On 6/6/2013 8:17 AM, Ed Huntress wrote:

In which country are you located now, John? If you're not in the US,
this polarization may be hard to read. The normal left/right divide in
this country does not normally lead to so much loose talk about
killing and civil war. This is as nutty as it's ever gotten in modern
times.

Simple left-right scheme can't possibly describe what's happening these
days. As I said earlier, it almost takes a (set of?) three dimensional
vector(s) to do that.
Too many important issues don't map into a single point on a line

Left-right-front-back-up-down...

Even so, that example only covers three issues?

and there are, in reality, dozens (if not hundreds?)


But the association and identity trumps the facts. And the tribal
reaction is vicious. Thus, we have people here -- Gunner, Larry, and
Roger, for just three examples -- who talk loosely about killing
people or threatening and coercing them with guns. That talk and
behavior would have been considered irresponsible, immature, or
evidence of mental instability just a couple of decades ago. But now
they find acceptance for it within their tribe. Political conflict and
polarization have reached a decadent state; it's an example of civil
and social decay, but it is not a serious physical threat.