There weren't always Liberals vs Conservatives.

There were people who leaned either left or right on some issues, some of the time. But it was rarely all the way all the time, and there was always some overlap, some shades of gray.

But somewhere between Goldwater and Reagan things changed. It became ugly and doctrinaire, ideological, and once you picked a position on one issue, you were expected to fall into line on every other. It became Us vs Them, my way or the highway, if you're not with me you're agin me. There were only two choices, patriot vs traitor, freedom vs slavery, good vs evil. Nazi vs Communist. And I don't have to tell you who always claimed to be on the right side and their opponents were always, always, in the wrong. There was no middle ground. "Maybe" became a dirty word, "moderate" became an insult, "compromise" came to mean cowardice, and thoughtfulness and reason became weakness and indecision.

I'm old enough to have seen it happen, all in my lifetime. Maybe there's no way I can convince anyone else, but I don't doubt it for a moment. I saw it happen right before my eyes and it is all very real and painful to me. America is afraid, and where there's fear, there's ignorance, then anger, and hatred soon follows. And evil men move in to exploit that hatred for their own profit and power--and they always seemed to carry a flag, a Bible, and a gun.

Sooner or later, no matter how well you understand, or how well you can see both sides of an argument; as much as you may hate to do it, whether you like it or not, you have to pick sides. I picked sides in 1969, right after I got back from the service. And it wasn't because I was against the Vietnam war, it was because I could see clearly into the hearts of those who weren't.