Freeeeeedom!

[ToraToraTora]

what else can I say........

[TheDevil]

Freedom? I think we’re still under strict laws of a rather financially oriented right government

[Togo]

//How sad that such a divisive post gets the endorsement of so many.//

See that bit? It tells you all. No condemnation of the vile acts and hate filled words that prompted the post. Why do you think that is? Is it because the blunt truth is too hard to bear or because the complainant agrees with what was done and said to support his cause?

[naomi24]

Jim, //They don't deserve the contempt that birdie so obviously shows.//

I agree with every word Birdie said. The people who have done their utmost to thwart democracy - those in the public eye or otherwise - deserve all the contempt they get - and more. The lies, the deceit, the insults, the scaremongering - all of it has rebounded and come back to bite them on the bum - and quite rightly.

[jim360]

Look again, Togo:

// ... repeats the same error he rightly chastises Geldof for ...//

[lady-janine]

Well said Birdie. As far as I can see and from what I have read the vast majority of the remoaners still do not understand why Brexit was voted for.

Very well said both chrissa1 and yourself.

[Togo]

Birdie did not by any stretch oh the imagination, at least not of those of us who are still in control of ours, "repeat" Geldof's errors or actions. That in itself is just another false premise in the long list of them that you have incubated.

[jim360]

Perhaps we don't. But it cuts both ways. If it is wrong to write off Leave voters as racist or Little Englanders, then it is equally wrong to dismiss wishing to have remained as the product of brainwashing.

What point is there is complaining about lack of empathy when you show none yourself? I may never fully understand why people voted Leave, but at least spending time on AB has helped me in my efforts to try.

[naomi24]

//What point is there is complaining ...//

Indeed. Why are you complaining, Jim?

[jim360]

How is it not? Birdie accuses me of failing to understand the value of sovereignty, of free speech, of speaking up for an organisation that he characterises as anti-Democratic. Since I recognise none of those criticisms, he's mischaracterising my position. It may feel less offensive than accusations of racism, but it comes from the same place. The accusations of racism levelled at Leave voters were a manifest attempt to undermine any legitimacy that position has. Birdie has attempted the same thing.

Nor is he the only one, as the repeated "VBQ" slur serves to illustrate almost daily.

[ladybirder]

How brilliant to see Birdie back again I had been wondering where he was. Spot on as usual.

[naomi24]

I've said it before but I'll say it again, Jim. The reader can only form his opinion of you and your opinion by what you write here. If you don't like the responses your posts engender you can hardly lay the blame on others. Look to yourself.

[jim360]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Thank you for your advice, Naomi. I've always borne it in mind even before you said it.

[naomi24]

LB, birdie used to be a very frequent poster and I'd like him to stick around, but he seems to prefer to pop in just occasionally now.

[naomi24]

You say you bear it in mind, Jim, but repeat performances indicate you don't bear it in mind for long.

[ladybirder]

Yes I know he did Naomi, I remember him from ages ago. Pity he doesn't come on more often, he always talks sense (so beautifully LOL).

[jim360]

But I will add that the community does matter. AB's average poster is more conservative and more in favour of Brexit than the average UK citizen. This isn't a criticism, but it's still important context. I think carefully about what I say, and what I don't, all the time. The response it engenders is down to those who respond, once I've done my bit of thinking about what I write.

[Togo]

Petulance personified. Now an attempt by projection, and twisted logic, to accuse Birdie of being akin to a racist. Shameful.

[jim360]

I don't see how I accused birdie of being akin to a racist. I think I said he was akin to Bob Geldof.

[ToraToraTora]

birdy 01:01, wow, just wow, I'm sure chrissa wont be offended if I change my BA, something I rarely do but that's just a stunning summation of the EUSSR and it's supporters that I feel I must.

[jim360]

I bear it in mind all the time, N. Not *your* advice explicitly, but the general sentiment. If it seems I don't perhaps it's because I simply disagree with you about how best to express myself.