Enough about the crazy right, what about the crazy left? Politics in the (Irish) pub on Friday night, a talk about Iran and Palestine (War or Dialogue?). A quick perusal of the internet reveals a large amount of cyber-bile directed at the two speakers, one of whom sweats heavily and stumbles over his words, the other honey-tongued and welling with smooth private-school confidence. The crowd is what is really interesting- mostly over 50, and all deranged to various degrees. I have the impression that they are desperately seeking their 15 minutes of fame behind the microphone in question time. None of them actually asks a question, using up their allocated minute on establishing their credentials to be there in the first place. I am from Middle East, I am an academic who...., I have been to the middle east etc etc etc . There is a man in a beret (yes, a beret) seated at the back of the room who devotes himself to drinking and heckling in the time-honoured tradition of beret-wearers. There is bad feeling, resentments and general pettiness- more like a 2UE talkback session than a gathering of intellectuals, which is how they bill themselves. I feel simultaneously disappointed and vindicated: as with hippies, left wing intellectuals are no more virtuous than anyone else.