A practice I would most certainly support is thinking out loud about what it means to be a passionate and well-reasoned American.
The most boring people I know are the people who are easily labelled as "the right" or "the left". You know where conversations with them will end up. (Every. God. Damned. Time.)
Call me an asshole but I don't want to talk to people like that.
Hell... Sometimes I am people like that.
And sometimes, I am a person who listens well and asks "why". And when I hear something that makes sense when looked at from multiple directions, from someone who has high believability on a topic, I will let it weigh upon me and marinate.
I have sometimes discovered that people haven't fully thought out the things they mouth assertively when they have to stop to define the "why" out loud to someone whom they hold in high regard. It can be a gift to the speaker.
Heh... Maybe I should talk to "people like that".