Topics of common interest to the "thinking" left and right.

I'm not either, FYI.

However, it's clear people polarize. For example: Give half of a cafeteria red shirts and half blue. Guess who eats with who? Yup, the like shirts group up and polarize! This is a fundamental aspect of human nature. And, it's being used against us with stunning effectiveness.

This includes the typical political, economic and constitutional based subjects. The "classic liberal" values freedom, yet today's tea party member is railing against excessive regulation (restrictions on freedom). There is clearly common ground there! And, more than many would admit.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that all people from the opposite political spectrum are diametrically opposed to all of your views. If, for example, you don't follow lock step with your political party, it's likely that you are thinking individual and will be able to recognize the good within the opposition.

Here is, for example, a quote by Milton Friedman that true leftists can really embrace: "Every friend of freedom must be as revolted as I am by the prospect of turning the United States into an armed camp, by the vision of jails filled with casual drug users and of an army of enforcers empowered to invade the liberty of citizens on slight evidence."

While that is a bit of a "hard core" example, it still goes to prove that there is some serious common ground. It's my belief that our common interests are truly grounded in freedom.