I posted the below as a comment in response to a Conor Friedersdorf article about birtherism at The American Scene:
I recall a time in the early 90s on a political e-mail list when I must have said something nice about Bill Clinton or something nasty about Republican positions or something along those lines. The most rabid Clinton supporter on the list said something like, “John, you don’t seem to be like other conservatives I know.”
I was somewhat taken aback. I recognized it as an early warning sign that I was about to go down a road where others had gone. I had seen it happen to too many other conservatives.
So I announced that I would fix it so he would never say anything like that about me again. And he never did.
I don’t mind being different than other conservatives, but I don’t want any leftists to think they’re going to pull any of that on me.