There are three kinds of patriots, two bad, one good. The bad are the uncritical lovers and the loveless critics. Good patriots carry on a lover’s quarrel with their country. ~William Sloane Coffin
The only way that we can be certain that our map of reality is valid is to expose it to the criticism and challenge of other map-makers. ~M. Scott Peck
When I first began blogging about politics, I identified strongly as a liberal—but a liberal who believed strongly in listening across the divide. I have since become more moderate on some issues, and even centrist or slightly conservative on others, although I am still probably a moderate liberal overall. My shift is thanks in part to age, and to the broadening understanding that age often brings, and thanks in part to my many conversations with conservatives. (Here are posts in which I write in depth on a few specific issues.)
Ultimately, my loyalty is not to party or ideology but to truth and the quest for it. I am a partisan for truth. 🙂 To seek the fullest understanding of the truth, we must expose ourselves frequently to ideas that challenge our assumptions. That’s hard to do in today’s siloed America, where it’s easy to exist in echo chambers that only reinforce what we already believe. As I wrote in early 2025, there are a lot of “mind viruses” going around. But breaking out of our echo chambers is well worthwhile, because no single individual, ideology, or party has a perfect understanding of the whole. We all have biases and blind spots, and the whole truth on most issues is messy and complex. Our task is to try and discern it anyway—while knowing our understanding will always remain imperfect.
My political engagement began in early 2011. I was a Wisconsin state worker, and like most other state workers, that winter I participated in the giant daily protests that broke out against Governor Scott Walker’s union-busting legislation. But meanwhile, I also did something different: I cofounded an organization fostering civil political discourse.
For two years, my now-husband Ron and I worked with a Republican couple to lead Reach Out Wisconsin. We brought people together for respectful discussion of hot political topics, meeting monthly in restaurants around Madison, and we garnered a great deal of media attention. (Here are posts and links about that era.) Ron and I eventually moved to Oregon, but Reach Out continued long after we were gone, and I continued advocating for civility here in my blog. It is one of my great passions.
During the Trump era, a new national civility movement blossomed. Many Americans now recognize that political polarization is one of the main threats our country faces, leading to more extremism, congressional gridlock, and political violence. The new movement—which often refers to itself as the bridging movement—comprises numerous organizations working across the country to cool the temperature and help people disagree better. Civility is not about “niceness” or refraining from expressing ourselves. It’s about disagreeing and debating while recognizing each other’s humanity and worthiness of basic respect. (Here is a page with links to some great organizations.)
A useful mental image helps me understand our politics. I described this image in a post called “The Other Political Spectrum:” along with the familiar left-right spectrum, I envision a second spectrum running up-down and intersecting with the first. This second spectrum, I wrote, depicts not our policy stances but our style of interacting around politics. I placed respect at the top and disdain at the bottom, and I argued that people from the left, right, or anywhere in between might be respectful or disdainful of others. My hope is not to have a country where we all agree on left-right policy. Instead, I want a country where most people are respectful—i.e., at the top of the up-down spectrum and not the bottom.
Later, I modified this idea, keeping the visual of two intersecting axes but naming the up-down axis the Axis of Democracy. Certain democratic ideals, like freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the rule of law, and tolerance of disagreement are so important they transcend left-right politics. We must strive to unite across the left-right spectrum in standing up for these core American values—and we must oppose the forces on both the left and the right that undermine them. Partisans always find it easier to recognize those forces in the other party than in their own. That is one of many reasons why listening is so important.