It's important to remember that Bush Derangement Syndrome on the left - comparing him to Hitler, calling him a terrorist and a tyrant - preceded Obama Derangement Syndrome on the right.

I believe that the far-right and the far-left can be equally insane - but there's no question that in the first years of the Obama administration, the far-right has been far crazier. In part, this comes from parties being out of power - without the responsibility of governing to ground them, the activists and the ideologues take over.

The two parties are still more polarized than ever before and the rise of partisan media is an important reason for it.

Right now, politics follows the rules of talk radio - using conflict, tension, fear, and resentment to find new recruits.

First, I think more Americans need to declare their independence from partisan politics on both sides. The more that Americans declare their independence, the more the parties will have to compete for their votes using reason rather than the hateful appeals.

The American people are smart. They've gotten sick of the predictable hyperpartisan talking points and canned anger.

When people tap into this politics of resentment, it usually ends ugly.