On the other hand, I am staunchly conservative, and agree with you 100%. People need to frickin' calm down and realize the "other side" are not a but of Saturday morning cartoon villains, just regular people that think differently.

I agree almost entirely. This fear-mongering from both parties is a little ridiculous, and your point is what I believe makes having a proper debate (not one where I have to curse at somebody repeatedly about their lack of backing) these days almost impossible. Though from a moderate to far left perspective (probably similar to yours, but maybe a little farther), I can see how some people believe that a political shift to the right messed up America and ruined American values (Islamophobia is part of American culture now...). Those people being the some of the progressives (to which I would say I belong).

I would have no loyalty to either party either, they are both too far (by quite a ways) to the right and far too corrupt for me. Though if the People's Party goes through or the Justice Democrats actually succeed in the takeover of the Democratic Party (both are doubtful) I'd support them. Only thing I agree with Trump on is TPP, though I feel he was a bit too brazen about the way he left the TPP, and otherwise I believe he's a completely insane narcissist who has a corporate love affair with private prisons. He doesn't WANT to destroy America, but I think he will by just being his normal oblivious self.

We need to talk, sure. But talking isn't in the best interests of the media. They make money off of this sensationalism. That's what will need to happen first before concessions can begin, and we can have a functional democracy again instead of the political equivalent of a pillow fight sponsored by huge money corporations (somebody should make that into a political cartoon... Would be really funny.)

I have seen moments where both sides are wrong, and both have their valid sides to them. Both sides generalize alot tho to cater to their demographic, which ends up with some ironic statements, like 'they all generalize us'! 

Only thing I agree with Trump on is TPP, though I feel he was a bit too brazen about the way he left the TPP, and otherwise I believe he's a completely insane narcissist who has a corporate love affair with private prisons. He doesn't WANT to destroy America, but I think he will by just being his normal oblivious self.

Well put, and funnily enough, I also agreed with him about the TPP.  I was glad to see America pull out of it, though I doubt that Trump understood the TPP well enough to make an informed decision.  I think he just got lucky.

I wanted to come back and add an addendum to this blog entry.  This is something I wrote in response to some recent experiences I've had.

I have always considered myself left/liberal, but more and more, I feel like such labels are meaningless.  Here's a quick breakdown of my views: pro gay marriage, pro free speech, pro choice, atheist, anti-dogma, agnostic on guns and immigration....um...what else...uh, against legit racism/sexism--that one's kind of a no-brainer.  That's basically it.  Those are the things that interest me.  To everyone who considers themselves right/conservative: please know that not everyone who considers themselves left/liberal is your enemy.  The vast, overwhelming majority of us are decent, rational, thinking people, who care about facts and evidence, and who don't want to stomp on others' rights.  In other words, most of us are just like you.  The extreme, regressive leftist, free speech stifling, SJWs are a tiny fringe minority who don't represent most of us, just like how the truly racist, bigoted, religious fundamentalists waving picket signs that say "God hates fags" are a tiny fringe minority that doesn't represent you.  These extremes make news and get the most attention, and their voices are amplified by the internet.  It's not the norm.

Lately, I've seen a lot of people on the right who share many of my views.  This surprised me, as I've grown up basically hearing that conservatives are my enemy.  It just isn't true.  We can have major disagreements on specific issues, like abortion, but it doesn't mean we're enemies.  I think we have more in common than we have different.  From what I've seen, often times the differences between "liberals" and "conservatives" are trivial, and the labels tenuous.  I've seen many conservatives that seem to have mostly what I would call "classically liberal" views, and it makes me think, "wow, we're really not so different."  I think that most of us are really on the same team, and we just don't know it.

To all conservatives: please don't label massive swaths of the population are your mortal enemies.  This kind of tribalism is toxic and gets us nowhere, and you're writing off many potential allies.  Most of us have more in common than you might think.  And this goes both ways: to all of the people on the left, please don't write off all conservatives as your enemies.  Listen to them.  You might find out that you have more in common than you thought.