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Keller @ Large: Why Are People Blindly Faithful To Political Parties?

BOSTON (CBS) - They say that you're never too old to learn new things, and boy is that ever true.

I've been around for a while now, and there are still some things I just do not understand. Manhattan Clam Chowder, for instance. Or pineapple on pizza.

And partisanship.

I get the theory behind why we have political parties – they help bring order to what would be an otherwise chaotic political process. And some of my dearest friends and family members are partisans, so it's nothing personal.

But I still don't get it.

Why would you accept ridiculous ideas and candidates just because they come from your party, or reflexively shun good ones because they come from the other side?

There was Bush Derangement Syndrome, featuring the absurd demonization of a decent man who doesn't look so bad in hindsight. Then there was Obama Derangement Syndrome, in which millions of Americans came to believe obvious lies about their president, and let those lies drive them insane.

And now we have Trumpism, a universe of myth, alternative-facts, internet rumors, and nonsense.

Freedom to think for ourselves may not be in the Bill of Rights, but it should be.

And I don't get it – why are we so eager to flush that right away, and with it any chance of knowing the truth?

Listen to Jon's commentary:

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