I think it is also important not to be outraged on demand. At the risk of reviving painful memories for some I was berated on here during the Katrina tragedy when the matter came up about some nurses who abandened their charges in nursing homes. As I stressed, that's a dereliction of duty and certainly put the peoples life at risk. But you must remember these nurses are also people: they have families at risk as well - parents, children, whoever. And they are not soldiers where "the ultimate sacrifice" was a recognised part of the job when they signed up. So while their behaviour was hardly admirable, I was not prepared to be outraged by it.

It was not a popular stance, I must tell you.

But one reason I think this is important is to ensure you are outraged at the right things. It is desperately easy to move from outrage at terrorists who have a particular view of Islam to all Muslims; or from a hatred of how some members of a political party behave to all members of that party and so on. Not all Conservatives are demons (substitute party of your choice)

And this is not weàk and washy liberalism where everyone has an excuse dor wht they behaved as they did: it is a call for all your outrage to be focused where it needs to be.