I have no misconception about changing Republican votes in November, but I think we all (me too) have to look at where we fall into the classic poli-sci trap of believing what we want to believe. Everyone wants to believe that they’re candidate is right on every issue because nobody likes to make value tradeoffs. Nobody wants to say, “I support Kerry because I agree with 80% of his stances and only 60% of Bush’s”. Believe it or not, I actually was ambivalent about the war. There were good reasons for it (humanitarian, IMHO) and against it (complex, volatile situation). I have no doubt that there are lots of Iraqis who do like our being there just as I have no doubt that there are lots of Iraqis who don’t (the ones who throw bombs).

The thing which saddens me most about the direction of our country is how polarized we’ve become and how unwilling we are to tolerate complexity. Bush “doesn’t do nuance” which I thought was great for Afghanistan but has been disastrous in Iraq…and somehow he’s convinced the country that simplicity is a virtue. Definitely not all the time. And this desire to have simple positions leads us to super-polarized debates like the one we’re having here. There is a kernel of truth in most things we post or most things people debate about in life, but people are generally too passionate/angry to acknowledge the kernel of truth in what people they disagree with have to say. The net result is not only a lack of meaningful debate, but also an animosity that pervades neighborhoods. People all over the US are angry at each other and spiritually, it diminishes all of us.