Is it just me...

...or are conservatives getting harder to take lately?

Once I actually self-identified as a conservative. Stop laughing. No, I didn't buy all the bullshit, but they just seemed more...grown-up, somehow, than liberals. Overall, anyway. At least I definitely bought into the "lesser evil" thing. Sure, both democrats and republicans would have grass growing in the streets within my lifetime, but the repubs would do it cheaper. You know? (Apologies to El Neal, from whom that was stolen.)

All that died right around '94, when I got my nose rubbed in what should have been the inescapable fact that a politician is a politician no matter what letter's printed behind his name. Compost, the lot of them.

But even so, I could still generally get along with conservatives better than with libs. Till lately. Yes, it's true that all the war-drum beating since '01 gets on my nerves. A week ago I had dinner across the table from a (truly impressive) gun collector who started going on about the "solution" to Afghanistan - it involved genocide, and I got up without (well, much of) a word and went in the kitchen and started washing dishes rather than start an argument at my hosts' table. Not long ago I blogged about a horrible "warrior" song, and got called all sorts of names - "milquetoast" was the mildest I recall - and strictly lectured about how if the military weren't out there keeping me safe from Achmed and Mohammad and their dogs, goats and children I wouldn't have any freedom at all. But I can overlook much of that - it's a single issue, and aside from all the blood seeping under my door we can agree to disagree on it.

But...I don't know, it just seems like lately conservative conversation has become much more vituperative and...well, stupid. They sound like liberals. This came to mind when I followed a link from Tam's blog and found myself in the middle of this, for lack of a less polite term, conversation concerning Sarah Palin. Some commenter made the mistake of posting an opinion less than entirely worshipful of Her Moosehunteriness, not really dumping on her at all, and suddenly the air was full of flying monkeys. The moderator posted his IP address, ferdogsake. It was just...really ugly. And juvenile. And stupid.

It seems to happen a lot lately. I may have to give up on this "intertubz" thing and go back to reading books. More expensive, but I can pick my company more carefully.