debate

I have been reading an excellent debate between two editors of two of my favorite dead tree mags, National Review and The New Republic. TNR is not typically representative of my personal opinion, but at least it is typically well presented. I will link to it here;
http://www.opinionduel.com
I have engaged in lots of debates with gentleman/ladies of different political stripes, and regardless of how smart or ignorant, well written or poorly thought out, the debate almost always collapses under the weight of the semantics of the argument instead of the principles.
Very seldom do you actually get down to the red meat of the disagreement because the misunderstanding of the definitions of the words and labels, or the context in which the words or labels are used causes such a stumbling block as to alter the perceived premise of the argument.
Regardless of how clearly one states something, one cannot force another to comprehend it.