Straw Men

I didn't have too many thoughts today that weren't equivalent to "Aaaaaaaaa!!!!" but this was one:

I'm really saddened by the straw men I'm seeing put up by both political sides. Liberals don't care about the country's security and want to kiss Kofi Annan's rear, conservatives hate gays and think voting down gay marriage will make people not gay, etc. But this is exactly what we get when people don't interact with others who aren't like them. If we get to know other people, really get to know them and understand why they believe what they believe, we might have some rational political discourse free from name-calling and straw men.

UPDATE: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach says much the same thing, but (as usual) better than I do.