Perhaps it’s the election season. But why do they have to be so nasty? Really dispiriting - as you say.
Tempers usually flare on FR during election seasons, but I must admit I have been taken back by some of the comments directed at staunchly conservative female politicians. At DU, yes, but here at FR???
It is hard to not come to the conclusion that the criticism directed at Palin and Bachman very often has more to do with their gender than their political positions. But, again, no one who enters national politics should be above critique (Gov Palin would be the first to agree with that!) and although the "nasty" critics of Palin and Bachman ofter are very loud and obnoxious, they still appear to be a small minority here at FR.