There was a site, not too dissimilar to this one, called The Republican Underground that I used to love. Obviously the focus of that site was different, but like this site there were a core group of about 10 guys and gals that made for some really interesting discussions. Incidentally, they are all far less Republican and much more Tea Party/Libertarian types and most of them are very successful in their real lives, which only adds to the discussion. Anyway, the TRU site went away, but by that time several of us had exchanged e-mail addresses and we keep the discussion alive just via e-mail threads. I have met several of them face to face and have never been disappointed by the quality of their friendship - not unlike the folks here that I have had the honor of meeting face to face.
So in short, I do think some of the political site have value. The trick is finding the right ones.
P.S. If any of ya'll want to be added to the e-mail thread, please PM me. Sometimes we go for a few weeks with nothing, then like last night and tonight we get into a wildly compelling discussion on a topic of the day. Lately it has obviously been Obamacare.