This is precisely how American liberalism impoverishes society. It finds a disagreement, labels those on one side "divisive," and applies a prescription that leaves people feeling even more divided. To which the answer is-surprise!-more of the same.

That's partly because the tolerance that liberalism emphasizes is not the tolerance that operates in our day-to-day lives, but an abstraction based on the incessant assertion of political rights. Back when Mr. Bloomberg was discovering his inner Erasmus, for example, he found himself asked to weigh in on plans by a Florida minister to burn the Quran on 9/11. "In a strange way, I'm here to defend his right to do that," Mr. Bloomberg answered.