On the disunity of our country

I spent most of the summer out of the political realm. I had to, for the bickering, the fighting, and my resident troll was getting to me. Sure, I posted a news link on washingtonrox every now and then, but my real blogging this summer was at my baseball blog, Church of Baseball. It was great to write about something I love without namecalling or arguments. I know some of those who read Church of Baseball are on the right side of the political spectrum, but it didn't matter, because we were unified in our love for the game.

But now I am contemplating putting up political banners in the Church. I am afraid that by putting them up, I will alienate some readers who hadn't known my political persuasion. I know everyone is well aware that the guy who runs the most popular Reds blog, Red Reporter, is on SB Nation, a sports network that has something to do with Kos, so I'm not too worried about what most of them will have to say. It's the other blogs I'm worried about. In the blogosphere, automated vitriol is spewed at those who stand on the poles of the spectrum, and I certainly don't want people to stop reading Church of Baseball because I stand on the opposite pole.

Yesterday, I made a comment on a Republican's blog, Land of the Free, Home of the Brave. It was a simple "it's going to be an interesting election" type of comment, and she responded in a similar manner. This civil exchange was refreshingly wonderful and I wish there was more of it. It's funny, but it took baseball and the fun I've had with Reds fans this summer to make me step back and see how insane the division in our country is and how much I crave civility in American political discourse.

So you may think, why bother putting the banners up? Well, what about those undecideds? What if I can help Sherrod Brown and Jim Webb and thereby our country, by persuading a person or two that the two are worthy of investigation?

Why has it come to this?