America edges toward war of hate

To the editor:

The war of hate and venom between radicals on the right and left in our country is becoming as big a threat to our future as foreign terrorists or natural disasters. Currently, the radical right has both the upper hand in the propaganda war and the most influence in government. Firebrands such as Rush Limbaugh portray liberals as an almost subhuman species near extinction. They campaign for a nuclear option or all-out war to forever stamp out the evils of liberalism, a veritable radical right final solution, if you will. Lost to the twisted minds of these dangerous people is the fact that most of our Founding Fathers, including Washington, Madison, Jefferson and Franklin, were outstanding liberal thinkers.

Human beings are not born with liberal or conservative genes, and most Americans do not fall exclusively into either category. Most think somewhere in the moderate middle and reject the "my way or the highway, you are for me or against me" mentality used by extremists to try and force their political agenda on others. If history is any lesson, those claiming exclusive ownership of God are closet despots and are ultimately rejected by forces of reason and common sense.

Americans do not want a war of hate between the left and right. We need only look at Northern Ireland and the Middle East to see the tragedy and absurdity of people so much alike locked into perpetual bloody combat fueled by hate-filled extremists claiming God's favor.

WILL RICHARDSON, Jackson