"(U)nhinged and creepy lunacy is spreading like a virus through the left and not just on the fringes. Snapping them out of it is nearly impossible. Reminding them of 9/11 doesn't help, it's already an irrelevant historical event to them that no longer has anything to do with what we're doing today. They will generally admit that Saddam Hussein is dangerous, but their words have the hollow ring of a mental patient telling a doctor that, 'I really don't think I'm Jesus anymore so can you please take the straitjacket off?' They're so paranoid that Conservatives can never get through to them. In fact, just mentioning this editorial to them will probably cause them to start screaming, "police state, police state, police state" while they start looking for the brown shirts who they believe are about to haul them away to a FEMA internment camp."

Little did I know back in October of 2002, when I wrote that, how thoroughly that "unhinged and creepy lunacy" would permeate the ranks of the Democratic Party. Back then, for the most part, I was talking about left-wing columnists and forums. But today, the Democratic elite, Congressmen, Senators, even John Kerry, the Democrat's candidate for President, are all drifting deeper into the fever swamps of the left.

If you want evidence of this, you need look no further than the reaction to Michael Moore. Moore's books sell like wildfire and his latest film, "Faherenheit 9/11," spent a week at the top of the box office. Without question, Moore is talented, witty, and funny. He's also a conspiracy nut who not only believes that we went to war with Afghanistan for oil, but that the US government is deliberately letting Osama Bin Laden run free. He has also claimed that there is no "terrorist threat in this country," that Americans "are possibly the dumbest people on the planet," and he has also compared the insurgents in Iraq, you know the ones that are sawing people's heads off, to the Minutemen from the Revolutionary War. In short, Michael Moore is an America hating whack-job.

You'd think prominent Democrats wouldn't want anything to do with Michael Moore, but au contraire, Moore is the belle of the Democratic ball!

During the Democratic primaries, Moore appeared on stage with one time front runner Wesley Clark, who was later mentioned by the press as a possible running mate for John Kerry.

Guests for an opening night screening of Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" last week included Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, Montana Sen. Max Baucus, South Carolina Sen. Ernest Hollings, Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, New York Rep. Charles Rangel, Washington Rep. Jim McDermott, & Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe. Afterwards, McAuliffe raved about the movie, replied in the affirmative when asked if it "was essentially fair and factually based," and seemed to sign on to Moore's bizarre claim that we invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 in order to put in an oil pipeline.

So if the creme de la creme of the Democratic Party are willing to appear with Michael Moore and endorse his movies, is it not fair for us to wonder if they endorse his other views? For example, does Charles Rangel believe that the people who decapitated Paul Johnson are comparable to the Minutemen who helped free this country from the British? Is it possible that Tom Daschle believes Americans are quite possibly the stupidest people on the planet? Could Tom Harkin think we're allowing Osama Bin Laden to run free? Maybe they believe those things or maybe they don't, but in any case, they certainly don't mind associating with and endorsing someone who has put forth those ideas. What does that say about them?

Furthermore, what does the fact that John Kerry has chosen to link to the Democratic Underground from his website say about him? For those of you who are unfamiliar with the "DU," it's a left-wing website with very popular forums that is often quoted from by conservative bloggers and radio hosts because it's such a cesspool of lunacy. If you're looking for people who think Americans are just as bad as Al-Qaeda, the US Gov't had Nick Berg killed, or just a little America trashing, there's no better place on the internet to go than the Democratic Underground. Yet, the man who wants to be our next President feels that's an appropriate web page to endorse via a link on his own site. How bizarre is that?

Moreover, examples of distinguished Democrats who're expressing these sort of sentiments have become common. MoveOn.org, a powerful member of the "shadow Democratic Party" that has spent more than 17 million dollars on ads this campaign cycle, chose to post a web-ad on their front page that claimed Bush was another Hitler.

Congressman James Moran in effect said that "leaders of the Jewish community" were controlling whether or not we went to war in Iraq.

Washington Rep. Jim McDermott said the Bush administration knew where Saddam Hussein was, but waited until a political opportune time to capture him.

Then there's Al Gore, who in his most recent public speech said, "The (Bush) Administration works closely with a network of rapid response digital Brown Shirts who work to pressure reporters and their editors for undermining support for our troops."

That's right, the man who used to be the Vice President of the United States apparently views people who send emails to newspapers because they're concerned about the troops as the moral equivalent of the street thugs who savagely beat and murdered Hitler's political adversaries. It simply boggles the mind.

If the Democratic Party wants to treat the conspiracy theorists, America haters, and people who think Bush is another Hitler like one of their valued constituency groups, so be it, it's a free country. But, if you roll around in the slop enough times with a bunch of pigs, at some point people have to start wondering if you're doing it because you actually like the dirt and the smell. How many more trips to the pigpen can voters tolerate before start to seriously question whether the Democratic elite in Washington can be trusted to lead because they're too far out of the mainstream?

John Hawkins