GetUp has been rumbling again

- or at least someone in the local group wrote to the paper saying they were "robust" in their opinions.

I wrote another letter saying that, in their case, "robust" meant "rude" - and sometimes frightening. 

This was the group that trespassed on our property - and refused to leave when I told them to go. (They refused on the grounds that they were working on the election campaign and had the right to enter the property for that purpose. They had no such right, not even an implied right.) And there was the delightful member of the group who harassed me in the street. It is most unlikely that I will ever want anything to do with them again.

There are other ways of getting your opinion across. Some of us write letters. I probably write too many letters but I do write letters. What is more I give an address and I sign them with my name. It is what you should do if you are going to express an opinion.

There are other people who write newspaper columns, become politicians or media celebrities of another sort and people listen to them. Sometimes people should not listen to them or, if they do, they should roundly condemn their opinions. There was an opinion piece last week by someone making fun of someone who has just taken some "mental health" leave. It should not have been published but I suppose it would be too much to ask a radical left winger to refrain from having a dig at the stress a slightly right of centre MP was under.   

And there are other people who are in positions of great power who have opinions. We may not always agree with them but their opinions will be scrutinised down to the last comma, the last full stop. They include people like heads of government, the Dalai Lama, the Pope, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and High Court Judges.  

Ruth Bader Ginsberg was one such person. She will be missed. Unlike GetUp her opinions were considered and carefully constructed and, while firm, she was able to pronounce them without breaking laws or breaching the peace.