In our humble opinion, dear reader, political discourse in this country continues to degenerate apace. It seems to us that, just as the impeachment of President Clinton got many conservatives overly worked up, the Iraq War has led sundry liberals to espouse arguments completely unhinged from reality.

For example, take the brouhaha over Jean Sara Rohe's ill-mannered address at the recent New School graduation. As has been reported ad nauseam, this pertinacious tyro took it upon herself to excoriate Vietnam veteran John McCain, who uncomfortably watched her diatribe from a few feet away.

To any rational person, Ms. Rohe was extremely disrespectful. Need we even argue that a graduation is an ill-chosen event for a demolition of your graduation speaker? Apparently not to rabid leftists: In their eyes, Jean Sara Rohe is the younger generation's Che Guevara. To this end, she even got some television exposure on "The Big Picture" with Donny Deutch, which ensured that she was seen by literally two-dozen people around the world.

We suppose, then, that our friends on the Left would delight in a student using his commencement remarks to rip into some famous left-wing graduation speaker. After all, to them, it's not bad manners at all. But why do we have the suspicion that they'd think differently under these circumstances? How about some enterprising graduate takes aim at Michael Moore as an overstuffed apologist for terrorism and we find out?

But we need not discuss the addlebrained Jean Sara Rohe in order to prove our point. One must only turn to various places on Al Gore's World-Wide Web.

Just the other day, for instance, we checked out AfterDowningStreet.org, a "website" dedicated to far-Left muckraking. On said "website," you'll find a charming piece by one Bill Perry, with the delightful title "Veterans Surround Richard Perle, Demand Accountability for His Role in Launching Illegal War." As its delightful title suggests, the "post" discusses a run-in between the neoconservative intellectual Richard Perle and a gaggle of anti-war protestors. And we think it amply demonstrates the way in which the Iraq War has driven some folks batty.

It begins as follows:

Here's 8 great shots I took, with a disposable camera, of Neo-Con Architect of the Iraq war, Richard Perle, and our Iraq Veterans Against the War Heroes & Sheroes, joined by our Gold Star Families "Matriots".

Okay, so Mr. Perry has some strange ideas about capitalization. And no reasonable person would countenance the neologism "Sheroes." But so what?

Well, take a look at this little bit:

...we surrounded the Adolf Eichman [sic] of the Bush Administration [i.e., Mr. Perle], and had BIG FUN humiliating the MURDERER!

Oh, dear. First, we suppose we ought to note that Mr. Perle no longer plays an official role in the Bush Administration and hasn't served in this capacity since the dawn of the Iraq War. Moreover, we guess we should add that, to the best of our knowledge, Mr. Perle hasn't murdered anyone. We know: Details, details.

In addition, perhaps Mr. Perry should realize that his two assessments of Perle--"Neo-Con Architect of the Iraq war" and "the Adolf Eichman [sic] of the Bush Administration"--don't make any sense in tandem. Which is it? Did he plan the war or was he merely "following orders"?

Additionally, one might note that Mr. Perle is Jewish, and thus Mr. Perry's likening him to Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann may be particularly offensive. But this requires us to believe that Mr. Perry actually knows who Adolf Eichmann is, which there is ample reason to doubt.

Also, there's the small matter of the actual event. You see, if you take a gander at the accompanying pictures, you'll find Mr. Perle politely chatting with the protestors; it doesn't appear much like "BIG FUN humiliating the MURDERER" to us.

But perhaps this offers a perfect example of our point: To the unhinged Bill Perry, a tepid confrontation equals an abject humiliation, just as a neoconservative intellectual equals Adolf Eichmann. How more estranged from reality can you get?

(Note: The crack young staff usually "weblog" over at "The Hatemonger's Quarterly," where they are currently writing a book on a Jewish builder tentatively titled The Neo-Con Architect.)