Along with a few other brave and extraordinarily groggy souls, I took part in the pro-Kerry rally last Friday starting at 8 a.m. in response to former President Bush's visit. It didn't take long for the heckling to begin, but one comment in particular stood out to me. One man, a seemingly competent, mature adult, shouted to us that a vote for Sen. John Kerry is vote for treason and called all of us traitors. This man made no arguments in support of his claim, but simply stormed off, outraged. I was disgusted, but not surprised.

This is the level to which mainstream political discourse, if it can be called that, has sunk, a shouting match of partisan punditry and unsubstantiated claims. This is not only deplorable; it's dangerous. I am not a traitor for supporting a different presidential candidate. I am not a traitor for holding liberal political views, and I am not a traitor for believing that President Bush has done an appalling job running this country the last four years. The foundation of democracy is the freedom of speech, to think and say what you want without fear of repercussion. To call someone a traitor for simply having a different opinion is a characteristic of totalitarianism, not democracy. If politics continues to descend into this state of ever increasing hatred, anger and intolerance, I shudder to imagine what the next four years will be like, regardless of who wins this election.