I think what's been lost in much of our current dialogue is that even if you disagree, you have to acknowledge the disagreement for what it is rather than acting as if your side is the only side there is and anyone who thinks differently is an idiot to be turned into a strawman and blown to bits. Forget knocking it down, we obliterate our strawmen these days.
There is such an urge to just reinvent a person who disagrees with us on some point into a complete monster embodying everything we hate...