Was busy dropping facts about the current political situation (actual facts backed up with sources) and stated that I thought that the only way to correct current political corruption and overreach was to let the current administration continue to do what they're doing because a.) They're going to anyway and b.) people have short memories and yeah, no matter how you feel about Trump et al, they are abusing things - but then that much power shouldn't have been consolidated to just a few people. Been that way for decades... but anyway...
Dude I've known for like 5 years comes back with general insults to my intelligence and threats to our friendship. In short, acting the exact polarizing way I was just pointing out among the more radical left and right. It was "instant REEE, just add water" reaction.
First, if you're going on about someone's intelligence, it's probably because you have inadequacies in that department yourself. Most especially if the other person never brings that up.
Second, don't ever threaten me because I'll follow through because I'm going to take you at your word. Our friendship must not have meant that much because that's what he was threatening. But, yeah, Imma take you at your word. Threaten to "beat me up" or kill me? Better knock me out with the first punch and, yeah, Imma come after you. Threaten to tell someone something about me to blackmail me? I'll tell them myself and not let you know so you can be seen as the evil moron you are. Things like that.
So, yeah, no more conversing. Just "I hate you and everything you stand for and I don't like what you're saying so you can't say anything."
And all he had to do was say something civil instead like "I don't want to have this conversation" or "I can't agree with you and I don't think we're going accomplish anything but an argument here" or something like that. I mean, geez, I'd have actually respected him for that. But as it stands, if I ever see him in town, he needs to pretend he doesn't know me.
Where is all this stupidity coming from???
People have been killing each other over disagreements for as long as there have been people. The current failure of discourse is nothing new.
As for the seemingly sudden change in Dude there are two options.
One: He has taken [name] into his heart.
There's a damn, dirty trick used by preachers and politicians. They get some poor sucker to make [name] part of their identity. After that any criticism of [name] is an attack on the sucker's identity.
Two: Television and Modern Schools.
Both encourage non-interactive absorption of information, and schools go further in rewarding unprocessed regurgitation of that information. The situation has become so bad that there is a very successful genre of video games that simulate interpersonal interaction.