I suspect liberals would have an easier time in certain debates if they'd stop playing games and just be honest.  Two examples:

Abortion.  I'm listening to an interview that Michael Medved is doing with an abortion proponent.  Rather than admitting that abortion is not a good thing, she's dancing around the question, trying to infer that abortions are neither good nor bad.  This is giving Medved a perfect opportunity to accuse her of obfuscation, making her look shifty.

One of the biggest problems with contemporary American politics is that ideologues on both sides are afraid to give an inch, unwilling to admit that their solutions are not perfect.  Of course, there are no perfect answers to difficult issues, but partisan sheep are afraid to admit it.

For someone who is considered "pro-choice", it seems to me that this would be a more intellectually honest, and more effective approach:

"Yes, it's fair to say that an embryo is human life.  It would be intellectually dishonest for me to say that such an organism, which is DNA-specific, is not.  However, it is my opinion that the first few weeks of a pregnancy are a reasonable time to end the pregnancy because embryo or fetus is not viable.  I would also argue that the best way for us to minimize abortions is to go after the real problem, which is demand.  Let's work together, let's mobilize our considerable passions and abilities, and reduce demand.  But let's not take away the ability for a woman to choose to terminate."

Gay Marriage.  This whole debate is simply absurd to me.  I'm an agnostic.  I admit to not having The Answer when it comes to why and how we are here.  I therefore can't relate to the argument that God doesn't want people to "be gay".  It's also quite clear to me that homosexuality is a regularly occuring physiological anomaly, a genetic mis-fire that happens now and then.

I'm afraid I don't look at gays as a symbol of the decline of our species.  Yet, at the same time, I don't agree with the way the gay lobby is pushing "gay marriage".  Is it not clear that many people hold a deep reverence for the term "marriage"?

(Quick sidenote:  The term "The Sanctity of Marriage" doesn't seem to hold a lot of water, what with a 40-50% divorce rate, but that's another issue)

Instead, the American Left tries to paint homosexuality as "perfectly normal" and won't give an inch about the term "marriage".  Why is this?

That's another example of the American Left fighting a reasonable battle unreasonably.  Here's a more intellectually honest approach:

"I admit that homosexuality is not the way the human species was built to function.  A quick look at the physical makeups of males and females makes that pretty clear.  However, homosexuality is not some kind of dangerous condition that causes people to act in ways that are dangerous to others.  Further, homosexuals are a fully functioning, perfectly valuable group in society and deserve to be treated accordingly.  Allowing a gay couple to be enrolled in a group health care plan will cause exactly zero damage to anyone else, anywhere.  Let's call it a Civil Union so that we can all get on with our lives."

Honesty is the best policy, folks.  Stop playing games and you may see better results.

I know this blog is on TownHall.com, and I suspect virtually everyone who may read it will disagree with several things I've posted.  This article, without a doubt.  But I'll keep trying to promote reasonable thought, behavior and communcation as long as I'm here.