And, yes, Olbermann too.

In an extraordinary interview on Friday night, Bill Moyers taught us all a lesson on how to have a dialogue with those whose political views contrast sharply with our own.  Extraordinary not necessarily in terms of subject matter or memorability, but rather, in terms of tone and civility.

His guest was Richard Brookhiser, who, in 1969, at the age of 15, wrote an essay critical of the protests at his high school against Richard Nixon and the Vietnam war.  He sent that essay to William F. Buckley, editor of The National Review, and it ended up on the cover of that magazine.

At one time, Brookhiser was Buckley's hand-picked successor to lead the magazine, a decision which Buckley later rescinded because he felt that Brookhiser lacked "executive flair".  (And, watching the Brookhiser segment, I'd have to agree.  He is very low-key, and has nowhere near the charisma that Buckley had.)

Brookhiser is an accomplished journalist and historian, prolific author, and winner of the 2008 National Humanities Medal.  I would never expect to see the likes of him guesting on Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity.  He's too smart and he's not interested in shouting matches.

These two men, at opposite ends of the political spectrum, managed to have a civil, even congenial conversation for nearly half an hour, on subjects ranging from Buckley and The National Review, to the role of government and the conservative movement in general, to medical marijuana, to 9/11, to the legacy of George W. Bush, to Sarah Palin.

You can read the transcript, or watch the video, HERE. 

For anyone who regularly watches/listens to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann, the conversation might have seemed incredibly boring, which is a shame, as we need this kind of dialogue more than ever right now.

I found myself disagreeing several times with Brookhiser during the course of the interview, and I'm sure Moyers did as well.  But voices were never raised, no one was looking for a "gotcha" moment, and there was clearly an atmosphere of respect at the table.

Thanks, Bill Moyers, for showing us how it should be done.