Free Republic

Only a few months have passed since President Obama last boasted that al Qaeda is on "the path to defeat." The jihadist groups can work independently, but most are reported to coordinate their carnage with Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden's successor as the al Qaeda leader. And it was he, the United States says, who ordered coordinated attacks on American embassies and consulates in August, a plan that prompted the United States to close more than 20 of them. Where is this leading? The State Department says "current information suggests that al Qaeda, its affiliated organizations and other terrorist groups continue...

Earlier this month, fellow SFGate contributor Mark Morford featured a sort of "best of" hate-mail collection, proving that vitriol emanates from both sides of the political spectrum. It's a symptom of the Wild-West-frontier-like atmosphere of the Internet. Anything goes, and that's the beauty of it. As a right-leaning columnist in a left-leaning town, I've been the recipient of some rather colorful hate mail myself. And, over the years, I've been collecting and posting it at my Web site. The following is a sampling of these e-mails, presented in their original condition, but with profanity obscured, names omitted, and, in some...