I judge them by their extremism and their blind loyalty to their chosen affiliations.
I think a rational person is somewhere in the middle. The more devoted you are to one side, the less I care about your opinion. If all you can do is insult, copy and paste from your chosen propaganda sites or post youtube clips of political entertainment talking heads then you don't really believe in what you are posting.
If you want to change my mind about something, don't force your views down my throat. If all I ever see of you is related to politics, I'm not gonna give what you say much credit. If you want me to change my views, be true to yourself. Don't go running to someone or something else to validate yourself.
A great example of this is the gays. I used to be very anti-gay due to the way I was raises. I was told that all gays were unnatural and evil. How did I change my mind? Through people I knew in real life and even some I met on these boards. Yes, they're gay, but they also just want to live their lives. They don't want to shove their sexuality on anyone.
I think all political extremists are the same and can switch "sides" on a whim. I remember wannabuyamonkey (a delusional right wing hypocrite) saying that he was very liberal until one day he saw an anti-abortion rally. He said it was their views that changed his mind but in reality he was just able to relate to their anger more at the time.
I honestly think copying and pasting the opinions of someone else is the weakest thing a person can do. I have no problem with posting news articles or links, but when you use other people's words to defend your own "views" it shows that you are unable to think for yourself.
If you get upset about what someone wrote, ask yourself why you are upset by it. If you are firm in what you believe in, you shouldn't get angry when confronted by differing views. This is not the same as making fun of wondy or mem or adler or g-man for posting something. Its just plain fun to piss them off. If they want a real discussion, they can start one using their own mind and not hiding behind someone else.
