CALM DOWN, ALREADY. The Democrats' discomfiture at the reception their incomplete insurance reform plan, or whatever it is, produces schadenfreude.

Conservatives, myself included, have been having a lot of fun with the Democrats' dismay at people speaking their minds at townhalls or taking to the streets to protest the growth of the federal government that we've been witnessing in recent years. While I condemn any of the extremes that a handful of individuals have gone to with lynching profiles, threats of violence, or shouting down congressmen and preventing them from answering questions, there still is a lot of irony in those people who praised community organizers a few months ago now getting their panties in a wad about senior citizens showing up to complain about the Democrats' health care plans.

As ever, it matters more whether logic and content will carry the day, or if it's going to be just another round of "You compared us to Nazis first."

In America, the darkness is descending and torches are being lit. Fear stalks the land - fear of the unknown, fear of our fellow citizens, fear of our political leaders, fear of the future. This fear is being stoked on both sides by people who are well aware of the consequences of what they are doing, but continue to fan the flames of dread because it gives them power and influence, or furthers their political designs. Reason has left the building. It has been replaced by a raw emotionalism that feeds upon itself, spiraling out of control, threatening violence and disorder while making any rational debate about health care reform impossible.

Many years ago, I took issue with one of the educational reformers of the time, who saw merit in deconstructing "coherent beliefs of any kind." My response: enjoy the incoherence. Happy now?