Last week it was the poll sponsored by Daily Kos implying that conservatives are dominated by people with crazy motivations. This week it is a report from Newsweek that the Tea Party convention is filled with people who hold crazy conspiracy theories.

Why is it that so many people on the left (and the host of this blog in particular) insist on these personal attacks against the people they disagree with? I also see frequent misrepresentations of opposition ideas, arguments and positions in order to make them look extreme and stupid. It looks to me like a strategy of dehumanizing the opposition so that you have an excuse for ignoring them.

The “conservatives are stupid” or “conservatives are evil” chant is getting old. I am tired of seeing my views misrepresented. I am tired of hearing people tell me that they KNOW what my views are and then argue against some strange melange of positions that no one in their right mind would support.

There are plenty of good liberals and progressives out there. I have spent a lot of time sharing ideas with them. Good political thinking starts when you see the opposition as the people they really are. Learn from them. Find out what their positions really are.