I don't hate US political discussions because I'm not interested in US politics. I hate US political discussions because I am interested in US politics. Politi

I don't hate US political discussions because I'm not interested in US politics. I hate US political discussions because I am interested in US politics. Politics produces bad discussion, pure and simple. People express poorly-supported opinions, use lousy arguments, and attack each other personally. And yet, since I'm interested in politics, I'll usually wind up reading them, and find myself annoyed every time someone whose opinions differ from mine uses a bad argument. It sets off my "Oh no, someone is wrong on the internet!" reflexes, and generally is a drag. Like it or not, this is a political thread. Democrat sympathisers will invaribly think this speech is anywhere from "pretty good" to "brilliant" while Republican sympathisers will think it's anything from "so-so hokey platitudes" to "awful". And if it had been given by a Republican president the opinions would almost certainly be reversed, making the entire thing a waste of time for everybody.