TonyBoring neutrals are propobably what the debate needs. My wife was a Buddhist for a while (Soka Gakkai variety), so I'm familiar with some of the teachings.I have to say that although I may sometimes give a contrary impression, I don't hate anybody in politics or indeed in any other walk of life. I always say that if you want to know what you truly think about another person, imagine how you would feel if you were to learn that they had suddenly passed away. There was a Labour Party leader locally whom I crossed swords with on countless occasions, often quite bitterly, who passed away last year and I found myself very saddened by his death, and regretful that I'd never at any time had the opportunity to have a proper, civilised discussion with him. I think I would be similarly moved if such a fate were to befall any of my adversaries on this forum, or in local politics.I hope I don't "crow" about the ICG's electoral successes too often. Usually when I do so it is to point out to those who tend to presume the moral high ground and pontificate as though they were the one and only source of some received wisdom and unquestionable truth that they don't actually have a mandate to do so. It is a very simple, obvious point but one which seldom if ever gets through so you may be right in suggesting that I give it up as a lost cause.Dave Hughes, as you probably will have noticed, has a particularly unique style of debate which doesn't lend itself to intelligent discussion. He seems to me to have a "Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad" mentality of party politics, and a deeply flawed view of local political realities which are rooted very much in how he would like things to be, rather than how they actually are. Like certain others who sometimes grace this forum, his view of the ICG in particular is rooted in wilful self-delusion which derives partly from wishful thinking but also partly from denial. Rightly or wrongly I often feel the need to challenge this ignorance, and to remind them of the historical sequence of events which led to the creation of our Group, and to its ultimate electoral success and participation in a new administration. To other forum users who got it the first time this must, I agree, be a source of some boredom and frustration.I would like to see more people using, the forum, and more threads on a wider range of topics, but that is really for others to consider. Although we do all have outside interests which we like to pursue, often with enthusiasm, the fact that certain of us spend most of our lives engaged in activities of a broadly political nature does tend to distort the sense of importance which we tend to attach to such issues.
Phil Andrews ● 6383d