Monday, March 22, 2010

Civility still on the decline in Congress

Whether it is things like neo-Confederate Congressman Joe Wilson heckling President Barack Obama during a speech before a joint session of Congress...

Whether it is things like "Tea Party" types showing their true selves by surrounding and streaming through the U.S. Capitol and spewing epithets at Congressmen as they walked to votes...

Whether it is things like a Texas Republican shouting "baby killer!" at an ardently pro-life Democratic colleague in the House for daring to vote for health care reform...

Whether it is things like these or any of a hundred other examples, the sort of civil decorum that allows people who disagree strongly on the issues of the day yet still interact constructively has given way to cynical fear-mongering, shameless spin, and desperate demonization masquerading as flag-waving patriotism and devout religious fervor.

The sad thing is that outbursts like Sunday's "baby killer!" are so common these days that the only surprise for me isn't that it happened but that it wasn't shouted by Trent Franks of CD2, saving Arizona that bit of embarrassment.

Enough already.

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