Sounds like complete nonsense to me, another made up story.
Ironic, considering what you go on to write about Airbus and its design philosophy. I've never felt 'out of the loop' in 5000+ hours flying the 'bus.
You always have final say on Airbus FBW aircraft. The protections are merely there to ensure that in normal ops you will remain inside the normal envelope: they protect against poor piloting skills, of course, but not at the expense of removing the pilots from the loop. Difficulties arise when people don't understand the systems, but that is hardly an issue unique to Airbus aircraft.