You cannot imagine how radically America changed in the period from 1960 to 1970. I was in high school and college during those turbulent years, and I watched in amazement. The left, which entered that period with some sense of embarrasment about its support of Soviet Russia, at first seemed to enthusiastically support civil rights. By 1970, however, the left seemed to relish any kind of civil disorder, no matter the cause, and actively worked for American defeat in Viet Nam.
As a college kid, I entered the arena of ideas with an open mind, but I finally got sick of getting a reply of "Well, you're just a ..." every time I asked an honest question of one of our campus lefties. The way I was raised, an 'ad hominem' attack was an admission that the other party had gotten the best of you. These people weren't "for" anything, they were just "against".
Looking back on it, I swear it's almost like some virus got loose in the country. The kind of sick fixation of hatred of Israel, Christianity, patriotism, and President Bush that we see displayed every day from the left represents symptoms of that very malignant disease.
"it's almost like some virus got loose in the country"
Amen, and it lodged in their brains and they've been insane ever since.