I do agree that politics have become increasingly polarized and virulent. There is less and less respectful disagreement and more and more ideologically-driven villification of dissent (and dissenters).

But I don't see that the trend is any less apparent on the left than it is on the right. Yes, Bill O'Rielly is a demagogue who reduces complex issues to oversimplified schemas that reinforce the self-satisfied prejudices of his audience. And this makes him different than Michael Moore... how?

Over and over again, in Wheaton's article and in these responses to it, liberals have characterized anyone expressing a conservative viewpoint as brainwashed. What was Wheaton's phrase? "Pod people?" How exactly do these characterizations contribute to an atmosphere of respectful disagreement?

With Wheaton, I lament the increasing incivility and decreasing respect for dissent in our political discourse. But in his absolute blindness to the left's contribution to it, he is rather an example of than an antidote to the phenomenon.

You guys are so nice! I have Republicans in my family, too, and after the 2004 election, I simply stopped talking to them. When they come to me of their own accord and apologize for voting for Bush and putting an end to two hundred years of American democracy, maybe I will speak to them again. I have looked deep within and realized that if they can vote for Bush, I really and truly don't give a s**t about them.

My Dad has always been a conservative, but when I was young he told me to never vote a straight party ticket, to make up my own mind about each candidate. And now, after a steady diet of Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly for the last several years, he tells me with pride that he votes a straight Republican ticket, and furthermore that that's the only way to vote if you're a decent person. I can't even ask what happened, because he honestly does not remember being any other way.

It never bothered me before that we voted for different candidates, but sometimes it really hurts to think that my father believes that it's okay to hate people like me because we don't vote the same way. I miss the guy who told me not to vote that straight ticket. I wish he'd come back.

Reading Wil's essay reminded me of an article by the science fiction writer and physicist, David Brin (http://www.davidbrin.com/addiction.html). In this article, Brin discusses current research on addictive behavior that looks at which pleasure centers in the brain get stimulated when subjects engage in various activities. Such research has shown that the same pleasure centers that light up when someone takes cocaine also become active when a gambler at the slots gets a payout. Other research has shown that compulsive rage will activate these same neural pathways. Brin's essay then goes on to speculate about the addictive nature of self-righteousness and suggests a program of research that could investigate the neural hard wiring and activation of pleasure centers that accompany strongly held beliefs. I highly recommend this essay.

For my own part, I have found humor a reliable antidote to these sorts of family political moments. I have often congratulated my dad for raising a fine set of liberals, and the attending coginitve dissonance seems to move us to a more amicable place. But it works if I am willing not to cling to my own sense of self-righteousness.

My parents campaigned to serve as precinct delegates for George McGovern in the heart of Michigan's George Wallace country (Macomb County, the birthplace of the Reagan Democrat). They gave money and time to Focus:Hope and the ACLU. My dad was part of the second March on Washington. Then, from the time I left for college in September 1980 to Thanksgiving the same year, there was a huge metamorphosis, during which my dad began spouting RNC talking points 24/7. Today their home is filled with a steady stream of verbal garbage from Rush, Tony Snow and all the other FNC ass clowns.

Can't speak for others but, in my parents' case, I think their converrsion actually ties to subconscious racism. SE Michigan was a hotbed of racial tension in the late 70's and early 1980s (and race relations haven't improved much since then). My parents had been active in the civil rights campaign and I think they expected an outpouring of gratititude for their "sacrifice" every time they encountered a black person. They were also resentful that, by their way of thinking, too many blacks were drug addicts and criminals (and responsible for "a change in the neighborhood" when a black family bought a house on our street) after "all that had been done for them." Talk radio was there to validate - and exploit - their disappointment.

Today, my mom and dad live in an affluent Florida retiremment community where everyone gets their news from the same conservative sources, turns out for W rallies and makes donations to Jeb from their government-insured pensions and social security checks. When we visit, I fight the urge to expose my parents' liberal past. Instead, I take comfort in the fact that, at least during my impressionable years, they set a decent moral example.

I feel you Wil.

It's tough having Republicans in the family.

At least my family has managed to move beyond the anger and suspicion. We just mess with each other now...I had a "Another Democrat for Bush" bumper sticker placed on my car. It was answered with a generous donation in that person's name to the ACLU, which was answered with an Ann Coulter poster (she's hot, in an Eva Braun kinda way), which was very recently answered with a copy of Al Franken's latest...ad infinitum; I would suppose.

The point is, we've all come to the understanding that you can't change a person's beliefs no matter how stupid and counter to their own interests they appear to be.

Really great piece. Happy Holidays!

My father has always voted republican, my mother democrat. My sisters and I - all three of whom grew up to become unapologetic liberals - got both sides of every issue fed to us at the dinner table. Of course I can't seem to keep my yap shut and on one memorable occasion in 2003 I left my parents' condo before dinner was served after my (otherwise sweet, loving and model) dad screamed at me to vacate the premises.

Then a miracle happened. After the 2004 election my dad sent an e-mail to all of us telling us that he had voted for Kerry after all and why.

I still would not describe my dad as a liberal in any sense of the word, but something finally broke through to him. If my dad can change at age 74, maybe yours can too, Wil.