PATRIOTISM

This seems to be the flavour of the month for discussion so my contributions are...

1. Why should "patriotism" = "love for the communist party". Most people are patriotic about thier countries but not all love the local communist party - America and Americans are the obvious example. Most love their country to an almost scary degree but mention of communist parties prompts frothing at the mouth.

2. Why should anyone listen to ramblings from 20 years ago of a stupid old goat who successfully repressed and held back his "beloved" people and country for generations. Deng XiaoPing's views on pretty much anything aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

3. Why should a "patriot" lead Hong Kong. If the people vote for someone who hates the place then that is their decision and should be respected.

4. Patriotism and love for the country aren't always the same thing. I'm patriotic about any English sports team, but you won't catch me ever living back in Mud Island - it's totally gone to the dogs and the weather is terrible.

5. don't the communists realise that all their laughable rhetoric is merely making the situation worse? If they shut up for a while then everyone in HK would forget about it and go back to their first love, making money.

And that concludes this slight oversimplification of the issue