L'Ombre de l'Olivier

The Shadow of the Olive Tree

being the maunderings of an Englishman on the Côte d'Azur

18 August 2006 Blog Home : August 2006 : Permalink

More Lefty Lexicon

The good news is that according to the comments to the previous blog post, and also I think seen on some other comment page (samizdata?) the sound chaps (and chapesses) at Conservative Home are "never going to take it down or amend it". Unlike certain UK newspapers and other similar invertebrates it seems Tory bloggers see no reason to be intimidated and this is most definitely a good thing - I hope they manage to introduce a similar amount of intestinal fortitude into the shadow cabinet. However I do think it could be worthwhile adding so, since the Conservtive Home version will remain pristine, I shall maintain my Lefty Lexicon page and periodically add to it as I have just today with entries for "Multilateral" and "Wind Power".

Also in the comments, Leon (from Pickled Politics I believe), produced a link to an update post whence one learns that the definition that caused most distress was:

Consultation - a formal system for ignoring public views while patronising them at the same time. London’s Congestion Charge for instance.

Since the author works in the community outreach part of Orange whohc does hold consultations it seems that his employers felt that this showed a certain lack of tact vis a vis his real job - a Ratners moment if you like. Unfortunately unless Orange does in fact hold this view, in which case it is indeed a Ratners moment, those who think that are clearly not capable of logical thought. They don't understand that this is a Lefty lexicon - that is a definition of terms used by lefties and for the most part ('islamophobe' perhaps not) what lefties think they mean. Since Inigo Wilson is not a lefty, and (for that matter) not in government, the fact that he thinks lefties think that way does not mean that he things that way. I will probably modify my copy of the lexicon to make clear whether the definitions are the lefty view of what they mean or their actual meaning.

Finally, and I suspect why a lot of chattering class folks are upset about it, there is Nigel Sedgwick's point that despite claims of "extremism", "racism" etc. the Lefty Lexicon is actually representative of a significant chunk of British public opinion. If it were really the rantings of the BNP or related factions then it probably wouldn't have garnered so much attention; the fact is that it probably represents the views of many in those parts of England that voted Tory, that is to say something like 40% of the electorate and this worries the lefties because such ridicule is likely to appeal to other parts of the electorate as well.


I despise l'Escroc and Vile Pin