People Don't Change.

Here's the thing --  people talk about how nobody really changes their mind in politics. They'll find a reason to defend "their" guy (or gal) for things they find inexcusable in someone from the opposition party. Republicans find things about Hillary Clinton (or, really, anybody named Clinton) inexcusably sleazy, potentially criminal and absolutely horrendous -- and yet, shrugged off scandal after scandal with the Bush administration. There's so many examples of this in politics that to make a list would be pure folly.

But it's not nearly exclusive to politics. People don't change their opinions on things they care about without some major event that makes such change inevitable. Look at religion - people who are faithful about their religion find ways to shrug off the hypocrisy of holding Muslims to the letter of the Koran, assuming that any Muslim adheres to every page of the Koran -- while admitting that much of the New Testament is outdated and more of an allegory than a specific ethos for day-to-day life.

It happens in sports, too. I would loathe Draymond Green if he played for the Lakers, or any opponent of the Warriors. But he's my guy, so I love him. I will defend Barry Bonds as the greatest hitter of his generation - but I despise Roger Clemens, who is essentially the pitching version of Bonds.

People don't change. I'm not going to root for the Dodgers or Cowboys anytime soon, I'm not going to suddenly find faith in my or anyone else's religion and I'm not ever going to find it reasonable to vote for Donald J. Trump, who is easily the most embarrassing national candidate for office in my lifetime. (How the Republicans have made Sarah Palin only the 2nd most embarrassing is pretty remarkable.)

But ... not to get all hippy-dippy here, but imagine a world if people really were open to hearty debate, to in-depth conversations about the issues that we differ on. Imagine that, and more so, imagine if the people making their points were reasonable and measured. Imagine discourse, where someone could try and make a rational point about a political theory you abhor. That would be ... sort of great, right?

It's sadly almost funny to think about this happening. Imagine people talking about abortion, or immigration, or civil rights for disenfranchised groups, or really any big issue. It can't happen. It's so sad, but it seemingly not just won't happen, it can't happen.