Ash: I agree, but I would also offer the observation that the editing to “fit” applies equally to the Left. Case in point would be author Bjorn Lomborg. He had the temerity to question environmental findings, including global warming and its effects, and has been vilified by those on the Left for having the gall to offer an opposing point of view to the “accepted” notion that the “science is settled” (Katie Couric) regarding global warming.

Both Left and Right do this, and it has contributed to the Balkanization of politics, attitudes and mores that we presently confront. Hence your comment about D versus R and fighting one’s way back to common ground.

Back when we were allowed to have a dialogue without it turning into an ad hominem mudslinging slugfest, this sort of productive discourse would have been quite common. My dad was a diehard Democrat, but always encouraged me to think critically, ask questions and make up my own mind. I am a registered Republican, but haven’t voted Republican since Dole in ’96. I won’t be voting Republican this time, either.

I wasn’t trying to dismiss gandalf’s point too lightly. Too the contrary, he has made some excellent points and forced me to think for the first time in a while. America knows how to sell a war like no other country. Remember Hearst’s line: “Give me the pictures and I’ll give you your war” (Spanish-American War, 1898). Little has changed, either before or after. If the administration wants a war, they’ll come up with the means to start one (Tonkin Gulf, anyone?).