I believe that there has been a diminishing of the role played by reasoned debate. And when logic and reason are withdrawn from the public sphere, it creates a vacuum into which ideology and religious extremism rush in.

Al Gore reported in the Observer last weekend (I am behind on my reading). It was in response to a question about the loss of civil liberties post 9/11. Add to these wise words the intelligence of An Inconvenient Truth and we can all regret that, as a result of a political coup six years ago, this man lost a post to which he was elected.