DougR: in just a short response, I am fully aware that many people on this board have closed minds. However, as you are the only Republican on the board that I've noticed (their might be others that have been less in-your-face about it that I failed to see), and your arguments have been mostly presented in at least a mildly offensive manor (your last post mostly an exception, although I felt the assumption you made of my reasoning was made in something of an accusatory manor) has not given many of these people much opportunity to show any closed-mindedness. As well... I feel everything goes in percentages. I think people are more likely to accept ideas that they like, and less likely to accept ideas that they don't like. The more an idea offends them, the less likely it is the be accepted. But those are percentages... X% chance of accepting the idea. There will always be ideas that get through. I just feel by minimizing the offensiveness and attacks, ideas are transmitted, criticized, revised, and accepted with less bias. As you pointed out, there are many other things that effect biases as it is: getting news from only sources that are liberal, or from interacting and discussing such things primarily with people who are conservative (as happened mostly here, as you're a very small minority).