We'd all be a lot more pleasant, and probably learn a few things, if we could listen to each other without name-calling and yelling.
I try not to get too into partisan political discussions with people outside my circle of immediate family and friends. It's not that I dislike discussing politics – quite the contrary. It's more that with people I don't know I fear the discussion descending into a bitter and very personal dispute that has little to do with the political differences that prompted it. This kind of thing has happened before, often enough so that now I think twice. I did not initiate these disputes, nor did I seek to engage them once they started, which led to name calling, expletives and one time someone walking out of a room, but never to fisticuffs. I think reasonable people can disagree and engage in lively conversation that can illuminate points both …
