In response to the articles and editorials of the past week concerning the pathological hatred of President Bush by the "left."

Folks this is what happens when Fundamentalists of the Right Wing bump heads with Fundamentalists of the Left Wing. Lots of hate-speech, refusal of either side to even recognize the other much less listen to their dogma. Of course both sides spew extremist vitriol as dogma, so no one can really listen for long to either side without getting a little squeamish.

There is a difference in the presentation of the two groups however and it is simply this: you've got to dig a little to get to the left-wing hate mongering. You can find plenty of it on the blogosphere, or glance through a Mother Jones magazine you'll see instances of leftist "logic" that will make your head spin. In contrast, the Right Wing propaganda machine is right out there in the open and easy to see and hear. Locally, our own beloved DNR editor regularly, but tastefully, espouses the positions of the radical right wing, but more importantly on the national scene, right-wing bluster is syndicated, published, broadcast, and celebrated by millions of readers, viewers and listeners.

Just last week at the Conservative Political Action Conference, one of the featured speakers was noted columnist, Ann Coulter. Ms. Coulter was pretty much the star of the event, featured prominently in promotions and increasingly popular as a speaker and advocate of conservative causes. Her appearances over the last two years were highlighted by comments about Arabs ("ragheads"), Supreme Court justices, (deserving of murder), and presidential candidate John Edwards ("faggot"). All of these comments were greeted by spontaneous cheering and standing ovations.

"This is a movement propelled by an insatiable hunger for more slaughter and more wars. It is centrally dependent upon hatred of an Enemy, foreign or domestic -- the Terrorist, the Immigrant, the Faggot, the Raghead, and most of all, the Liberal. ... that is the only real feature that binds the "conservative" movement at this point, the only attribute that gives it identity and purpose. It does not have any affirmative ideas, only a sense of that which it hates and wants to destroy. So to watch as the crowd wildly cheers an unapologetic hate-monger is perfectly natural and not at all surprising."

-Glen Greenwald of Salon.com (His well-written analysis is a good read. Click HERE)

Its a sad moment in politics and in society when our political discourse encourages this kind of "in your face" verbal violence. The hijacking of the Republican Party by its right-wing fringe is a tragedy of historic proportions.

I call on all true conservatives and pragmatists to put a stop to this ideological warfare. Get involved, identify the politicians who will take care of governing and fire those who only aspire for status with the either the radical left or right wing "base."