Though Cowards Flinch

Yes, I know I shouldn’t.  I know I promised yesterday to stop filling this blog with commentary on awful rightwing blogs.  I know most visitors to TCF agree they’re awful, so what’s the point?  And there’s a full response to do on Dave’s excellent Socialism 2009 commentary, focusing in on the ongoing debate about the centrality (or not) of the Labour left to a left resurgence.

But first………… this post from Rod Liddle at the Spectator is just so spectacularly bad that I just can’t help myself one more time. 

Here is Liddle’s piece in its full glory:

Britain:  Petty Official Capital of the World

The former Tory whip, Tristan Garel-Jones, now Lord Garel-Jones, was searching for a cashpoint while in his car recently. He found one but there were no parking spaces available, so he approached a traffic warden by the side of the road and with some trepidation asked if he might double park for just a few seconds while he withdrew some money. The warden replied: ‘Yes of course, sir. I’ll keep an eye on your car while you use the cash machine.’

That was in Spain. Can you imagine such a thing happening in England? Can you imagine even asking the traffic warden in England? How did we end up so officious?’

And that’s it! 

Liddle seriously seems to be presenting, as evidence that the UK is overly officious in its ways, the fact that someone in another country had an experience where someone else wasn’t officious towards him.

But it’s not just any old someone who’s had a pleasant experience in another country.  Oh no, it’s a senior Conservative, who’s now – and Liddle think is this worth stressing - a lord! 

Oh well, that proves it then………..

Surely, surely, I’m half-inclined to believe, Liddle can’t be that stupid. Surely he is just taking the piss, seeing how far he can take Spectator trolls  for a ride before they notice. 

A long way, it would appear, as it’s not until the 10th comment that someone picks up on the notion that the logic in Liddle’s argument might be just a teency bit flawed. 

Even the commenter who says he actually had a pleasant traffic warden experience in the UK over a wreath-purchasing incident seems to think that Liddle is correct really and that what happened to him must have been a one-off, and that normally he’d have been thrown in the clink  by members of the Frankfurt School of Marxism in person, and subjected to continued Polly Toynbee articles (to be fair, he didn’t say that last bit).

And Liddle gets paid for this?  I’d stop his pocket money right now if  I had my way.