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I'm sorry your father exploded into that virulent of an attack, Wil. However, I have to admit, having read your blog for quite some time, I wonder what someone with no political views whatseover would have seen in the confrontation. I agree with you entirely about 99.5% of the things you say on your blog, so I come from your political position — but I know that you feel as fervently about liberal positions as your father seems to feel about conservative positions, and I wonder how much that influences the truth underlying story as told from your point of view.
It's hard to think that anyone could make a transition from liberal to neoconservative positions in what seems to them a logical fashion, but it's quite possible that this is what happened with your parents, even if it ends up feeling to you as if it was a "pod people" transition.
That having been said, I don't think that we of the liberal viewpoints hold much blame (on a nationwide scale) for the state of contentious affairs in this country. Many people I've argued with are content to blame both sides, but it is the Republicans and solely the Republicans who have declared war on the very right to hold opposing beliefs to theirs, saying that dissent is unpatriotic. Clinton appointed two Supreme Court justices that the minority (Republican) head of the Judiciary Committee suggested to him, Breyer and Ginsburg. Try getting the Republicans to listen to anything the Democrats have to say nowadays; they don't even have room in their party for their own moderates anymore.
And so the mainstream of the Republican Party has incorporated its extremest elements, pushing the moderates right out of the party and resulting in a New Republican Party. And it looks as if your father made the transition with them to extremism, especially if they have ingested the words of Bill O'Reilly and other talk show hosts. Those men have charisma and charm, unfortunately, or they wouldn't be able to get audiences to buy their books, CDs, merchandise, and steadily watch their shows.
If you'd really like to get some insight into how the Republican mindset works, including the neoconservative aberration, I strongly suggest the book Moral Politics by George Lakoff. He is a cognitive linguist. I could never understand why Democrats and Republicans seemed to never be able to come to agreeable compromises, until I read this book. It will probably lend some insight into your father's and sister's trains of thought, as well.
I am sorry what happened with your family did, but at least your father and mother and you were able to get to a point where you could find peace again. Other families (fortunately, I do not include my own among this number) are not so lucky.
