Stephan:   There is something very sick going on in our cutlure, a kind of obsessive fear based hysteria that is doing enormous damage to the country. It involves both the electorate and the conservative political class and, a century from now this behavior, largely on the part of the Republican Party, is going to be seen as one of history's great acts of self-sabotage. I worry sometimes that you, my readers, may think I am overstating this. Today's SR is given over to three reports that illustrate what I am talking about. -- Stephan