You know what I hate about our politics? It's so bloody humourless and anodyne. No wonder the voters are turned off.
Tom Harris MP has been forced to stand down as Labour's "Scottish politician who knows where the interweb is". His crime? He posted a satirical video having a pop at SNP MSP and journalist Joan McAlpine. He used the tried, tested and tired tactic of attaching subtitles to the 2004 film Downfall, which is about the last days of the Nazi regime.
Cue much brouhaha about him comparing Alex Salmond to Hitler. No, no, no, he didn't. He made a Downfall parody - a well-known internet trope.
Only in a digitally backward country like ours could Downfall parodies be remotely controversial. This particular meme has become so passe that it has passed from cliche to much-loved internet institution. They are about offensive as "Keep calm and carry on" posters.
His effort is here:
Is it funny? No. Our Tom probably doesn't have a great career in TV comedy waiting for him.
Is it an effective attack on a political opponent? No. It's too baffling and obstruse. Also, I've met Joan. She's never struck me as the kind of wilting violet who would require years of counselling to cope with this.
It is a resigning matter? No. And I think it shows how much Labour does not "get" new media that Harris has gone. It smacks of the classic New Labour fear of controversy. The party north of the Border now boasts no senior figure who doesn't think "internet" is the technical term for the gusset in a pair of tights.
I would have respected Harris more if he had publicly said: "Calm down, it's clearly a parody. I'm obviously not comparing Eck to Hitler. I tried to be creative. I tried to entertain. I'm standing by it. Resign? Yer erse."
Do we really want to live in a world where politicians stick to the script? Where they don't try new things? Where they show no individuality?
I repeat: Tom Harris should not have resigned. But he did deserve to get the same treatment, hence the swift arrival of an assortment of "Tom Harris Downfall" videos. The following one traces Labour's misfortunes and adds the acid line: "It's OK. Tom Harris has made a Downfall spoof which should help us recover in Scotland."
A much funnier Alex Salmond Downfall than the MP's was posted after the Glenrothes by-election in 2008 (that's how old and creaky this format is). The expletive-laced caricature is both more extreme and somehow more human. Watch out for the "Jimmy Krankie" and "chicken korma" lines.
On the subject of videos, I came across this "Vote Britain" cracker from the writer Alan Bissett. It has a wee bit touch of the Trainspotting "Choose Life" about it. The sound quality is poor but the bitterness still comes through. Enjoy:
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