the_gneech | Respect For Your Opponent? (repost)

My bud

hantamouse is a man who, as a rule, diligently avoids making deep pronouncements when other people might hear them. However, in this particular instance, I think he bears repeating:

Respect For Your Opponent?

Do you agree or disagree with this:
"Anyone who opposes my ideals is some degree of evil and/or stupid, therefore I do not have to respect them or their opinions."

Or how about:
"If I had the opportunity, I would impose the laws I believe in on the entire nation, even if the majority of people disagree with them."

No matter what you believe or how strongly, keep in mind that a very large portion of the country doesn't agree. Can you find it within yourself to respect that? can you support, or even seek, a solution that isn't what you really want, but most of Them can live with?

Now that the congress is split, our representatives have two choices, Compromise, or Lose.
I fully expect many of them to choose Lose, loudly and obnoxiously.

How will you choose?

—hantamouse

Edit: It's worth noting here that on some level there has to be a fundamental willingness on both parts to live and let live. When the proposition being floated is "[group] should not be considered human beings," for instance, then compromise is not really feasible. When we're talking about things like economic policy or what to have for breakfast, compromise is just dandy.

-The Gneech