What's with all the hate?

I understand a certain amount of partisan pettiness, but what I don’t understand why both politicians and pundits are not more vested in the next generation, in my generation, and the cultural and political climate they are leaving behind. It’s almost as if to be taken seriously in politics, a certainly level of anger and incivility is required. I am not saying I am not angry about many things that are going on in this country, but I do believe we can discuss our differences with respect.

And I don’t think I am the only one who feels this way. On this week’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Columbia University professor Alan Brinkley noted that “the capacity for compromise has disappeared” in politics. Sadly, extremism—on both sides—is the best way to be heard and the best way to win elections. Just this weekend, for instance, longtime Utah Senator Bob Bennett dropped his re-election bid after delegates at his state convention decided he was not “pure enough” despite a solid conservative voting record.