See, I like to talk to people who have differing opinions who have facts to back their opinions and views up, because I like to think that such discussions will cause me to think and possibly reshape my opinions over time, whether that means, I will change my opinions in favor of their opinion or strengthen my own depends on the course of the conversation.

However, I admit that I’ve become increasingly frustrated by closed-minded, simplistic, bullying rhetoric that doesn’t always make sense in context of the conversation — and it’s coming from all sides these days. Political conversations for me often feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall.

I’d love to find those people who are willing to “listen honestly” and “share intelligently”. I think too many people are just too angry or enjoy stirring the pot too much or something these days to have real conversations anymore where politics is concerned.

I remember thinking how proud I was when my friends, an extremely politically, socially, financially, and religiously diverse group as you’ve ever seen, were finally adult enough to sit around and talk politics “like adults”. Unfortunately, even we’ve gotten to the point where we can’t do that publicly anymore. For friendships’ sake we’ve had to ban politics as a topic of discussion from all forms of communication, except one on one. It’s a shame.

I completely share your frustration with the ‘closed-minded, simplistic, bullying’ that comes from blogs and the like of all hues. It just feels as though you can no longer talk rationally about anything political any more. Ignorance, misinformation and gainsaying are the order of the day.

What worries me most is what you say about your group of friends; while completely understandable, it’s scary that we can no longer hold measured, rational debate about the things that matter. It’s scary because, imho, democracy depends precisely on this sort of debate.