America sees breakdown in civility | KC Star

[Ediacara]

Posted on Sun, Aug. 17, 2003

America sees breakdown in civility

By DICK POLMAN
Knight Ridder Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA - President Bush has an eye on the history books -- he hopes that the America of 2003 will be remembered as a kinder, gentler era.

Here is what he says on the White House Web site:

"I hope (schoolchildren) will read that our country and our politicians were able to discuss differences in a civil way; that there was not a lot of anger in the political process," and that political rivals were still able to "respect each other."

Nice try.

From Washington to California, both parties are increasingly waging the political equivalent of total war. Elections are no longer respected as the final word. Weapons of last resort are now routinely deployed.

In short, says nonpartisan Texas analyst Bruce Buchanan, "we are witnessing quantum leaps in the breakdown of civility...and this is bound to increase people's sense of alienation from the political process."

More at the Kansas City Star

[ThoughtCriminal]

1. Frankly, it is more like...

genocide rather than total war.

[cprise]

2. Ooops, from the headline

...I thought this was going to be about our treatment of Iraq.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Ha ha. Who's crying for PC now, eh?

PC was just another form of civility. It's gone. Winning is all that's important. At least, that's what we've learned from the Republicans.

[cprise]

12. You are so right

What is often called 'PC' is just a value system's shorthand for civil behavior and mutual respect.

[maha]

4. It's just the politicians.

New Yorkers proved during the blackout that civility is alive and well in the population.

[Fovea]

5. This is just now becoming news?

We have been heading to civil war at a gallop, and they just now are noticing?

[zonmoy]

6. uncivility

perhaps it is simply that our civilization is finally collapsing.

[pizzathehut]

7. Good or bad... hmmmmm...

I mean I like it when politicians sometimes take off the gloves. That means they are at their most honest and show their true colors. All the biggest debates are fake anyways. Questioned are laid out ahead of time, and answers carefully prepared by their consulatants.

But really compared to other countries we are still pretty nice. I saw pictures of women in the Taiewan parliament practically in a cat fight!

[Booberdawg]

8. Well the good news in this ..

"President Bush has an eye on the history books ..."

... it's about time he cracked open a history book.

[placton]

9. This is so typical

to blame "both parties" when the GOP is to blame

[w4rma]

10. Yup. That's their MO. (n/t)

filibuster 4 judges after Republicans use every trick in the book to block over a hundred of Clinton's judges and:

• In the U.S. Senate, Democrats are routinely refusing to confirm Bush's court nominees, because they see them as too conservative. Democrats are using the filibuster, a once-rare tactic that was never intended as a weapon for killing appointments solely on the grounds of ideological disagreement.

[meow2u3]

11. It's 100% the fault of neo-Confederate radical rightists!!!!

They're the ones who started this trend of overturning the will of the people, imposing their dictatorial will on the people instead. Neo-Confederates hate democracy; they hate freedom, although they're the ones who yell the loudest about their own freedom; they hate the idea that all humans are created equal, a right given by our Creator, which no one can arbitrarily take away.

Neo-Confederates, whether they hail from the South, North, East, or West, are Public Enemy #1--the main menace to American society, the prime terrorists who literally get away with mass murder under right-wing regimes!!! Guess who they blame for their acts of terrorism: Hollywood, the Northeast, and intellectuals, all who see through their treasonous pseudo-patriotism.

[g_w_blaaarg]

13. I have to ask

Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a nonpartisan California analyst who has heard such talk, lamented: "The way things are heading in this state, we could wind up with a Governor of the Month Club. It's more civilized to watch world team wrestling."

Ummm..."world team wrestling"?

I think she probably means tag team wrestling, but come on, if your going to use professional wrestling as a catch-all example of American uncivility (valid as it may be), at least try to get the term correct.

That said, anybody know if there's any video floating around of the C-span feed of the Ways and Means Committee scuffle? I've just got to hear Pete Stark call somebody a "fruitcake" on the House floor.


Waiting for the Dem's to start a babyface comeback,

g_w_blaaaarg