More and more, when I engage in political discussions with my liberal friends, I’m accused of being a helpless idiot if I don’t agree with left-wing propaganda The Daily Beast and Mother Jones. But when everybody with a soapbox starts contributing their two bits to my well-being or calls me a partisan hack, I tell them I’ve tried my best to come to my own reasoned decisions, but I’m wide open to hearing their side.

I admit, I’ve lost friends outside the Beltway because of candidates I voted for and causes I supported, but here in the thick of it, I know Republicans who smoke pot, Democrats who are staunchly pro-life and everybody in between. We here try to live our own lives and make up our own minds.