@Candide. Don't hold your breath. Waiting for any kind of intelligent response from Lego will involve a long wait.

I can see that you are a modest man, James, with much to be modest about.

Well I'm an optimist: I'm sure that one day the POVs will realise that their angry and incoherent tirades, while entertaining, also make them look pretty silly. You can't claim any sort of credibility in a discussion while your default position is to abuse those with whom you disagree.

@Candide: agreed.

@Lego. Even your insults lack originality.

Dear Matt,

Thank You for your letter and your concern about
the state of our political affairs. You're not
alone in being concerned. The confected anger that
has been for some time now the stock in trade of
our politicians, some journalists, newspapers,
radio broadcasters,and columnists has done its work,
and has unleashed
a nasty, antisocial and destructive power that has
real consequences for the cohesion of our society.

In this country the voters are remarkably diverse.
We have voters of all persuasions, city and
country folk, very young and very old, gay, and
everything else. Therefore it is distressing that
to see the blind, partisan hatred that's tearing
this country in two.

We should all be concerned and thinking - as you do
about how to stem this surge - before it destroys us.
Australians' interests are far more complex than
those who insist on seeing all discussions through a
fixed ideological viewfinder.

We need to seriously think about what kind of society
we want to live in, and which direction this country
should be headed and who's fit to represent us not
only locally, but on the international stage as well.

At least it is a clever insult from a person who is well read. Much preferable to Candide's charming "puddle of vomit" metaphor. And then she had the nerve to claim that her opponents engage in insults instead of addressing the topic under discussion?

Consistency of logic has never been a strong point from the people on your side of the fence.