I've been noticing some disturbing trends recently, particularly amongst "Reagan Democrats" (for want of a better term).

These folks are increasingly bashing gays, strong women, environmentalists, and others whom they perceive as contributing to the "weakness" of our country -- which, according to their defensive sensibilities, made things like September 11th possible and which we can ill afford while we are still vulnerable to attack.

The "leadership" of men like our current Attorney General does nothing to discourage this mindset, which divides us more than anything Mr. Bin Laden has done to us directly.

Such paranoia is not unique to this time and place -- it is all too reminiscent of what happened in this country 20 years ago, when Reagan was drumming up defenses against Iran and "The Evil Empire", or what is happening today throughout Europe, as epitomized by Le Pen's showing in France, or what happened in Europe back in the '30s (egad).

The particularly touchy thing for us Democrats is the fact that we lose most elections without the support of a majority of these very same Reagan Democrats. So how do we "true believers" win them back without betraying our principles?

Simple. We speak with the courage of our convictions. This, to those who have strayed from our "fold", is not so much about ideology as it is about strength (There was an editorial in the LA Times not too long back about how Americans have typically voted for the candidate with the best "swagger" -- although "cockiness" is, of course, fool-hardy).

A word to the wise.