Spock, I was refering solely to the guy on the bridge comments, as an example of something I don't understand. Maybe he was an idiot, maybe Darwinism was in effect, but I expect he still had a family that will miss him, and he was being an active member of our society. (Once again, this one example is no big deal to me, but as an example of things I have seen over and over again on the news, and other forums since Sept 11th, it does make me pause for thought.)

I was just surprised when the issue came up in the mainstream media: "Is protesting patriotic?" The fact that someone could even ask that question, let along be taken seriously in this country, certainly surprised me. Most of this stuff I take with a grain of salt, maybe chuckle over, or just don't give much thought to at all. But on the other hand, I am taken aback a bit, by how much people seem to be into slamming other people, based on the others opinions. I understand going after someones opinions, it's the nasty personal attacks I don't get. Especially when so many of these attacks seem to come in a mob mentality, fed from news media comments, overall it just kinda worries me a bit about our values, and where we are headed as a country. Though we are mighty strong as a country and have survived similar things in our past, hopefully we will once again take the high ground.

As a side note, I am really waiting to see how we handle Afghanistan, and Iraq in the aftermath. I think the rest of the world's opinon, and our own sense of identity will be far more effected by this in the long term, then what is going on now in Iraq. Hopefully, we can try to prevent this stuff from recurring in the long term, by actions that are taken in the near future.

Cheers, Back to Fox and CNN.