In his latest column, Michael Gerson posits a political conflict between “the Ugly Party” and “the Grown-Up Party.” The former is made up of shouters: people who compare their opponents to Hitler and wish them dead. About the latter he writes: “The Grown-Up Party, in my experience, is more like a seminar at the Aspen Institute — presentation by David Broder, responses from E.J. Dionne Jr. and David Brooks — on the electoral implications of the energy debate.”

I kept waiting for Gerson to acknowledge that this Grown-Up Party has some characteristic vices as well, and that perhaps our choices should not be limited to these two. Waiting in vain.