Uh, because they are? JOKE!!! Some of us here wonder why they think that too.

One thing for everyone to remember, US or non-US, is that this country is divided right now. Actually, polarized is probably a better word. It is roughly 50/50. At any given time, a poll may find people leaning one way or the other, but at the end of the day, the country is split.

Because it is split (by design by the politcians, I think), the dialogues on this board aren't all that different than dialogues that happen all over the country. Most of you probably spend much of your time talking to like minded people, so maybe you don't see it. I deal with all kinds, and it gets just plain ugly sometimes out there.

My job is relatively political, and I deal with local, state, and federal elected officials pretty routinely. I privately support the ones that are open to dialogue. The "you're with me or you're against me" has worn out its welcome in my book. Publicly, like most people, I do what I have to do. That's how the system works.

From where I sit, it's sad, because I am a moderate, and moderates have been marginalized by the polarization.

There have been good lessons in it though. For instance, George Bush was elected by a margin of something like 2000 votes in Florida the first time around. I have told my kids that proves that every vote counts.

I hope that there are now ten times as many as 2000 people in Florida now, whatever their affiliation, thinking "damn, I should have voted." That is one of the greatest lessons of it all.

I don't think anything that happens here is all that extraordinary. Maybe in a way, I'm just desensitized to it enough that it doesn't particularly put me out.

Sorry, one other thing - the International contributions are one thing that I don't get much of. Though I may or may not agree with what gets said, I appreciate non-US input to the discussion. God knows we could use more of that. We may not choose to follow it (read: the UN does not run the United States of America), but the dialogue is good, and we need more of it.