Thorne says: Seeing people dancing in the streets because thousands of people died in the WTC was just as offensive to me! A great observation Thorne. I saw what you saw and I was offended too. Thorne went on to say: But these were, apparently, ordinary people who were demonstrating their hatred for us by celebrating the deaths of innocent people. In my opinion, another great observation.

Others responding to this thread have been impressive with your logic and understanding of the topic. Each of you add greatly to the epiphany this thread gives me. The epiphany which this thread provides answers several questions for me about the current political situation that exist in the USA.

Please do not be offended if you are a Democrat but I am going to be an apologist for President Bush with the hope that some of the hatred towards Bush and the Republican Party will be lessened. Our country is in crisis at this time and needs the support of both Democrats and Republicans.

The people who were dancing in the streets over the WTC were normal people. Why were they dancing? Most of them probably had never met an American. They were dancing because their leaders told them that it was a good thing when Americans died or suffered.

The election of 2000 was a difficult pill to swallow no matter which side you were on. The reaction of the leaders in both parties was strong. The leadership of the Democratic Party decided that their followers should oppose Bush in every thing he did, say nothing good about him, blame him for everything that went wrong, and give him no credit for any good that happened. As a result the leadership has had the Party members dancing in the streets. For two terms duration the message that has been broadcast throughout America has been one constant "Bush is bad." It took all these years to destroy his approval rating, which has been determined by those who hate him. Middle class America held out to this constant badgering very well. The election of 2004 proves this. The fact that the Democratic Congress has a lower approval rating than President Bush also tends to support this fact.

One interesting thing, as the nomination process goes on in the Democratic Party, the primary candidates' views on Iraq are becoming similar to those of the President's and John McCain's. All agree that if Al Quieada establishes a stronghold in Iraq, that each of them (both Hillary and Obama) would send in American troops. Of course they had to admit this because the country will not elect a President that it feels will not protect the interest of the USA.

Here is the epiphany. If the Democratic Party, in the end, was going to do the same thing Bush did, why have they not said so sooner? Why did they have the membership dancing in the streets in protest of the war in Iraq? Why did they strengthen the resolve of the enemy to be more determined to kill our solders? To say you support the troops but oppose the President, for whatever the reason, was not a act of patriotism.