I was thinking today that the coarseness of politics is a bad thing. I know, I bait and fight with some of you on here so I shouldn't be lecturing on this, but here it goes:

I just wonder where the respect and honesty of the participants of any political stripe has gone. You look at the name calling in any major legislatures and you would think these people hate each other, yet one only has to see behind the facade to know there is a lot of friendships across party lines. NDP MP Peter Stoffer ( a left wing MP in Canada's Parliament) is infamous for his parties where people from all parties in the Parliament hang out during the winding up of affairs before Christmas. He gets people who I am sure he has crossed swords with in Question Period.

You see no congenality on the surface of things, and the media magnifies and adds to the coarseness. Right wing Talk show hosts I can find amusing and sometimes dead on the money, but I do think a lot of what they are saying is looking for fumes to put a spark to. I have heard Alan Colmes and some of the libreal talking heads and hear the same sort of naivety.

Here, in this forum, we often have differing view points, such as Eki and Janvan really going after me or Fousto or VOP, yet I suspect with Eki at least, I could probably sit in a pub with him and get along ok. Heck, Steve Spackman and I never agree on much, but I know we would get on great while arguing. I defend to my last breath their right to state their case in this forum or any other.

What I am saying I guess is I deplore the way political debate and debate in general both in the real world, and our little part of cyberspace has become almost like a blood feud where no side will admit anything the other guys say has merit. I find this sad, for I have tried on occasion to really try to see the other side, and agreed with Janvanurpa on some aspects of the Cuban Embargo. Never thought he and I would see something the same way, but on that narrow topic, yes we agreed.

I guess I am interested in how you guys see debate, and maybe ask you to be intellectually more honest than idelogical when approaching subjects that you in the past didn't agree with. I think it is healthy for the debate, and some of us may not change our minds completely, but it is a good intellectual exercise that forces you to re-evaluate your opinions.

Just curious...you guys have a take?