It must be said I've been a little surprised at the hostility to BG in the comments to my post. He comes across as vehemently opinionated (not always in a good way) and something of a smart-alec, but you need a larger-than-life persona to be a columnist. But he also does appear to strive to avoid knee-jerk responses and broad-brush condemnations and, as you say, talks a lot of sense.