Spare us this dark chapter

Is it just me, or are some conservatives getting loonier?

I hate writing these kind of posts because, frankly, it diminishes my other arguments. Suddenly I'm a basher, a ranter, only here to make fun of or poke fun of the other side. I don't like having that image, of being seen as someone who only wants to make the other side look bad. It's disgraceful, no matter what side you're on.

But it seems to me that the conservative base is moving further and further to the extreme. They call Obama a traitor, a Marxist or Communist, anti-American, even anti-Christ.

And why? Because he's raising taxes on the rich (actually, just allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire); because he's engaging in talks with foreign powers that the previous administration declined to acknowledge (a sure-fire way to get them to see the light!); because they don't trust his name, believe he is Muslim (would there be anything wrong if he were?), or believe any tale that is told to them so long as it discredits a "godless" liberal.

Perhaps I'm being too hard on these people; perhaps it is the slagging economy, the two wars in eight years, the credit and housing crises, and all the leftover controversies from the Bush era. But all this hatred, all this bigotry, all this nonsense is escalating...and it worries me.

Is this the direction we want to take our country? The same hatred, the same distrust, was evident throughout the darkest periods of our nation's history. The race riots of the 1990s; the fire-hoses being sprayed at Civil Rights demonstrators; the countless times we've discriminated against immigrants, both illegal and legal, throughout the past 200 years; the Indian removal during the 1830s; Japanese internment during World War II; slavery of African Americans during the first half of our nation, and the unfair treatment of African Americans during the second half.

Outrage is normal; I do not mean to say that conservatives cannot disagree with these policies. But the actions and statements of some conservatives are downright scary. We've seen some protest Obama based solely on his name; others have taken more violent means, taking the lives of parishioners or cops because liberalism had come to Washington after nearly 30 years of Reaganism.

These aren't the actions of a conservative; they are the actions of mad-men. I do not write this entry with the thoughts of EVERY conservative being evil; the people I write about here are a sizable minority within the conservative movement. They, too, are entitled to their opinions. But their actions and their statements are cause for concern.

I ask this of the extremist conservatives: Spare us this dark chapter in history that appears to be coming; fight your battles, but do so in constructive ways. Most conservatives already do.