Paul Saffo complained about the American taboo against talking politics at dinner and how it stifles our much needed political discourse. See "Talking politics: The American people must be at the table", Star Tribune, 2011-08-09, originally published as "Americans should talk about politics more", San Francisco Chronicle, 2011-08-07
Some of my favorite lines from his essay are:
"Political conversation is not welcomed at American dinner tables in no small part because most Americans have no idea what they are talking about."
"It dismays me when politicians are accused of 'flip-flopping,' because I expect my representatives to be intellectually flexible and willing to change their position based on what they learn."
And he quoted John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?"
