A New Chance for Civility ?

[Exotix]

First thoughts: A new chance for civility ?

Does Saturday’s tragedy in Arizona offer a new chance for civility, or simply a pause ? ....


Today

First Read - First thoughts: A new chance for civility?



... But will the kumbaya last ?

... Everyone needs to look the mirror -- combative conservatives, vociferous liberals, and even the news media …

Does the tragedy haunt Palin, if she decides to run for higher office? … BCS politics makes the New York Times’ front page.




*** A new chance for civility ?

President Obama called to change the way American politics is practiced when he ran for president.

So, too, did John Boehner and House Republican leaders when they campaigned to take control of Congress.

But those calls were drowned out by the usual political shouting, yelling, and threats.

Tragically, however, the shooting Saturday at a congressional event in Arizona -- killing six and wounding 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) -- now has the real ability to do what these elected officials haven’t been able to do: usher in a more civil era in politics and, at a minimum, simply start a SERIOUS conversation about the awful tone.

The Republican-led House has canceled all legislative activity this week, including the bill to repeal the health-care law.

Obama, meanwhile, has called for a moment of silence today at 11:00 am ET and has postponed his Tuesday trip to Schenectady, NY. And at Boehner’s direction, Congress will also observe that moment of silence.



*** But will it all last ?

Yet National Journal’s Reinhard writes, “[W]hile the take-no-prisoners rhetoric may subside for a while, it’s unclear whether any political truce would last longer than the temporary cooling-off periods after Oklahoma City and 9-11.

There's not much interest in kumbaya in a 24/7 media culture that thrives on the latest conflict.

‘I'm hoping that people would reflect on some of the language that they use and realize that honorable people can disagree, but I'm not optimistic,'’ said John Weaver, a Republican advisor to former presidential nominee John McCain. ‘We don't reflect on much of anything in this society.'”



*** Everyone needs to look in the mirror:

In fact, the finger-pointing has already begun.

Liberals have blamed the overheated Tea Party/conservative rhetoric for contributing today’s vitriolic political climate (and there’s little question that the past two years have been worse than at any time since the 1960s).

Conservatives, meanwhile, have started to aggressively push back against that critique (and it’s clear that the shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was so disturbed and outside the mainstream of either political party).

But everyone -- combative conservatives, vociferous liberals and, yes, the media -- needs to take a hard look in the mirror, because we’ve all contributed to a political environment where opponents just don’t disagree, they de-humanize each other; they just don’t question those in power, they de-legitimize them; and we in the media just play along, giving attention -- not condemnation -- to the extremes.

And what's happening in the new media (blogosphere and Twitterverse), where each side is trying to find a high horse to climb or find anything to grasp to prove their own point, is awful.

Instead of trying to prove that one person's form of toxic political rhetoric is more damaging than another's doesn't lead us in the direction of cleaning up this cesspool of hateful political speech that's become more mainstream.



*** The spotlight on Palin:

Of course, this all brings us to Sarah Palin.

What took place on Saturday in Arizona could end up haunting her, if she decides to run for higher office.

More than any other public actor, Palin -- the 2008 GOP VP nominee -- has embodied today’s combative political rhetoric (“Don’t retreat, instead reload), and her “target” list to defeat Democratic members who voted for the health-care bill (including Giffords) has received a considerable amount of attention since Saturday.

As Politico’s Martin writes, “Whether she defends, explains or even responds at all to the intense criticism of her brand of confrontational politics could well determine her trajectory on the national scene—and it’s likely to reveal the scope of her ambitions as well.”



*** Condoning violent imagery or language isn’t responsible:

Here’s a final point we want to make about Saturday’s shooting: No responsible leader condones violence, but simply saying you don't condone violence and allowing your colleagues or allies to use violent imagery and language without speaking out against it isn't being responsible -- whether you are a Republican or a Democrat.

We're going to make our own effort here at First Read to avoid gun and war images when talking about politics.

To political professionals, the use of these images has no impact; the problem is when these images are digested by those who are already a bit unstable. No one is calling for censorship, only responsibility.






President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama observe a moment of silence with White House staff members on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., today.

[Bill]

Civility would be nice, just for the sake of, well, civility.

Vetting ideas based on logic and reason would be nice too.

