Politicky.

Some of you may have heard about the proposed Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero. Some of you may have noticed how this issue has completely taken over media coverage, outraged and alienated just about every group of people in the United States, and become a huge topic for debate in the last month or so.

This issue more than anything represents to me what is wrong with American politics and political dialogue. Americans have lost the ability to dialogue civilly about any issue without bringing in a sandstorm of emotion and inappropriate diatribes directed at the other side of the issue. This is not strictly a Democrat-Republican issue; the battle lines have been drawn jaggedly through the parties in this situation.

America, what's up? Many of our forebears were great communicators, skilled at engaging the other side in debate without personal attack and acknowledging the other side's opinions; disagreeing with their opinions, yes, but using more Socratic methods to attempt and bring the other side round.

American sensationalism has permeated our political sphere, and I'm personally becoming more and more disgusted with the way we discuss these issues with one another. My brother is one of the most conservative, party-Republicans that I know, yet he is amazing at dialoguing. He and I disagree dramatically on many hot-button topics, but we can still have great discussions, questioning the logical bases for one another's arguments without questioning one another's morality, ethics, or character.

In the conversations I've had regarding the Islamic Community Center near Ground Zero, I don't believe that a single person (regardless of their political persuasion or opinion about the proposed Islamic center!) has heard a single word that I've said for being so caught up in wanting to tell me their own opinions.

The problem, thus, is that, even in this time of everyone having an opinion about everything, still no one is being heard. The victor is He Who Shouts The Loudest.

Go read up on your Greeks - they knew how to do this right. French Philosophes and Enlightenment-era American thinkers known to frequent the Parisian salons (Hamilton, Jefferson, to name a few) could teach us a thing or two. And yeah, next time you're talking politics with someone you disagree with, shut up and listen, ask questions about why they think what they do, and then calmly tell them why you think what you do.

Trust me, learning to dialogue will save your relationships with anyone of a different political persuasion than yourself. And, well, it will make you nicer to talk to.