My better half is, to the likely benefit of her health, not a political junkie. She is fairly moderate on the issues and not at all fascinated by the shouting on Hannity or the morons who call C—SPAN every morning, nor does she genuflect at the sight of Charles Krauthammer. So imagine her surprise when she was accosted on the suddenly mean political streets of metro Detroit the other day. Halted for a stoplight while driving her husband's ozone demolishing F—150, a vehicle that is adorned with a Bush—Cheney sticker, a man pulled alongside and began shouting wildly and giving her the finger. 'All I could make out was Bush and a few obscenities directed my way,' she said. 'And, of course, the middle finger.'

Score another one for the party of tolerance and diversity. The incident is certainly not the first time a fellow motorist has disagreed with another's political beliefs as expressed by a bumper sticker or a sign, etc. Yet the shouting, the obscenity, and the lack of regard for basic manners and decorum seem to have crept in from the outer edges of bad behavior to the center of the Democratic Party itself. As is more evident with each passing day, hatred of President George W. Bush, his administration, and his supporters, is the unifying factor of today's Democratic Party, not policies or proposals.

The other day at a rally for Sen. John F. Kerry in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, some supporters of the President began chanting 'Four more years,' a routine nuisance at every Presidential campaign speech since the dawn of Presidential campaigns. Rather than gently laughing it off or, as President Bush does, welcoming free speech at his rallies, Kerry followed up his wife's description of living in the 'hell' of a Bush administration by thinking of a nuanced response, before calling these Americans 'goons'  sent by the President himself. Can you imagine the media reaction if President Bush called Kerry supporters 'goons'?

Nothing the President does is deemed credible or in the nation's best interests, according to the spokespeople and leaders of the Democratic Party. Former governor Howard Dean, who is increasingly visible as Kerry's hatchet man, called the President's decision to elevate the terror alert was not credible and merely a political move.  Once again, prominent Democrats are sounding the message that the President enjoys seeing Americans die and enjoys scaring the wits out of workers in New York's financial sector so he might get a few points in the polls.

Supporters of the Democratic Party have reduced themselves to looking to propagandist Michael Moore as a trusted source of news and information regarding the Administration. Moore spent part of his time at last week's Democratic Convention accusing the Republican Party of practicing something called 'hate—triotism' and 'hijacking' the term patriotism. Kerry himself suggested in his nomination acceptance speech that the President has sown the seeds of hate within the land, while simultaneously accusing the Attorney General of acting against the Constitution. 

Moore's biggest fan these days seems to be none other than Fidel Castro, who ran Fahrenhiet 9/11 on state television and read from Moore's book during a speech, mocking the President's alleged trouble with the English language. What does it say when the most popular and rabid anti—Bush Democrat in the United States is praised by a murderous dictator?

These are the faces of the Democratic Party. The collective hatred for the President of the United States has turned a once—proud organization into a joke. The Democratic Party's convention in Boston last week produced neither a single new policy proposal, nor a single new idea or word of praise for the Administration in the great fight against terrorism. Instead, the President was called a lying warmonger, and the Herbert Hoover of his day, in spite of the facts.  Impervious to reason, and blinded by an unmatched desire to see the President defeated, the politics of hate have taken over the Democratic Party. It is up to reasonable people to repudiate these tactics and get back to the serious business at hand.

Given all this, however, one vital question remains. When confronted with another tolerant, open—minded liberal who is frothing at the mouth, snapping off the one—finger salute, and screaming insults because of a quiet expression of political belief, should one say 'Shove it' or 'Bring it on'?