Gregory Graf and I were talking extremism within Republican politics. It was like nailing jelly on a wall. It’s like trying to nail jelly on a wall. You get it down and it just slides off in another direction. Let’s get started, shall we.

Greg started off by throwing a curveball. The whole label of “extremism”, he believes, is overdone. He says that being consistent about things such as small government or free markets does not make you extreme. This is like saying someone’s breakfast habit every morning makes them obsessed.

Here’s when it really gets hot. After a trip down the memory lane, we realized that today’s radicals were yesterday’s radicals. When voting was a sign of radicalism for women, do you remember? When fighting for civil liberties put you on FBI’s watch list? Greg explained that what people today call extreme might be common sense tomorrow.

But I stopped the nostalgia right there. While reminiscing about the past is fine, it’s not a good idea to ignore the elephant in your room, or the extremes within the party. It’s one thing to talk about lowering taxes, but it is quite another when you spread hate and encourage violence.

Greg agreed, but defended his position. He said that to paint the GOP as extremists because a few people were bad was not fair. This is like accusing musicians everywhere for the terrible “Bohemian Rhapsody” karaoke performance of your uncle.

We then waded in the murky media waters. Greg believed that mainstream media gave conservatives a bad deal, turning policy discussions into WWE fights.

How do we get out of this mess? Greg said that more banter between party members could bridge the divides. He called for GOP leaders to show extremists that they are not welcome in the home.

We didn’t resolve world peace, or find a way to get bipartisans on the same page about pizza toppings (why is pineapple such a divisive topic?). It did, however, highlight an important point: Extremism doesn’t always look as obvious as we would like.

There are some clear boundaries – violence and hate speech are not acceptable – but it is important to understand where people are coming from. What may seem like an extreme viewpoint from a distance is someone who’s clinging to their principles or their morning routine.

After our discussion with Gregory Graf about the extremes of Republican politics (or their lack), I came to a realization: Politics can be messy. Like trying-to-eat-a-sloppy-joe-on-a-rollercoaster messy. Even when we disagree about the subject, talking it out helps us to clean up this mess. Or at least ensures that we all wear bibs on our rides.

They’re peace of mind and day-savers. Let’s reward them with a medal in the shape of a key or promise to not giggle the next time they arrive with their mysterious belt of tools to save the day.