Obstructionism is ugly stuff; hateful rhetorical noise is ugly stuff. Boorish assholery is a quite succinct summation of the worst the right wiong has to offer.

But Q, this is not a label being applied to "conservatives" in the generic sense--those who believe in fiscal prudence, gradual improvement, an emphasis on individual and state rights. This is unfortunately being applied to the vandals and boors that the conservatives (under the neoconservative rubric) have activated and made their own.

This shift in the meaning of the word conservative is the direct result of the Reagan legacy, the rise of mindlessness, the power-mongering of Bush, Rove, and their clan, and the arrogant petty demagoguery of Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Coulter and their ilk.

While you may not be comfortable with this odor that has been unleashed among the conservative ranks, surely you can take a share of responsibility for the tactics that brought it about.

And if you don't like the redefinition of the once-honorable word "conservative". consider what the jackals of Coulter's camp have done to the once proud label of "liberal", which she has redefined into something close to poltical leprosy.


A