text: Actually, what's happening is that people no longer have the ability for critical thinking and debate.   This results in abject frustration and resentment, and the poorly equipped parties tend to lash out with terms like bigot, Nazi, racist, and so forth when they can't summon a rational rebuttal.   We are living in an intellectually impoverished, thin-skinned age, and what makes matters worse is that so many are under the thrall of a media that has given up any pretense of good journalism to grab at the public's attention.    The media does this for the sake of money, but the public thinks the media is the Voice of God, and trusts its every hysterical pronouncement as absolute truth. 
  
  But it's so much easier to say the problem is outside us, in "bullies."   Iyiyi.
  
  The progressives always see themselves surrounded by enemies.   And quite frankly, the Trads are little better.