Whytwolf's diary on DailyKost, Piss a Liberal Off: Right-Wing Bullies, hit fairly close to home.

I don't think "Pissing off a liberal" is really about my views, or even the clinic cowboy's views. I think it goes deeper than that. Those who have grown up believing that aggression and/or violence is the best way to solve a problem have ultimately found themselves cut off from the empathetic side of their social dealings. This breeds contempt for those who have more empathy, and can interact in a calm manner with others--those of us who have embraced the ideologies of the left.

I hope. ;-) While sitting at a bar last night drinking a martini (whose flavor I'd be helpless to describe but which was superb!), I had a sudden flash of inspiration:

Camera shows wide view of Iraqi desert, with evidence of destruction in various places.

Camera zooms in to show a pipeline, keeps zooming until we see that it's leaking.

Zoom in on the steady dripping leak, we see that the liquid is blood, not oil.

Screen fades out, text fades in, flickering a bit (preferably in some kind of grunge font) "No more blood for oil." Narrator says "Do you part to reduce America's dependence on oil. Visit [website] today."

This essay is in response to the following email:

"You're wrong. The time for opinions is past. We are at war. Our brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers are there facing the possibility of death. It is their job and their patriotic duty. It is hypocritical to say you do not support the war, but you support our troops. I believe those 300,000 troops that are risking their lives to perform their jobs would be disheartened to know that although the rest of the world is opposed to what they are doing, there are also certain 'patriotic' Americans that do not support the risks they take in doing their jobs. It is those very actions that you do not support. So how exactly are you supporting them? I support President Bush and our brave fighting men and women!! God Bless America!!!!!!!"

First, I remind you, the whole reason these men and women are fighting for this country is to protect and defend the freedoms that make us American. I think that telling Americans that they should not exercise those sacred freedoms is more disrespectful to the men and women fighting for them than any form of peaceful dissent.

Why won't the flag burning amendment just disappear for once and for all? Like a zombie, it just keeps returning from the dead to threaten us with the specter of infringed rights. It looks to me as though a lot of people have forgotten something extremely important.

The single most important thing about this great country is that we have the freedom to express ourselves even when that expression is in direct opposition to the majority. The flag is but on symbol among many of that freedom. We should be celebrating the freedom that it represents, not worshiping the flag like a religious icon.