Back to the revolution: It is perfectly possible to love the ideals of America's founding fathers and to abhor George W's policies

On BBC TV's Room 101 on Monday, Alexei Sayle made an unusual selection for the scrapheap. Along with Cirque de Soleil and the abuse of disabled drivers' permits, the comedian also consigned to fiery oblivion the general public - on the grounds that they were useless, carping and never came up with anything positive.
I beg to differ. When it comes to politics, the public often get it exactly right. On the current debate on Iraq and America, for example, the electorate is bang on.

Look at yesterday's ICM/Guardian poll. A clear majority, 51%, oppose British backing for a US assault on Iraq, with only 35% in favour. (Intriguingly, the most hawkish are Labour voters, with 43% approving military action - a couple of points ahead of those hippy, peacenik pinkos who identify themselves as Conservatives.)