[Mike4Freedom]

numerous arrests at the anti-war rallies, but non reported at the pro-American rallies

That is obviously a nonsensical statement. There can be no fighting that can occasion an arrest unless there is a conflict, i.e. and anti and pro person arguing and it gets out of hand. It takes two to make a fight.

Now if the police are arresting anti-war people for demonstrating without any fights, something else is very wrong.

I, personally have seen no violence and no arrests at any rally in my area, Kansas City.

[jwalsh07]

I, personally have seen no violence and no arrests at any rally in my area, Kansas City.

Mike, you can be arrested for other things than fighting your ideological enemy.

Vandalism, tresspassing, refusing to get your sorry ass out of a public street. Open your eyes man, the USA is more than Kansas City.

[exDemMom]

I, personally have seen no violence and no arrests at any rally in my area, Kansas City.

Over 2,000 arrests have taken place in San Francisco. These "anti-war" people are trespassing, vandalizing, harrassing people, blocking traffic, etc. There's very little that is peaceful about them.

[texasbrat]

I, personally have seen no violence and no arrests at any rally in my area, Kansas City.

Yeah, but it's Kansas City. There are no cabinet members homes to trash, no White House to march in front of, not really that many protestors period.

The ones who do show up are such a great cross-section of society tho... was by a stoplight and this one guy with really long hair, missing a tooth or two and I think some other pertinent body parts/cells runs across with a really cheesy grin and a sign sayin "Honk For Peace!" nobody was honking...

[daviddennis]

Geckogirl, like everyone else I enjoyed your essay. Good for you!

I thought you might like a stab at an answer to your question, since th level of left hatred bothers me as well.

I talked to an unusually intelligent member of the left yesterday afternoon (he could actually marshal some decent arguments, which is rare), and it hit me that the main difference between the conservative and liberal position is a deep hatred for President Bush in the latter, and a overwhelming respect for him in the former.

It was very clear that there was intense bitterness on the left about the conclusion of the last Presidential election. This atttiude is wrong, since every attempt at re-counting the ballots has wound up with Bush winning Florida. Thanks to the Supreme Court sustaining the election result, they think of Bush as being appointed instead of elected. This would appear to be the basic origin of the "Bush is appointed, not elected" slogan. But this is wrong; the Florida election results were, in fact, valid.

Another slur on Bush is the idea that he is of limited intelligence. Leftists tend to like detail-oriented people like Clinton who plunge into the specifics of every issue. Conservatives tend to like principle oriented people like Reagan and George W Bush, who take a basic direction, delegate the details to others, and keep on top of things without worrying about dotting Is or crossing Ts.

Principle oriented people tend to minimize the work they do in office. They leave promptly at 5:00pm. They take naps. Detail oriented people do their best to work 23 hours a day. This makes the principle oriented look dumb and lazy.

So leftists hate Reagan and George W Bush because they are both principle oriented. The left doesn't think that way and distrusts people who do.

So what use are principle-oriented people if they don't work hard and can't master detail? They make the best Presidents exactly because they never lose sight of the big picture - something folks like Clinton can do easily. Reagan came up with four ideas he thought would define his presidency; he accomplished most of them. Clinton had a huge laundry list; he accomplished next to nothing. This is the virtue of the principle oriented.

So Bush looks dumb, lazy and like he wasn't elected. Add a war to this and you have someone who has absolutely nothing in common with the left.

Those are the basic elements. Why they add up to such extreme feelings I'm not sure. I really don't think the left would have done much better under Gore. They didn't do at all well under Clinton, who has participated in several wars, many of which were fuzzily-defined casualty generators.

Hope that helps.

Mike:

The more extreme elements want to be arrested - it's a seal of commitment to them.

They can do so easily by refusing to get back on the sidewalk when instructed by a police officer, usually when said officer wants to re-open the street. (It is for this reason that I think streets should never be closed for rallies. They should be done in parks instead).

Arrests tend to make people sympathise with the protesters even if the protesters did everything to provoke them and the cops are just doing their job.

Our protest group is scrupulous in obeying all laws and clearing things with the authorities. This is because we consider being arrested to be a mark of shame, not pride.

That's the real difference between the two groups.