Hi Tamar,

>>I'll grant you that the argument could be made that liberals feel the need to define patriotism because it's been hijacked by conservatives. That's a rational argument. But it's false in context. IMHO, liberals are so sensative on patriotism and the need to define it because when not trying to win elections they go out of their way to denigrate the institutions of this country which strains any definition of patriotism beyond the breaking point. How about that group of morons that spit on and heckled the soldiers deploying out of Ft. Lewis to Iraq a few years ago? Golly gee, they weren't conservative. Or the cretins who crapped over the tired and shell-shocked Vietnam vets in the 70's when they came home?
>
>OTOH, Fred Whozis, that nasty bigot of a preacher who pickets at soldier's funerals, sure isn't on the left-hand side of the political spectrum. The extremists are at both ends, and shouldn't be allowed to define the mainstream.

Yeah, I hate that guy. Isn't that the church group with the "God Hates F***" signs?

The thing is, guys like that are not in the mainstream of conservatives while the extermist left is getting close to the mainstream. As I've said before, there are Democrats I respect and have voted for and will continue to vote for. To get my vote, all a politican has to do is demonstrate his or her putting the country first and partisanship second. I have always supported Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla, and although I don't usually agree with him he's principled.