But we should be doing this because it is the right thing to do, not as a response to some idiot gunning down people.

The Patriot Act, and the creation of the TSA demonstrates exactly what is wrong with kneejerk reactions to violence. Sometimes, the solution is worse than the problem.

[ChasC5]

Shame on anyone who said they didn’t see this coming.

What exactly is the purpose of bringing a Gun (loaded or not) to a Political Event ... yea that's right, I said that over a year ago!

[Bill]

Originally Posted by ChasC5

Shame on anyone who said they didn’t see this coming.

What exactly is the purpose of bringing a Gun (loaded or not) to a Political Event ... yea that's right, I said that over a year ago!

The purpose of bringing a loaded gun to a political event is the same as bringing a gun to a restaurant, or while walking down a dark street at night. Safety.

It is a libertarian idea, you know, taking care of yourself and not hoping that the state will take care of you.

Perhaps you aren't familiar with Suzanna Hupp?

http://www.youtube.com/v/M1u0Byq5Qis?fs

Edit: I'm going to figure out how to embed you tube. BRB

[ChasC5]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

The purpose of bringing a loaded gun to a political event is the same as bringing a gun to a restaurant, or while walking down a dark street at night. Safety.

It is a libertarian idea, you know, taking care of yourself and not hoping that the state will take care of you.

Perhaps you aren't familiar with Suzanna Hupp?

http://www.youtube.com/v/M1u0Byq5Qis?fs

Edit: I'm going to figure out how to embed you tube. BRB

So College Class-Room are fair game?

[Bill]

Originally Posted by ChasC5

So College Class-Room(s) are fair game?

Well, we have something to look back on to decide if that would be a good idea. Remember Virginia Tech, and the crazy mofo with a gun, running around gunning people down because there was no one equipped to stop him? Remember Columbine?

Come to think of it, a good citizen with a gun would have really been nice to have at EVERY school shooting.

I disagree with CCW just on principle (CCW is a right, not a privilege to be granted by government), but even I might be OK with some kind of CCW license to carry on campus.

The thing is, the liquor store robber, the school shooter, the political rally shooter....they already have their guns and couldn't care less what law you pass. What are you going to do about it when you happen to be IN that liquor store, school or political rally when things go down?

Some folks think there should be other options besides run, duck or pray.

The option to turn America into one big airport with Big Brother groping everyone is not paletable, at least to me, and shouldn't be paletable to any American who believes in freedom, liberty and privacy.

[Joecooool]

I listened to the first couple of minutes of Rush's show today hoping I would hear him say that maybe its time to tone things down a bit. Not only did he not say that, he started in saying that it was the lefts fault for allowing movies and rap lyrics to go uncensored.

Guess he chose his pocket book over the nations best interest.

Too many people make too much money keeping the two sides hating each other.

Want civility? Turn off the radio. Turn off the political analyst. Read the news and form your own opinion.

[Exotix]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

I listened to the first couple of minutes of Rush's show today hoping I would hear him say that maybe its time to tone things down a bit. Not only did he not say that, he started in saying that it was the lefts fault for allowing movies and rap lyrics to go uncensored.

Guess he chose his pocket book over the nations best interest.

Too many people make too much money keeping the two sides hating each other.

Want civility? Turn off the radio. Turn off the political analyst. Read the news and form your own opinion.

The Drugster ... saddest lump of blubber I've ever seen ....

[ShawnZR-1]

Civility??? A deranged mental lunatic shoots someone and everyone cries for civility???

How about Obizmal enciting the leftists to take to the street and confront anyone against him?

How about Piglosi shouting against the conservatives and decreeing "We won, sit down and shut up!"

Civility? **** that! They declared war on the conservatives... and guess what? WE HAVE FOUGHT BACK! We too back the House and we'll do the same for the Senate!!!

No, I don't endorse shooting anyone at all! That's cowedly! I do however endorse holding a mirror up and showing the liberals what they're all about! You want civility? Then ACT CIVIL!

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by ShawnZR-1

Civility??? A deranged mental lunatic shoots someone and everyone cries for civility???

How about Obizmal enciting the leftists to take to the street and confront anyone against him?

How about Piglosi shouting against the conservatives and decreeing "We won, sit down and shut up!"

