Talking about 'Talking with the Enemy'

This "Talking to the Enemy" series is a great service to the public because so many of us, including myself, are polarized to an unhealthy degree. These articles are giving me a chance to sit back and say to myself, "Now wait a minute, what's going on here?"
Atwood Dunham
Freeport, Maine

I recently visited some political message boards on AOL, posting thoughtful responses and asking reasonable questions of those who were conversing online. What troubled me was that when I appealed to someone who was using illogical or blatant lies and name-calling, they generally ignored me or called me a profane name. Have Americans forgotten how to think, wrestle with complex issues, and honestly weigh facts?

The solution to polarization lies in education and the media. We immerse our children in media, but do we ever train them in the critical thinking skills that will help them to make responsible decisions as adults? Can we use the media to promote thinking instead of the consumption of predigested opinions?
Mary Ann Stroven
Orlando, Fla.

I am not sure of the premise that we are a more divided nation than ever before. For example, I support John Kerry, but I do not dismiss the president as stupid or evil, and I am confident that most Americans are equally respectful of those with opposing viewpoints. Part of the problem is the 24-hour news cycle that requires policymakers to immediately form an opinion on a breaking-news story or event. There is no time for deliberation, let alone reasoned dialogue across the political spectrum. When we have time to digest events and explore compromises, our democracy works better.
David Curcio
Katy, Texas

I disagree with the premise of Gary Alan Fine's Oct. 18 piece that the contempt this year's anti-Bush voters feel stems solely from a decades-old disdain for the holder of the presidency, whoever that may be.

That conclusion ignores the depth of concern many Democrats, independents, and even some Republicans have about the decisions the president has made about Iraq, homeland security, taxes, jobs, and the basic American freedoms whittled away by the Patriot Act. The decisions this president has made, his refusal to admit mistakes, and his willingness to mislead the American public are at the core of Bush-contempt.
Kathleen Furore
Oak Park, Ill.

I love the phrase in the opening article "dialogue rather than advocacy." I vote Democratic, but I get so frustrated by the demonization of Republicans that I hear from Democrats. I'm not a fan of Bush, but surely there must be something - anything - that he has done right or at least did for good reasons. Is it possible for a person to be 100 percent wrong and 100 percent evil, 100 percent of the time?
Deborah Mead
Needham, Mass.

Carla Seaquist's Oct. 20 piece makes the key point that ideas are at the heart of political discussion, and ideas are by nature debatable. The problem is that Bush models the opposite behavior. When posed the question suggested by Seaquist's piece, "Why do you think that?" he answers that he feels it in his gut or knows it by instinct - or even that God has told him what to do, thus stopping discussion or diverting it to faith in him or in God.
Estella Lauter
Fish Creek, Wis.

Bridging the "red-blue divide" in our country is essential, but there are reasons to be angry: The Bush administration started a war and sent our children off to kill and be killed in a foreign land for no good reason, dismantled environmental protections, drove the country further into debt, and cut back on civil liberties.

Intense anger can be divisive, but I think collective blindness is more destructive. The solution, if there is one, will be found in a thoroughgoing and substantive discussion among citizens about our shared reality and how we would like it to be shaped.
Jim Mott
Pittsford, N.Y.

If democracy is threatened in any tangible way, it will not be because of public outcry and the demonstration of outrage. It will be the direct result of unsubstantiated, unjust, and irrational human behavior. There is a place for righteous anger. History is filled with the reversal of injustice spurred on by outrage.

Mike Falsia
The Bronx, N.Y.

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