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Yes, a large segment of the opposition to every president in my life (except for maybe the first Bush) has been extremely personal. It just swings back and forth.
And yes there is a machine behind the punditry of both sides. And the Democratic machine can be (or at least tries to be, in some areas the Republican machine is much better at maintaining message focus) just as stupid and deceptive as the Republican machine.
And yes, a lot of people believe a lot of stupid things. Just so we're clear that Ann Coulter saying that just means she's acknowledging that the birther movement is a stupid thing. And while it is all and well good to lay the initial birth certificate question as the feet of a Democrat is remains the case that at this point in time it is a right wing issue.
And yes, plenty of people on both sides find it to be the pinnacle of rhetoric to compare the hated opposition to Hitler or to simultaneously accuse the other side of fascist socialism or fascist free marketeers (as if both of those weren't oxymoronic).
And yes, even here these tendencies towards infantility make appearances.
And yes, it is just as moronic to say that the protesters are Nazis as it is for those those protesters to be equating anything Obama has suggested with Nazi-ism (though one of those bits of moronity are being put forward depending on whether your sign has a swastika or a swastika with a line through it).
And yes, it is just as stupid to say that Obama wants to kill old people as it is for the left to say that Republicans want to kill poor people.
So, if we can acknowledge that there's plenty of stupid to go around, how about we try to raise the bar a bit?
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