Civility? **** that! They declared war on the conservatives... and guess what? WE HAVE FOUGHT BACK! We too back the House and we'll do the same for the Senate!!!

No, I don't endorse shooting anyone at all! That's cowedly! I do however endorse holding a mirror up and showing the liberals what they're all about! You want civility? Then ACT CIVIL!

That's about it, really, proof is in reading the works of marx, cloward, piven, etc....bottom up, top down, create problem, inside out.....

[Platoface]

Civility is defined by the left as "Stop challenging our ideology and STFU"

GFY lefties.

[ChasC5]

Originally Posted by Exotix

The Drugster ... saddest lump of blubber I've ever seen ....

Come-On

The Right are such Hippocrates, they want to Wave The American Flag, God Bless America, Support The Troops and Bring Guns the Capital, and overthrow their Government; all at the same time.

I say go ahead … I’ll put my Money on the United States Air Force, Navy, Army and Marines over Tea Baggers any day.

[Exotix]

Originally Posted by ShawnZR-1

Civility??? A deranged mental lunatic shoots someone and everyone cries for civility???

How about Obizmal enciting the leftists to take to the street and confront anyone against him?

How about Piglosi shouting against the conservatives and decreeing "We won, sit down and shut up!"

Civility? **** that! They declared war on the conservatives... and guess what? WE HAVE FOUGHT BACK! We too back the House and we'll do the same for the Senate!!!

No, I don't endorse shooting anyone at all! That's cowedly! I do however endorse holding a mirror up and showing the liberals what they're all about! You want civility? Then ACT CIVIL!

You must be from CFPR&C ... welcome to the world of reality ... I suspect when Palin calls on you to go on rampages you'll be the first right-wing zombie to cross a lib homes' threshold into a lib gunsight ... that's called civility and the law ...

[VITE1]

Originally Posted by ChasC5

Shame on anyone who said they didn’t see this coming.

What exactly is the purpose of bringing a Gun (loaded or not) to a Political Event ... yea that's right, I said that over a year ago!

YOur dear leader wants to bring one to a Knife fight.

“If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.” Barack Obama in July 2008

“I want you to argue with them and get in their face!” Barack Obama, September 2008

“Here’s the problem: It’s almost like they’ve got ...— they’ve got a bomb strapped to them and they’ve got their hand on the trigger. You don’t want them to blow up. But you’ve got to kind of talk them, ease that finger off the trigger.” Barack Obama on banks, March 2009

“I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!” Barack Obama on ACORN Mobs, March 2010

“We talk to these folks… so I know whose ass to kick.” Barack Obama on the private sector, June 2010

“A Republican majority in Congress would mean ‘hand-to-hand combat’ on Capitol Hill for the next two years, threatening policies Democrats have enacted to stabilize the economy.” Barack Obama, October 6, 2010

“We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us.” Barack Obama to Latinos, October 2010

[zsr22]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Well, we have something to look back on to decide if that would be a good idea. Remember Virginia Tech, and the crazy mofo with a gun, running around gunning people down because there was no one equipped to stop him? Remember Columbine?

Come to think of it, a good citizen with a gun would have really been nice to have at EVERY school shooting.

I disagree with CCW just on principle (CCW is a right, not a privilege to be granted by government), but even I might be OK with some kind of CCW license to carry on campus.

The thing is, the liquor store robber, the school shooter, the political rally shooter....they already have their guns and couldn't care less what law you pass. What are you going to do about it when you happen to be IN that liquor store, school or political rally when things go down?

Some folks think there should be other options besides run, duck or pray.

The option to turn America into one big airport with Big Brother groping everyone is not paletable, at least to me, and shouldn't be paletable to any American who believes in freedom, liberty and privacy.

Absolutely true. Especially the bold part.

[Exotix]

Originally Posted by Platoface

Civility is defined by the left as "Stop challenging our ideology and STFU"

GFY lefties.

Makes sense ... we've seen the right-wing paranoids now accusing Obama of trying to take over the world for the purpose of socialism/communism/national socilaist fascism for calling for healing and civility ...

That's why Palin did her blood libel on the day of the Tuscon memorial ... can't have the Tea Party tainted with that kind of shit ...