This morning, I watched the thrilled throng of families and friends gather in Washington for the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln -- which should be unloading its crew as I type -- from the longest deployment of an aircraft carrier since Vietnam.

I'd been really, really concerned at what reception the troops would get -- after all, they were out there living and breathing the very thing that's got us all riled up. This war has done something hideous to America and to Americans: It's made people hate each other. For reasons both personal and political, this conflict in Iraq has polarized people into factions more angry than impassioned. There are vehement pro- and anti-war sides, and a small ambivalent group falling somewhere in the middle that's generally irritated with everybody. Some of this has to do with the fact that George W. Bush catalyzed the conflict and he's something of a controversial figure, in that people either support him or loathe him and few seem to fall anywhere in between. Regardless, though, this era has been one marked by more tension and divisiveness than any in my lifetime.

To contextualize this a little bit, my entire life, I've been apolitical to the point of deliberately avoiding choosing a side. Discussing politics makes me uncomfortable. I'm not well-informed enough to make cogent or coherent arguments, and I'm not bold enough to say anything that might be controversial. The truth is, I probably agree with both sides on a lot of issues, with little rhyme or reason as to why, other than gut instinct. No one side is right all the time. There are different ways of doing things, and sometimes, neither side necessarily has to be wrong.

But party politics seems to breed a lot of finger-pointing -- specifically, one side likes to yell and bluster that the other is insane, wrong, careless, foolish… the list goes on. True, not everyone with avowed left- or right-wing beliefs does this, but it’s far more common than I care to admit that I will hear, "He's a great guy, but he's a Republican, so of course I'd never even consider dating him," or, "If hear one more Democrat-biased news report…" or, "I would respect him a lot more if he wasn't Republican." I confess, I feel like Republicans bear the brunt of this, honestly, because it's a lot trendier to brand yourself a "liberal." Again, I'm not saying that all sworn Democrats are just in it for the label -- but if you're a Republican, and you admit it, you'd better bloody believe in it because most people are going to assume you're an anti-abortion Christian zealot with a penchant for putting guns in the home.

My parents are Republicans. So is my sister. And when I say that to people, the looks I get in return demand that I defend their intelligence. I get "tsk-tsk" noises and shaking heads, people staring at the tablecloth in disappointment. This galls me. I feel like I have to convince people that my parents and sister aren't gay-bashing nose-pickers who think women should be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. When really, they're just Americans, exercising their right to lean one way or another in a country that has prided itself on its liberties and worked hard to build a culture that shuns hatred. Politics, especially lately, perpetuates a dangerous snobbery, another convenient way to categorize people, to judge them and shuffle them off into neatly labeled little compartments.

Sometimes I don't understand why there can't be more tolerance in this regard. Look how far we've come with racism. And we fought a war to protect a person's right to be Jewish and not get executed. Oversimplified, yes, but this country fought against abject hatred then, only to -- I feel -- get caught up in more of it now.

Even writing this scares me. It may come across at gutless that I'm pointedly not picking a political party, and that I in fact run from doing so. And that may indeed be true. I might be a coward. I certainly have a strong fear of offending people, and I'm sure my political ambivalence stems a bit from that, in that I don't want to get into arguments with people because that's not my idea of a fun time. But I'm not judging anyone, truly, and I'm not trying to be gutless or to hide from anything. And I'm certainly not saying that all people with political views are automatically angry at everyone who disagrees with them. I'm just bothered, upset maybe, and trying to vent my frustration with a general vibe that makes me uncomfortable, because more often than not I hear snap judgments made about people based solely on whether they're with the Red or the Blue. Hey, if Mary Matalin and James Carville can not only meet in the middle, but have a happy marriage and children together, then it sure feels like more people should hear each other with respect and open hearts rather than closed-off minds.

There will always be pockets of people everywhere who hate others because of who they are and what they look like; I know this. But I feel, perhaps naively, like those groups are shrinking -- or at least quieting down, whereas this Republican vs. Democrat thing is getting bigger and more bloated and sweeping a lot of wonderful people up with it. I feel like we're trading vices here -- we can't discriminate based on gender or religion or ethnic background, but we can sure as hell spit on people who aren't in the same political wing as we are. It's substitute discrimination. There's less debate than there is, "You're an idiot."

Take religion. All of them have different ideas about what higher power is up there, and the degree to which he/she/they pull our strings. But we're not sitting here going, "If I hear one more Buddhist idiot go off about Nirvana…" or "She'd be a great girl if she didn't believe in Jesus." People have learned to respectfully disagree with each other, while recognizing that there doesn't have to be an absolute here. If Joe Blow wants to live his life believing in karma, and if my mother wants to believe that God's up there listening to her prayers, then it's okay -- those are lifestyles they've studied and chosen, and it's their right to live that way, especially if it brings them inner peace and happiness.

So it should go with politics. I do understand that the issues at stake here are national in scope, and cover everything from taxes to human rights. Hot-button topics, to be sure, and important ones. Someone's devout Hinduism doesn't affect U.S. pocketbooks the way tax policy does. But how much you want to pay in taxes, or how little, and what the trade-offs are on either side, is a deeply personal issue. It's someone's private choice, and I still maintain that it's not healthy to loathe someone else because their priorities -- the trade-offs they're willing to make by voting one way or another -- are different. Plus, the great thing about living here is that this nation will never going to be solely under one or the other umbrella; everyone's agenda will have its chance and the scales will forever tip back and forth like a see-saw.

And as with anything, certainly there are uneducated Republicans or Democrats out there, people who pick a label without really understanding everything it espouses. Hell, I'm as lapsed a Catholic as it gets, but if pressed I'd still identify myself as one. The difference is, no one hates me for it.

As such, I was worried about these men and women, some of whom are like Doug and joined the military for the college education it would pay for, but most of whom have chosen to commit their lives to defending America at all costs. Whether or not you agree with why they're out there, the fact remains that they're out there for us, and they deserve a loving welcome. The Vietnam veterans didn't get it, though, and this conflict seemed to have bred so much animosity in America that I wasn't sure these brave people would be treated warmly either.

The news this morning showed me different. And it made me happy to think that Doug might get the same kind of greeting when the USS Thach ports in San Diego next month. It made me feel hopeful, as if people have, in this instance, separated their beliefs from this situation and instead simply opened their hearts to soldiers who have chosen the tough and selfless career of putting their lives on the line so that we might still be free.

Thanks to everyone who's written me notes in support of running off to Europe. People's individual stories, all of them positive, have only made me more excited about the trip and confident that I'll be just fine going alone. I seriously can't wait; it's almost all I think about, but I'm forcing myself to ignore the urge to plan it right now -- well, partly because I'm at work and that would be a little inappropriate, but also because I have a script due that I'm pushing to finish by Friday, and the pleasant task of plotting my course across Europe is my reward for completing the damn thing and not getting fired.

And if anyone has any tips for this type of solo travel, or can't-miss places, or whatever-you-do-don't-go-there-or-stay-there warnings, I'd love to hear them.

Someone got here by searching for: PLASTIC RAPPING MACHINE Wishing: That I had a plastic rapping machine Watching: Passions, where Precious The Chimp just had a Dynasty fantasy where that theme song played in the background while she was dressed in pearls and a garish dress, lying on a chaise, being fanned by Evil Beth, her owner, while Hot Luis, the local cop she's in love with, fed her bananas. What is UP with that show? I know, it's insane. Two weeks ago, Precious had a fantasy where she and Luis did the tango while Evil Beth and her mother made them banana smoothes. You are deranged. Come on! It's entertainment! It's a soap parody. At least, I hope it is.