In our own way, I believe we all would like to see a little more soul searching in regard to these political attacks.
Politics of a shooting prompts search for civility
Published January 11, 2011
| Associated Press
The letter, to three members of Congress, reads like a eulogy to civility in U.S. politics, its message underscored by the nearly complete absence of mourners.
"You three were alone in pledging to be civil," writes the founder of a campaign that last year asked every senator, representative and all the nation's governors to sign a promise to treat their adversaries with simple respect. "I must admit to scratching my head as to why only three members of Congress, and no governors, would agree to what I believe is a rather low bar."
The Jan. 3 letter disbanding the Civility Project — led by a conservative Republican public relations executive and a liberal Democratic lobbyist — went out five days before the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others spurred soul-searching about a decline in the nation's political discourse and its potential dangers.
There is, as yet, no evidence that the gunman was motivated by a vicious turn in American politics.
It has become a habit of the American left to equate disagreement with liberals and liberalism with hate. So convinced do they seem of the virtue of their cause that the only possible explanation for resistance to it must be hatred.
In the past week, at least two prominent liberal commentators spoke of the need to resist the right's -- quote -- "Obama hate machine."
Hardly a surprise then that the assassination attempt on Congresswoman Giffords would quickly be blamed on what columnist Krugman of The New York Times called the "climate of hate," fomented, of course, by the right. Never mind that the only climate that seemed to matter here was the fever swamp of Jared Loughner's mind.
The Democratic sheriff of Pima County also saw a connection to the national climate, though he admitted he had no evidence. Just his opinion, he said.
Senator Hillary Clinton-APRIL 28, 2003: "I am sick and tired of people who say that if you debate and you disagree with this administration, somehow you're not patriotic, and we should stand up and say, "WE ARE AMERICANS AND WE HAVE A RIGHT TO DEBATE AND DISAGREE WITH ANY ADMINISTRATION!"
A problem in America is that the media is use as a tool for the left's dictionary.
civility = our opponents must be doormats to our ideas.
hatred = when our opponents disagree with our ideas and they are persistent.
vitriol = truth from words that we don't want to hear
