“Sanity is a many splendored thing” It amazes me how completely separated two people can be on an issue. Two people who, otherwise, have so much else in common. But get onto a topic of political, or religious, or moral significance, and – wow- unbridgeable chasm….. I had a notion once of folks being comprised of lots of layers… like plywood. Only a lot more layers. And most people have almost all the layers in common. On, let’s say 99.9 percent of all the layers, it eas...y enough to come to a comfortable understanding…. But there are those few little layers in which the disconnect is so profound and insurmountable that, at that level, both parties literally think the other is insane. This seems to be the most interesting an engaging level to focus on because it is almost all we really deal with. Let’s say I, a died the wool progressive, am standing at the entrance to the Grand Canyon with a dude that is as staunch a conservative as they come…. In that instance we can relate on so many things. The trip there. The awesome surroundings, kids, relatives, lines, costs, and the quality of the peanuts we bought…, whatever. But if we venture into the layer if politics, or religion, or climate changes, or the presidency, or taxis, or guns, or race, or borders…. “Katie bar the door…” We both know that. It is one of the defining characteristics of our time. That we, at a certain level, will absolutely, and irreconcilably, disagree. What a strange thing this is. What a waste of all the rest of our commonality. Maybe we will tear ourselves apart as a nation for these divisions. Maybe it will get so bad we war between ourselves. That doesn’t see so far out of the question to me. But if we do…, I wonder what they will say in a thousand years…. I wonder if the issues we find so compelling will look sane in a perspective of lapsed time.