From the 1790's to the 2000's

[garthranzz]

"... the ongoing debate between Federalists and Republicans had degenerated into ideological warfare. Each side saw the other as traitorous to the core principles of the American Revolution. ... Jefferson described it as a fundamental loss of trust between former friends. 'Men who have been intimate all their lives cross the street to avoid meeting, and turn their heads another way, lest they should be obliged to touch hats....Politics and party hatreds destroy the happiness of every being here. ... They seem, like salamanders, to consider fire as their element.'

"Jefferson's interpretation of the escalating party warfare was richly ironic, since he had contributed to the breakdown of personal trust and the complete disavowal of bipartisan cooperation by rejecting Adams's offer to renew the old partnership ... Federalists and Republicans alike accused their opponents of narrow-minded partisanship, never conceding or apparently even realizing that their own behavior also fit the party label they affixed to their enemies."

Founding Brothers, by Joseph J. Ellis, p. 186

I plan to write more on the issue of trust, its betrayal and how to restore it. But for now, this passage has haunted me.

Among acquaintances, at least, if we cannot amputate the partisan, we may at least separate the party from the person.

I will not slither with the salamanders.

[Jed Dilligan]

1. Doesn't ring true for me

All my life my politics and my friends' politics have been progressive. A few people I knew when I was younger emerged as conservatives, but they were snakes in the grass in most other ways and I do not regret the loss of their "friendship."

[sweetheart]

2. The framers are all dead

the constitution is rotting in GWB's septic tank and whatever when the earth had
less than 1 billion people. Now its got 6+ billions, and a bunch of criminals
stealing and murderin'... the karma of slavery is finally come home to roost.

[RoyGBiv]

3. That's an excellent book n/t

[On the Road]

4. I Would Agree --

although you'll get a lot of flack for suggesting that.

However cynical and corrupt the right-wingers in charge of the country may be, it's mistake to treat most of the ordinary conservatives in the country that way. The trick is to understand their their vision of the world, and to show them how their hopes and principles are best expressed through the Democratic Party.