We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

One tell-tale sign of a Wingnut: they always confuse partisanship with patriotism.

We cannot hope to change human nature. There will always be cranks and conspiracy theorists among us. But we can try to improve things - we don't have to accept the debasement of civil discourse or civic decline. We can take steps to ensure that the lunatic fringe remains on the fringe and stops bleeding into the base and then poisoning the mainstream

Politics follows the lines of physics: every action creates an equal and opposite reaction.

We need to punch back against the extremes of both the left and the right and define the terms of the debate ourselves.

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

A wingnut is someone on the far-right wing or far-left wing of the political spectrum - the professional partisans, the unhinged activists and the paranoid conspiracy theorists. They're the people who always try to divide rather than unite us.