I have watched as this country is making a long slow decline into chaos, and it dawns on me why this is happening. Everything political has become personal. Insults and character assassination rule the day. Policy disagreements have become secondary, each side must paint the other as evil, with civility seen as a weakness. I don't know when it began or who started it, but it really doesn't matter anymore, we are approaching the point of no return. And, frankly, I'm beginning to think another civil war is in our future. It has become nothing more than a game to see who can disparage whom with the most viciousness, as if that's a testament to moral certitude.
I remember the day Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice. Her mother was in attendance, and I couldn't help but think how proud her mother must have been. Then I made the mistake of listening to Sean Hannity's radio program in which he spent the entire time berating Ms.Sotomayor with such venom I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He couldn't even let Ms. Sotomayor or her mother have one day of joy, he was determined to ruin it. And, yes, I know the other side does it, too. I am just using this as an example. As long as both sides resort to such tactics is it any wonder that hatred rules?
Politicians of both parties are setting the standard by which political discussion takes place. The rest of us are taking our cues from them, as they vie to see which side can destroy the other. No one seems to want to find a consensus, only argue, only destroy the "enemy," as if the "enemy" wants nothing more than to crush this country into oblivion, as if neither side can possibly want what they regard as what is best for the country. No civil discussion is permitted, only verbal warfare. I don't see how the country will survive unless we can find a way to talk respectfully with each other. Sometimes I log off this board in anguish.
I remember the day Sonia Sotomayor was sworn in as a Supreme Court justice. Her mother was in attendance, and I couldn't help but think how proud her mother must have been. Then I made the mistake of listening to Sean Hannity's radio program in which he spent the entire time berating Ms.Sotomayor with such venom I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He couldn't even let Ms. Sotomayor or her mother have one day of joy, he was determined to ruin it. And, yes, I know the other side does it, too. I am just using this as an example. As long as both sides resort to such tactics is it any wonder that hatred rules?
Politicians of both parties are setting the standard by which political discussion takes place. The rest of us are taking our cues from them, as they vie to see which side can destroy the other. No one seems to want to find a consensus, only argue, only destroy the "enemy," as if the "enemy" wants nothing more than to crush this country into oblivion, as if neither side can possibly want what they regard as what is best for the country. No civil discussion is permitted, only verbal warfare. I don't see how the country will survive unless we can find a way to talk respectfully with each other. Sometimes I log off this board in anguish.
