Yes, I call her Patty. Not that we’ve ever met. But that’s how things go in the ‘Wood. Yes, I call it the ‘Wood. Or I did just now, for the first time. No one else does that and I should stop.

What Ms. Heaton is saying in her post is something I have written about before: while the divide between left and right here is pretty deep, we’re all actually quite civil about it. Patty’s relationship with her friend Janet is like my own with my sometimes writing partner Danny, who is terrifyingly liberal, but very capable of having a conversation with me that doesn’t end in tears or bloodshed. He’s just very wrong about politics and thinks the same about me.

Where the divide does come into play is in the actual product of the industry. If your name doesn’t rhyme with Del Bibson, good luck trying to get a major studio or network to support your even vaguely right-leaning project. Can anyone imagine a 4 hour miniseries extolling the heroism of Ronald Reagan and his administration? Of course not. But poke fun, and you move to the front of the line.

Meanwhile, my family and I visited the Reagan Library here in Simi Valley yesterday, and it was just first-rate and very moving.