Isn't it sad....

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In RL we would probably not have 5 others voicing their (completely different) views at the same instant, so we could part with no harm done.

On here, there's a high likelihood someone will come back to take issue, and a whole new tangent will be explored!

I suspect they aren't generally that rude in RL but there may be a few who are

Certainly there's a big diversity on MN which means one might see more views interwoven in threads and that in itself causes some "us and them" possibilities if someone feels "ganged up upon".

In RL we might have a heated argument discussion but agree to differ over a few drinks.

I think the facelessness of internet forums makes people ruder than they would be in real life.

I do sometimes wonder, when people are being really stereotypical/ vitriolic on here about people of other political persuasions, whether they speak to their [other party] supporting friends like that. I can only conclude that-

1. They dont have any friends of any other political persuasion, which is frankly odd.

1. They arent that rude in RL

1. They are that rude and therefore dont have any friends at all.

"I found it quite depressing that considering the votes were in proportion 4:5:6 (LD, Lab, Con) there were people telling LD supporters they were wrong to have voted LD if they didn't want to get power."

I agree totally. Though it got repeated so often and so quickly I kind of shut my ears to it in the end as it got repetitive and boring very quickly.

I don't think I have ever been out and out nasty to any Tories on Mumsnet even though I really dislike their policies.

When it comes to political discussion what do you expect?? Surely the most contentious thing of all. Really I would not get offended by anyone elses opinions here - I express my objection but would I leave MN over it? No way. We all know that MN is far from fluffy but that's something I've become accustomed to over the years. A conservative supporter was saying the other day that left wingers are 'the dregs of society' It annoyed me but political discussions are going to evoke emotive responses.

Politics has caused rifts in my family that went on for years.....

NetworkGuy - the issue there is that the "best" policies of all the parties are unlikely to add up into a deliverable programme.

i.e. we'll want to sweeteners from all of them but the shit sandwich from none of them.

e.g Cutting the deficit as fast as the tories say they will- yay! Keeping spending at Labour levels- yay! Put them together- oh-doesnt work. Back to endless fighting about it.

I found it quite depressing that considering the votes were in proportion 4:5:6 (LD, Lab, Con) there were people telling LD supporters they were wrong to have voted LD if they didn't want to get power.

It's very clear none had sufficient majority to just create bills and have them voted through, and compromise is essential to shift the economy (and electoral reform too) but mocking others for not voting one way or other seems a little short-sighted - a major problem has been how the votes translated into MPs.

I would love for more interest and participation in decision making - it would allow the public to pick the best policies from all parties without having to have such "binary" situations (as we've had for umpteen years, with just Labour or just Conservative governments).

I am a fairly robust person, but after the comments from some on here about Tories (and they have been personal imo), I am re-evaluating if I actually want to bother with MN any more.

I can see why some would vote Labour and I respect that; but when it comes to be told that one is vile; selfish and out of one's mind to be voting Tory, then it's gone too far.

I don't viscerally hate Labour voters; I profoundly disagree with much of Labour policy and the way the Labour politicians only govern for their parts of the UK, and ignore the areas that didn't vote for them. I think Labour voters may believe in a fair future for all, but their politicians over the past 13 years have comprehensively demonstrated that this is not the case. It's shame that some of the Labour supporters on MN can't have the courtesy to debate the policies rather than get so personal.

oh, please give us the comedy response DF. I need a laugh this morning.

sits on hands and resists comedy response which may be taken the wrong way

"Do we all want the ssame things though?"

There's probably a 'Miss World' list of things like peace, harmony and helping little children that we could agree on. But, beyond that, I think different people want very different things depending on their circumstances and their opinions.

What I don't like on this board (and it's common across all internet message boards) is the amount of cowardly snarking that goes on. Very easy, when sat anonymously at a keyboard, to fling about insults and vitriol that wouldn't be expressed in real life.

Do we all want the ssame things though?

I have posted a lot on politics and argued with and irritated by some but not holding anyone's political view against them.

I don't think we do all want the same thing though. We all have different circumstances and all want different things to improve our circumstances. This will be different things for different people.

The first thing I will bring to the negotiating table will be a need to learn how to use the strike out facility

People do say the same thing - on both sides.

Just avoid the politics threads for a bit

I think you must stay Herbi. We'll build a coalition together, it'll be a rainbow thread of positive feeling for the Good of The Nation MN

It can get a bit personal sometimes I think, some people enjoy having a good 'debate' - but it has dominated on here a bit and in RL you might have a conversation with someone with opposing views for one night, but it doesn't go on and on and on like it has here.

Stay.

Yes, I think it's a weird atmosphere and not very healthy really. Hopefully things will go back to normal when our political overlords have sorted themselves out.

Politics divides opinion. That's par for the course, surely?

I don't hate anyone. I despise everything the Tories stand for, though, and I am glad I have a place to come and express my disgust and talk about it with others - likeminded or not.

It's not personal - I don't think it is for many people, is it?

To be fair, there's been an equal amount of Brown/Labour-related vitriol.....

herbietea, we need you. You were in top form in the Brown webchat.

It was the same at the time of the gulf war, there was real bad feeling on mn.
I think some of the tory bashing is bad, but some of what I read on conservative home is pretty unattractive too.

just dont get how some people can hate others because they have different opinions. I like some and hate some in all the parties,irrespective of whose politics I support.

I recommend reading Stephen Fry's blog. He wrote a seven-page essay just before the election in which he goes on at length about everybody having their reasons for voting as they do, what lovely Tories/LDs/Labour people he knows etc. etc.

www.stephenfry.com