Benj,

It’s not the specifics, it’s the attempt to corner Alexis that I object to.

This “yes or no, right now!” debating technique is neither probative nor forensic.

**

I do believe that our 50-50 divide is somewhat contrived and poses some real dangers for us.
If either world view represented by our major political parties had a monopoly on truth, or on hypocrisy, it would be reasonable to assume that one or the other would have gained permanent ascendency a long time ago. I think that where the rubber of ideology hits the hard pavement of complex reality the elegantly structured arguments give way to cold, hard exigency.
In a way, your boolean question to Alexis is symptomatic of the problem that plagues us. You seem to be targeting a moderate voice to score a point delegitizing Sarah Palin in a forum most unlikely to be convinced. The expected net result is that you get a temporary ego trip, Alexis feels weird and onlookers perceive another data point confirming a swiftboating of Palin from the left. I know it’s a trite reposte, but do you really think that a hermeneutic examination of Barack Obama’s speeches would not reveal some troubling associations?
Both right and left seem to be abdicating the perils of independent thought and happily donning the livery of their respective teams. We are all the poorer for that, especially in that it weakens us against the collective threats that we surely face.

This forum is one of the few bright spots where I sometimes actually gain a new insight on things. I am deeply grateful to Wretchard.