In the end, I think the Swiss managed to teach me at least as much about our own country as they did about Switzerland...
...conservatism in Switzerland, such as it is, is quite different from conservativism in the U.S...
...while we Americans were sharply divided in each political debate that arose -- even to the point of heckling one another -- the Swiss came across as moderate, reasoned, conciliatory, and much more able to engage in balanced discussions. Though they disagreed very much amongst themselves about questions such as whether Switzerland should join the EU, they were far better at carrying out this disagreement in a reasoned and productive way.
...while in the end I thought quite highly of my Swiss colleagues, I can't help slightly fearing what they must have thought of us.
via Atrios, Denver post article on changing the tone in Washington:
When President Bush gave his first formal campaign speech as a candidate for re-election last week, he cited his efforts to curtail partisan rancor and "change the tone in Washington." ...
"We are trying to change the tones in the state capitals - and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship," said Grover Norquist, a leading Republican strategist, who heads a group called Americans for Tax Reform.
"Bipartisanship is another name for date rape," Norquist, a onetime adviser to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, said, citing an axiom of House conservatives.
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