You don’t have look far into Europe and some of the former member countries of the USSR to find real examples of neo-Nazi activity. Groups which are really little more than gangs of thugs and bullies still band together under this heading, terrorise towns and villages, threaten those who do not agree with them, and have no qualms about carrying guns, and shooting or killing those who dare oppose them.
So we don’t need idiots like Jackson Carlaw MSP stirring up non-events on home ground.
I recently mentioned the madness that afflicted some people when Magnus the Viking pointed the way, after being adopted by NorthLink Ferries in its new logo, and was described by Dr Victoria Whitworth from the University of the Highlands and Islands (a lecturer in Nordic Studies based in Orkney), and Gareth Crichton, chairman of the Orkney Tourism Group, as a symbolism of Nazi beliefs.
It might not be relevant (to Dr Victoria Whitworth and Gareth Crichton at least), but the rules for a Nazi salute require that it be made with the RIGHT arm (unless medically impaired, in which case the left may be used), with the arm raised straight out in front of the body, and with the fingers straight and held together.
I’m fairly sure I can see at least three of those requirements being abused here.
Northlink Magnus
Now a moronic MSP sees the eagle as a Nazi symbol
Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw has attacked a proposal to make the eagle a national symbol of Scotland, recalling its use by the Roman empire and later by Nazi Germany.
Mr Carlaw sits on a Holyrood committee considering a petition to make the golden eagle Scotland’s national bird.
He suggested the eagle was a symbol of “imperial power”.
Via MSP Jackson Carlaw likens proposed eagle symbol to Nazi emblem
Poland seems to have been able to get along with the white eagle as its symbol since World War II ended, and if any country has good reason to banish the eagle as a Nazi symbol, then Poland surely ranks among the top contenders.
Polish White Eagle
And I’m pretty sure there would be a mob of angry American villagers with pitchforks and flaming torches banging on Jackson Carlaw MSP’s door if they heard about him, and his opinion, given their patriotic fervour and adoption of the Bald Eagle to symbolise their country. The Bald Eagle can be found on most official seals of the US government, including the Seal of the President of the United States, the Presidential Flag, and in many U.S. federal agency logos.
Bald Eagle
I could waffle an about dangerous and deluded Jackson Carlaw MSP is, for making the Nazi connection where it does not exist, and attempting to make political capital out of something that exists only his twisted mind – but I won’t.
I have better things to do
Rather, I will just say we should pity him, and his ever so sad attempt at political opportunism, and a desperate, failed ploy to generate some interest in himself, and gain free publicity.
Perhaps it hasn’t failed completely, since he’s got his name spread across most media – as some sort of nut, and they do say there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Plenty more to read here, if you have the time:
Jackson Carlaw MSP objects to proposed eagle symbol over Nazi link | Glasgow & West | News | STV
Golden eagle symbol likened to nazi emblem by MSP – The Scotsman
Secret Scotland 