To parse your comment, from the lame “Obamessiah” insult forward, is to pluck the petals from the ugly, foul-smelling flower of modern conservatism. The fact that the Republicans' FIRST ploy against a new opponent is toward name-calling and disrespect is a sure sign of a party that knows perfectly well it doesn't have a single idea, much less a good one, about how to run a country.

I would never disrespect John McCain–at least not before he earns it–but I do have one question: You talk about substance, but does McCain have a SINGLE policy position besides maintaining our presence in Iraq and continuing George Bush's fearmongering on terror? Talk about an empty vessel. A huge majority of the American public feels the country is seriously out of whack, and McCain's talking as though the only problems we have are Islamic fundamentalism and…earmarks.

Obama's lack of the accoutrements of patriotism is a fitting symbolic indicator of his lack in other areas. This election will apparently be a showdown between style and substance. The American people, in their willingness to buy into Obama's dream world, might prefer style, but it will be to the long-term detriment of our economy and our security.