A friend of mine made a snide little comment trying to deride those that lean left, but I think it's actually pretty telling. He said "Liberals question everything. Conservatives have all the answers."

I don't think he realized how smug and self-serving that came across, but I tend to agree with that statement, under the condition that the answers are frequently misguided and uninformed.

There have been a lot of posts made here by members of the trio you mentioned where opinions are cited as fact, and general statements are made as though any disagreement would be akin to declaring the sky green or the moon made of Brillo pads. This is what usually gets me riled up and sets me off on a tirade of namecalling and general nanny-nanny-boo-booing. I'm a data guy. I like facts, as facts are pretty easy to evaluate. Op-ed pieces have to be dissected, fact checked, and re-evaluated just to see if the writer is full of it or not.

I have no problem with people having opinions, but I'd prefer that they would generate their own opinions rather than just picking one off the rack at the local bookstore or downloading it straight from a talking head on TV or radio. This to me is one of the things that sets liberals and conservatives apart, more than what they believe, is why they believe it. I think that for the most part, many liberals develop their own opinions based on their personal values, how they'd like to be treated, and how they'd like to see the world. Most of the conservatives that I know personally and/or interact with on boards like this don't present information beyond what they heard from Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, Coulter, etc., and generally don't interpret much beyond the original statements. I'm not saying that there aren't folks from either ideological bent who don't fit into these general traits, but my feeling is that they are the exception.

As far as anyone wishing GWB dead...I certainly wish he weren't in office, in fact were never inaugurated, but his demise would only lead us further into the United States of Cheney, which is far worse for all of us.