Anthony Zacharzewski's blog

Every day I wonder why newspapers bother to put comment boxes under articles. Here's an example of why they should be turned off.

The press have been suitably respectful about the late Michael Foot, who was unchallengeably a great intellectual and parliamentarian, even if he wasn't cut out to lead a fractious party into the age of Thatcherism.

And yet on the Telegraph website, there is a comment box, and it has been colonised by vicious, bile-filled nonentities, spewing petty sarcasm and stupid jokes.

Two examples.

Herman van Rompuy is not known as a charismatic politician but, if you have time to read it, he gave a very thoughtful speech yesterday at the College of Europe in Bruges.

In it, he talks about the role of the European Council (rather than the Eurozone ministers or the Parliament) as Europe's nascent "economic government", and the difficulty of creating co-ordinated foreign policy among 27 state actors with different histories and outlooks.

On economics and the eurozone, van Rompuy said:

Ah, patriotism. Lovely, warm, crumpety patriotism. Old maids cycling to communion, England winning the World Cup. Who could possibly being against patriotism?

I could, particularly when it's used in discussions about politics, as David Cameron did this morning.

Here's my problem: using patriotism in politics is at best a meaningless soundbite, and at worst leads down some very dark alleys.

The libertarian Freedom Association is holding a Tea Party at the Conservative Spring Conference in Brighton this weekend, modelled on the American anti-tax grassroots movement. If you are interested in going along, the event is open to the public.

Assuming the General Election in the UK is on 6 May, the election will be called on 12 April. The constitutional and ceremonial practice of calling an election involves the Great Seal of the Realm, royal proclamations and lots of other historical flummery. The political calculation, since the dissolution date is in the hands of the Prime Minister, is sharper.

You know you're a real political geek when you care more about the voting method used to select the Oscars' best picture pick than you do about the films themselves. Yes, I am talking about myself.

Even so, I suggest that you read Hendrik Hertzberg's article on the topic in the New Yorker.

Interesting set of tables (pdf) from the YouGov/Sun survey on Gordon Brown's alleged bullying. I found them on the always-excellent UK Polling Report.

David Cameron's ideas for reform of the planning system are the most radical piece of localism I've seen proposed in this election campaign so far.

Cameron envisages a switch from a local-authority-led system of plans against which new developments are judged, to a more permissive community-based system. Communities would come together in a participatory process to define a new community plan. Local authorities would then stitch those together into Local Plans, but would lose the right to make individual judgements on any planning application within the scope of the Local Plan.

YouGov have just launched a new service called TellYouGov. Simply by sending an email, a text, or adding a #tellyougov hashtag to your tweet, your well-crafted opinion can be added to YouGov's live stream of thinkery.

Here are the top five comments at the moment I'm writing this:

• Conservatives: Stop Giving Our Power to Europe!
• Katie Price: Empty
• Work: It's just rubbish isn't it.
• Colin Firth: Well deserved Best Actor Bafta. Three cheers for Colin!
  

Providence, Rhode Island (state capitol of the smallest state in the US) is about to elect a new mayor, and an organisation called Uncaucus is trying to "find the right person for the gig". They have posted a job advert on their website, and propose to

challenge assumptions about what it means to be Mayor, get more citizens involved in the hiring process and encourage new candidates to step forward.