"If Nick only knew..."

During the years of the Third Reich in Germany, 1933-45, it was common for ordinary German citizens to say to one another, in response to one or other of the excesses committed by Nazi party officials, "If only the Leader knew". For them this was a way of absolving the leader, in their own minds at least, of responsibility, or blame, for the particular action they found unacceptable, or shocking. It was, of course, what psychologists call a "rationalization", or "mental defence mechanism" - a form of self-delusion.

Why? Because of course the leader knew what was being done in his name. If any leader does not know that then they are too incompetent to be the leader, and will not remain the leader for very long.

One sometimes hears British National Party members saying the same kind of thing with regard to the calamitous mismanagement and leadership of the party - "If only Nick knew what was being done".

Unfortunately, Nick does know, and if not directly responsible for every bad decision (though, naturally, as the party's chief executive the most serious ones have his finger-prints all over them) is still nevertheless
personally responsible for having appointed incompetents, and having retained them in office, to the party's and the members' detriment, long after it was clear to the bulk of their colleagues, and the active members of the party, that they were unsuitable.

One has to wonder whether in fact it suits Mr Griffin to have incompetent personnel in senior positions. After all, knowing, as they must, their own incompetence, they are most unlikely to ask any awkward questions, and would be only too happy merely to do as they are told by Messrs Griffin, Dowson, and Harrington (the two last-named not even BNP members, and the latter the leader of a rival political party) and draw their salary, without rocking the boat. Such incompetents are also highly unlikely to challenge for the leadership of the party, unless put up to it by Mr Griffin himself - yet another benefit of their inadequacy from his selfish point of view.