"Tolera[nce]"

With respect to Michael's friendly suggestion that I "get with it" -- First, I wish I were authentically old-school enough to smoke a pipe!  Then I could kick back, sport fraying tweed, drink Old Fashioneds, and complain about modernity full time.  =-)

Second, it says a lot about politics, and about the New York Times, that we are told by the Times, "Giuliani said that Republicans needed to tolerate dissenting views on abortion rights, gun control and gay rights if they wanted to retain the White House."  "Tolerate" means, apparently, "roll over entirely and abandon long-standing, winning positions in order to better align one's views with the editorial staff of the New York Times."

As someone who has not yet been able to kick the habit of watching the two parties' conventions, it strikes me that the GOP "tolerate[s] dissenting views" on these matters obsessively, and with a vengeance.  (Remember Arnold and Rudy in 2004?)  The Democrats, on the other hand . . . not so much.  I'm waiting for a Democratic presidential candidate to lecture his or her party's base -- with the Times' approval -- on the need to "tolerate dissenting" pro-life views, i.e., to nominate a strongly pro-life candidate.  . . .   I'm still waiting . . . .