What's up with these very emotional people who have been getting up in town hall meetings saying they "want their country back"?

What do they consider “their country” and where do they think it went and when?

I suspect that these are mainly former McCain/Palin supporters, who consider themselves to be “real Americans” who feel that the country has been “taken over” by hostile “others” who are not “real Americans” (i.e., blacks, liberals, secularists, non-christians, gays, and educated elites).

I suspect that, deep down, these are white supremacists who just can’t bring themselves to say so out loud, so they throw up all sorts of other reasons why they hate and fear Obama: i.e., he’s a secret Muslim; he’s a terrorist; he’s a socialist; he’s going to take away their guns; he wasn’t born in the United States so he’s not really president; his health care reform is a secret plot to kill old people, etc., etc.

All of these beliefs are easily contradicted by the facts of the matter, but the people who hold them seem to be living in their own separate reality. They don’t seem to be interested in being reasoned with, so what are we to think about them or say to them?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM64ABmhXXs&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fopen%2Esalon%2Ecom%2Fblog%2Fronp01%2F2009%2F08%2F11%2Femotions%5Ftempers%5Frun%5Fhigh%5Fat%5Fsenator%5Fspecters%5Ftown%5Fhall&feature=player_embedded#t=19