Political banter?

Okay, first off I have to say how much I hate politics...always have and probably always will. There is something about political banter that never sits well...two heads trying to butt against each other...with no real progress. I hate the contention, the frustration and the absolutely stupid circles that are run with no progress.
But as the political scene has been hard to ignore, I find myself grateful for the choice and ability to say these things. I read an article by Orson Scott Card a couple weeks back on tolerance and how it is SO misunderstood. People cry for tolerance, or even demand it, yet they miss the whole point.
Tolerance does not mean that I have to agree with you or even like you...it means that we peaceably agree to disagree....it's not conformity or uniformity. You have an opinion, I have an opinion, and that's okay....because of the great country we live in we have that freedom to have an opinion and shouldn't have to feel like we are less or more because of it. It simply is.
Perhaps that's why the political scene is so unappealing to me. I simply don't understand how people get a high from trying to force or 'persuade' their beliefs on anyone else. Contentiousness and heated but getting nowhere. What a waste of time.
Despite my wariness of all this, I am, however, so grateful to have the beliefs and values I do. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this country was divinely inspired and instituted, and although I am skeptical with the current political scenery and the direction in which democracy is going, I know that these beliefs and values which make up each of us as individuals can either unify us or divide us depending on how we choose to 'tolerate' each other.