IMO it's because everyone is in a panic about the other side. One side believes that the other side is "grooming and sterilizing children" while the other side

IMO it's because everyone is in a panic about the other side. One side believes that the other side is "grooming and sterilizing children" while the other side believes that they are working to "replace democracy with fascism". In turn both sides get more extreme and work each other more into a frenzy as extremists on each side will in fact say outrageous shit. Abstract values like "free speech" get lost in the war. Edit: even on here we have a comment openly calling for fascism (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35950813 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35950813) and I'm sure others attacking the Christian roots of US society in comments here makes people on the other side who see that as the core of their value system feel equally threatened.