From this…
Don’t mention the war. Grow up. (Nick Clegg, Guardian 2002)
… to this…
Clegg in Nazi slur on UK (Phil Space, Daily Mail 2010)
It’s barely worth noting that the Daily Mail (or any other tabloid) would take a perfectly well-reasoned and uncontroversial article and twist it into something completely hysterical and fictional. Still, this particular example made me go “WTF?” more than normal.
Mind you, I wonder if this is the equivalent of a top footballer being roundly booed when he returns to play against his former team. It’s a grudging recognition that the braying masses recognise and fear his ability to beat them.