Although we’re throttling back on posts to enjoy this Christmas with friends and family, we want to make a video recommendation. This video is required viewing for all those interested in putting their local tyrants on a leash. Welcome to Leith is a recent documentary about the efforts of a small town to ward off white nationalists who had moved in with the intention of taking over. To thwart this effort, the city officials, including the barely-shaving mayor who had inherited the position, conducted numerous shady, illegal and abusive acts to harass and intimidate the villains. These perversions of law and justice were, predictably, reported in the movie as a heroic repelling of boarders. In the documentary, the invaders were a group of down-and-outers who wouldn’t pose a rational threat to anyone outside the confines of their local trailer park. The whole program is so much of a caricature that it is hard to see it as anything but a deliberately-staged drama. Nonetheless, it is a useful tutorial, which is why a friend recommended I watch it during the planning stages of our post-burglary operation here.

What makes this documentary so interesting for our purposes is that it is clear that small-town officials everywhere will cast themselves in the role of the noble townsfolk heroes, battling the forces of evil. By which, of course, evil means you once you start hounding them to follow the law and to not abuse their authoriti. As such, watching this film will help you see the tactics involved, and avoid the mistakes which caused the paper-thin protagonists to become easy pickin’s.

From time to time, our own local coterie has made thinly veiled references to this movie, and, by their actions, appeared to have taken it as their own guide, despite the fact that they seem to be the people who have taken over a small town to the detriment of the taxpayers. However, if they have followed this documentary as gospel, then everything they have tried out of this movie has thus far blown up in their faces. Pro tip: before pulling the pin, first make sure the grenade isn’t super-glued to your hand.

We’ll get into some of the details about this documentary and the bizzaro-world parallels to our situation here, but for now, kick back and enjoy the show. Take copious notes while watching, there will be a quiz later. Extra credit: take down your own local tyrants for the abusive tactics they gleaned from watching this entertaining mockumentary, without needlessly exposing any of your own flanks.