A sad commentary on our political discourse

I'm not in the habit of attacking my readers, that's for sure. Part of being an educated person is accepting, in a mature way, views that don't agree with my own. But, this comment is worth of a bit of discussion. This was a comment left about a lighthearted post and picture I posted a few days ago that made light of Philadelphia's appalling murder rate. (The post and picture is directly below this one.) Here's the comment...

Restore control?? You aint fooling anyone. Everybody knows you liberals love and embrace criminals just like you love and embrace terrorists. I would think that you cheer on the murders in Philly. After all, isn't that where one of liberals' biggest heros is from? Mumia the cop killer.

here is a riddle, it is along the lines of the chicken and the egg. Which came first, the Coward or the Liberal?

And here's the response I left to the comment following the post. ...

You're highly entertaining. I can't tell you how much joy it gave me today, knowing that I've angered you. Just when my blogging is lagging, I get inspired all over again.

Oh, and yea, I DEFINITELY cheer the murders in Philadelphia ~ the more murders the better. After all, I live right in the city, so of course I want to live in a city overrun by violence.

My big question for you, Mr. Giuliani, is how do you have this much time to read my blog? Don't you have a campaign of fear to be running? If you're too busy reading my blog, you might miss out on an opportunity to profit from America's fear, Mr. 9-11 Profiteer.

~~~~~

Seriously though - this is exactly what's wrong with the political discourse in America, and the party in the White House and many of its supporters have been a big part of the problem. It basically goes like this - If you don't support the president, the troops, and the War in Iraq, then you hate America.

I'm not using hyperbole here. There have been too many incidents to list since 9-11 where if you opposed what this disgraceful and embarrassing administration's policies, you either a. hate America, b. don't Support the Troops or c. you're siding with the terrorists. That's about as un-American as it gets.

I've said it before many, many times since 9-11, and I'm not likely to stop saying and writing it anytime soon - people who criticize those who don't conform and blindly follow/obey/believe what our leaders tell us don't understand freedom, democracy or America.

I believe those words to be truer now than at any time I've ever written then. After all, your beliefs and ideals are really put to the test when they are faced with opposition, dissent and disagreement. I mean, it really takes a brave soul to be a cheerleader for an empty-headed president who took us to war on a lie and who, in the end, will bankrupt the treasury while rewarding the rich with tax cuts. Why question any of that?

I must be crazy, right?