Is it me, or is the lunatic fringe pressing closer and closer toward the center? Sure, times are tough: Wall Street is in extremis, the real estate market has tanked, and only undertakers find hope in current economic indicators.

But I am not talking about arm’s-length despair. I am talking about something more deep-seated, something howling when a whisper would do. Let’s talk about blood-rage over a hangnail, shall we? Walk the halls of the civil courts and brace yourself against the fury.