The people who wear flag pins and have US flags stickers everywhere remind me of those who can't stop telling you how good, smart and attractive they are. They are like the girl who keeps telling everybody how gorgeous she is, like the person telling you how god fearing, honest and kind he is. It's Lary Craig who initiates the most hateful anti-gay legislation but cruises gay bathrooms. It's the Bill Kristols and Jonah Goldbergs who would rather swallow a live snake than serve one day in uniform, but keeps talking about patriotism and accuse war heroes of being anti-patriotic, anti-American and soft on national security. They all make you want to puke your guts out but there are so many of them, you run out of bile.

Fascism and the fascist mindse are based on symbols and symbolism. The more fascist a regime and society are, the more rampant flags, pins, statues and any other kind of mindless symbolism. The most fascist militaries have the most ostentatious uniforms and parades. Nationalistic symbolism is a substitution and a shameful excuse for genuine compassion for others. Driving a monster gas guzzling truck covered in flag stickers and chauvinistic slogans is the opposite of patriotism. I know people who help the less fortunate but never advertise it or mention it, these are the real givers, not those who self promote. Those who genuinely care about their country have no need to wear pins or fly flags.

is that we now live in an oligarchy with an über class comprised of corporations and the politicians who enable them. Democracy and the rule of law don't even show on their radar. This isn't reversible, since it would take a real revolution to change, and the public is too ignorant, lazy and busy shopping, watching football and waiting for the next O.J. trial.

Why is Dawkins depicted as a radical neoatheist is a mystery to me. His most basic question is:how can you believe in something without demanding an empirical, scientific proof for its existence? The same Dawkins critics would roll their eyes if I suggested that if they gace me their life savings, I would triple their money in one week, yet they accept as fact the most implausible and unprovable tales.

Religious teaching and literature describe and makes claims to actions that directly contradict the basic physical laws of the universe. Like anything else, we need to demand scientific proof that such incredible claims had actually happened(precedent) or are possible. For example, In order for a person to ascend to the sky without the help of an airplane or rocket, the person would have to defy the laws of gravity-is that possible and is theer proof such a thing ever happened? The second law of thermodynamics states that "energy systems have a tendency to increase their entropy", for example, you can see a vase fall down from the table and shatter, but you can't see a shattered vase rise from the ground back to the table and become one piece. How can the bones of a man who has been dead for 2000 years grow flesh again, have the electrical activity in the new brain restored and become alive again, and are there any records of such a thing ever taking place, something that would completely contradicts the second law of thermodynamics, among others? The answer is a resounding no of course. The fact is, religion has failed miserably any type of scientific benchmarks and test and contradicts everything we ever discovered about the workings of the universe. We should treat as extremist(or conmen) people who are pushing on us absurd and unprovable fairy tales. They are the ones should be reviled, not atheists.

The E.coast Jewish mom doesn't want her son to rebel, to take risks or go through what most young males(excluding trust fund Republicans like Bush)must go in order to find their way as adults. A common denominator to all those chickenhawks is that they never rebelled against their parents, were overly coddled and sheltered by their moms and never had to struggle, because their parents took care of them and provided lucrative employment. It's very obvious why they are unmoved by the death of soldiers dying in the wars they promote;they are incapable of any empathy because their life experience is so radically different. A spoiled brat cares only about himself.

Almost all the little twits mentioned in this thread are Jewish and from the east coast. Kristol, Goldberg, the Kagans, ad nauseum . It sounds like broadbrushing an entire population segment, but Jewish east coast mothers are notorious for being grossly overprotective of their sons, for overcuddling them and for trying to run their life for them. Having been born in California to Jewish parents, I can see notice the difference clearly. My parents encouraged mt to take risks, encouraged me to play sports, even those with a high risk of injury. Although Socialists, they taught me that you can't spend more than you earn, don't expect handouts from others, including your parents, and count on others to pave your way for you. My mom would always say:'achieve everything on your own and it would feel like it really belongs to you'. I had to work after school hours while in HS and through college to pay my way, because my parents wanted me to get used to being self-reliant from a young age. Now contrast that with the nepotistic overcuddled armchair warriors from the east cast and you will understand why they ended up that way.