perhaps, in a sense. when put that way, emotion was the larger line in the sand. emotion was a force behind the lack of reasoning and, without cool-headed reasoning, there could be very little discourse. it became personal when it shouldn't have been. it's politics and politics is a very dirty business. to succeed (in many avenues), cool heads are needed rather than hot headed passion. I'm not discounting being passionate about something but there's a line...in the sand, if you will. cross the line and one becomes easily manipulated and conquered. thanks for the thread. it helped me reflect on the whole phenomena.