Flame wars - what are they good for?

It seems that the ongoing saga of the Darbyshires against the Liberal Democrats is continuing, and has been brought to my attention by an anonymous comment made in connection with my earlier (the fact that it's anonymous is kind of troubling, I admit...). So I thought that I would post a response as a comment. I don't know if Leah will publish it, but in case she doesn't, here it is for your consideration...

Leah,

It looks as though you and Robin are enjoying Singapore - it is a fascinating place... perhaps you might like to try a weekend in Kuching, Malaysia - fascinating place, cheap fares from Johor Bahru, nearby orangutan rehabilitation centre (they're insanely cute).

As for your response to my comments, the rock star/porn star question was intended to be a quirky compliment, mostly aimed at Robin, I should confess. Having spent twenty years as a Liberal Democrat (more dormant than active), I'm used to local organisers being rather ink-stained creatures who emerge into the light blinking. Robin wasn't, presumably isn't, like that, so came as a bit of a surprise. And as I tend to refer to myself as walrus rather than gazelle and admit to existential doubts about my own self-esteem in my blog, any comments you might make might reflect rather more badly on you than on me.

If I appear to have been taken in by TIB, it might be because she denied any attack, whereas your response was there on your blog for everyone to see. I tend to accept evidence rather than allegation. Naive maybe, but honourable nonetheless.

Finally, a small but important correction. I suggested that the comments about your relationship were 'less than well-suited to a political aggregated blog'. That doesn't mean unsuitable, although it does imply 'less than ideal'. That was, and remains my personal opinion, but I didn't suggest that you stop, merely ask whether, by including it in a forum read by clearly unsympathetic people, you wanted to leave it there. In the end, you chose to remove it, perhaps making my point somewhat valid.

I was merely trying to engineer an end to a messy and unpleasant 'flame war'. It clearly didn't work but if you had simply approached me, either via the blog or by private e-mail, we might have been able to reach a mutual understanding of each other's issues. But then, as this whole sorry saga has demonstrated, it's so much easier to attack each other.

One last request, gentle readers. Can everyone now leave the Darbyshires alone? Either they stop, or you do. The neutrals will side with whoever stops first (and some of the comments on both sides have been pretty hurtful). But we all have lives to get on with, don't we? Or is the fun of the battle blinding us to the reality that none of it matters that much? Just a thought...