The armies of the Culture Wars are suiting up. People are listening to pundits extrapolate from admittedly flawed polls about their own nature, and the nature of the other. We, the armchair footsoldiers, choose up sides and lambaste each other mercilessly for the words of the leaders of our parties.

Before we get lost in the frenzy, though, I have a request. Something I'd seriously like you to do.

Forget about politics and racism and economics and high principle for a while. Think about your everyday life. People you know, things you do, places you hang out…

just

regular

stuff.

Think about it in ideal terms. What would you like your everyday life to be like?

Hold that ideal in your mind for a while

…because that is what you should be fighting for. Not a political party, not a social policy or sense of personal outrage. Certainly nothing as petty as a sense of personal triumph or despair over someone else's actions.

You should hold that ideal strongly enough that you don't forget it when choosing a tactic. Strongly enough to remember it every time you make a promise. You should attend to the real concerns of your life and let the political games take place in whatever time is left.

I want you to do that because in the end I'm confident that the world that will support what I need will support what you need too. In fact, I'm confident that our needs will coincide and our desires nearly so. We will differ in how we pursue our desires because we have different knowledge and learned different techniques.

But we want the same things. And I want you to take a long, clear look at those things, understand clearly what you need and want. And from there you can take the conversation wherever you like.