Bravo Donuel!

That is EXACTLY where the hate and rage come from. I remember a time when it was possible for honest people of conscience to disagree on issues. That ended somewhere in the 80's with the rise of the OUTRAGE commentators that led to today's nonstop claque of hate and rage led by Limbaugh, Savage, O'Reilly, Hannity, Reagan..... Now you cannot disagree with the right wing without being branded stupid, naive, evil, treasonous, mush-headed, supporters of Saddam, Osama, Jeffrey Dahmer and all other manifestations of the devil. Reasoned consideration of issues is dead. Loyal opposition is dead. Shades of meaning, nuance, subtlety, consideration of options are all dead. Liberal is not a world view, it's a dirty word, a vile epithet. Something bad happens (like a hurricane or a murderous attack on NYC)? Of course it's the fault of the gays and the women's rights advocates (oh, wait that's feminazi's). Do you think it's silly to distribute gas masks to the Park Rangers in Yellowstone? You must be an environmentalist whacko, a self-loathing puppet of socialism intent upon destroying the American way of life. Going to a peace vigil on saturday? You are the unwitting and witless tool of Iraqui provocateurs -- or worse...you're siding with the French!

Am I making any of this up? Nope, I'm not nearly that clever. Want to silence the hate and rage? This forum is the absolute last place to be concerned about.

Here's (IMO) why there's been so much distress here of late... What else can we do, and where else are we going to do it? Here's a tiny little corner of the world with some politically-like-minded people, and some politically-non-like-minded people (who CAN actually discuss an issue without calling each other evil), and at the end of the discussion, we're all alike in our love of music, so no major harm done (minor occasional apologies sometimes necessary). If only the whole world had the same level of hate and rage as Mcat, it would be a darn civil place.