I think it's fair to summarize your post as a defense of partisanship, as you did: 'let the "partisanship" continue'.

I'll stick with the Merrian-Webster definition of 'partisanship', thanks, and I don't accept your attempt to redefine it as "just the furious arguments over policies". That's a rather self-serving redefinition. Only in the Wonderland of extreme partisanship do words mean what you want them to mean.

It's ironic to the point of hilarity that you attempt to point the finger of blame at Democrats as responsible for all the partisanship in America. Is that not " exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance" to your own Party? I think that accepting some responsibility would bring you much closer to nonpartisanship. Have I ever said that Democrats aren't partisan? I'm not attempting to assign blame, as you are, I'm attempting to resolve the problem of hyperpartisanship for the good of the country.

Is it not "prejudiced and unreasoning" to claim special knowledge that would require telepathy or "remote-viewing" powers to assert that "But count on it: they still firmly believe behind closed doors."? You can see through walls, across 3,000 miles?

I believe John McCain when he says that he will put America before all other considerations...and Republicans hate him for that. That says a lot about Republican partisanship and especially about their values. You've said before that compromise is the betrayal of principles, and this is the fundamental place at which we disagree: I place the American principle of democracy above narrow ideological concerns, and believe that compromise is an obligation of a citizen in a democracy.

I see politics in a democracy as an ongoing process. Each vote in a legislature or executive decision isn't the end of the world; you really do live to fight another day. Over time it works out that everybody--at least those not far off on the fringes--wins about half the time, and loses about half the time. Only extremists have a low batting average, and that's by design. Our system is designed to favor moderation, not extremism.

You're fighting against America itself, Tom. You're rejecting the most basic principles upon which this country was founded, and that's just plain wrong.