported people to the Press Complaints Commission for less, I reckon.
Now there’s an idea.
Paul,
Well, yes, you have a point. An inelegant, perhaps in-too-much-haste, way of putting it on my part. But, as someone who would like more local government and less central government there are times when local councillors make it more, not less, difficult to make the case for this.
More importantly, that post was written by someone who just wishes that our chickens hadn’t shut down production for the winter…
Alex
Thanks for dropping in.
Yeah, ok, from my side I accept that not all councillors are paragons of virtue and astute common sense all the time. Though clearly I am.
Just imagine what some of them might get up to if the Tories get in and implement the General Powers of Competence, eh?
As for your chickens, it sounds some kind of industrial dispute, and I back them fully in their brave working chicken struggle.
btw, if you were clicking on that article link om the other post, it was broken but I’ve now fixed it. Sorry about that.