A short lived “civil” discourse

Last month in Tucson, President Obama gave one of his more memorable speeches at the memorial for those slain and injured in the Tucson shooting.  He called for a more “civil and honest public discourse”.

I want us to live up to [Christina Taylor-Green’s] expectations.  I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it.

Sadly, what has happened in Wisconsin recently, shows us how swiftly those sentiments have been left behind.

…in Madison, a crowd of 20,000–many of them teachers skipping school–gathered at the Capitol.  Signs compared [Governor Scott Walker] to Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarack, Joseph Stalin, and Benito Mussolini.  Still others accused him of ‘terrorism’ and, ‘rape’.  One sign had a photo of the governor in crosshairs: ‘Don’t Retreat, Reload’.

Democrat state Senator Lena Taylor, before she fled the state, compared Governor Walker to Adolf Hitler.

And we had the President himself who, although admitting that he hadn’t really followed what was happening in Wisconsin, told Americans that what the Wisconsin Governor was doing was “an assault on unions”.

Then again, maybe we haven’t forgotten the President’s message of civil discourse.  Maybe it’s only a one way street.

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SoundOffSister

The Sound Off Sister was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and special trial attorney for the Department of Justice, Criminal Division; a partner in the Florida law firm of Shutts & Bowen, and an adjunct professor at the University of Miami, School of Law. The Sound Off Sister offers frequent commentary concerning legislation making its way through Congress, including the health reform legislation passed in early 2010.

7 Comments

  1. porschepete on February 22, 2011 at 5:10 pm

    They just do what democrats always do blame someone else then?runaway and hide.
    Talk about sore loosers.



  2. TomL on February 22, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    The democrats in Indiana have left town so there can’t be a vote, Ohio is going thru the same protests, the stock market is taking hits and oil is going to go thru the roof. Its going to be a very bumpy ride.



  3. winnie888 on February 23, 2011 at 9:01 am

    SOS: What happened to the “No Labels” crowd?? I knew, knew, knew that it would be comedy material down the road and I’d be chortling if what’s happening in WI weren’t so despicable.
    In some of my recent internet travels to other news sites (MSNBC to be exact) I have seen some of the ugliest slurs leveled against Republicans, Walker and the people who support his refusal to back down with the public sector union representing the teachers.? For the most part these “people” are narrow minded and hateful in most of their comments.
    Makes me very proud of the behavior exhibited within our community here on Jim’s, Steve’s & your blog.? We are?a class act.? The liberal cause is represented by ill mannered and the poorly educated on other sites.



  4. Wayne SW on February 23, 2011 at 9:29 am

    Just yesterday in Boston, a Dem. Rep said to unions that it was time to get bloody.? Sending emails is not enough, get out in the streets and mix it up. http://nhjournal.com/2011/02/23/dem-rep-to-unions-time-to-get-%E2%80%98bloody%E2%80%99/



  5. Tim-in-Alabama on February 23, 2011 at 10:27 am

    It’s impossible to have civil discussions with incivil donkeyridinghornswagglinggoatrustlers like Democrats.



  6. Law-AbidingCitizen on February 23, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    Q: What do you call a liberal who engages in civil discourse?
    ?
    A: A truly endangered species. Or, a Non Sequitur.
    ?
    Personally, I have never met a liberal, Democrat, progressive, whatever you want to call them, who can dissemble long enough to make me believe that I have really found a person who can engage in civil discourse and be of the liberal, et al, mold. Within minutes of engaging in a conversation about ANYTHING that they don’t agree with me about, they start calling names, disparaging the intellect of the “conservative,” namely me, and on and on. It’s text-book.
    ?
    It is amazing. I have a friend of many years who will, (quickly!) resort to raising his voice, telling me I don’t know what I am talking about, that the non-union (he’s union) people are this and that, they are ignorant, etc, etc. And, it gets worse, Somehow, he always manages to get Reagan and or Bush, take your pick, 41 or 43 or both, into his invective. He’s a dear friend who is just so tragically wrong-headed about so many things
    ?
    It’s unbelievable! I still value his friendship and occasionally I learn something from him (He’d never say the same about me), but it is always the same old diatribe he resorts to anytime we have a discussion about anything bordering on a conservative issue. Example: he is a gun owner and has been for many years. Yet, when South Dakota floated a trial balloon that all citizens possess a firearm, he (pun intended) went ballistic! “No, No, only people who have taken a UNION sponsored firearms training class would be allowed to APPLY for ownership of a firearm!” He truly does not realize that he is talking out of both sides of his mouth, maybe more sides(?).
    ?
    Anyone else have a friend or an acquaintance like that? It reminds me of playing “drop the needle” in music appreciation class. No matter where the needle (kids, ask an adult) gets dropped, the tune is the same. A frightening phenomenon that is also entertaining; he gets irked when he realizes that I have maneuvered him into one of his canned rants. He really believes that he and his cohorts are the “chosen ones.” Only their viewpoint is correct. No room for any dissent; no room for any discussion.
    ?
    Admit it, don’t you just love seeing, for instance, James Carville, start foaming at the mouth and calling names and all of that stuff from the liberal play-book? I do. (I don’t think that he makes any converts to his cause by the way he acts?)
    ?
    But, there will come a time when the public service sector, unions, liberals, etc, have sucked this country dry of capital and the “chickens will come home to roost.” Then, the rhetoric “will have to put-up or shut-up.” It will get ugly, fast.



  7. Dimsdale on February 23, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    When conservatives start to “put up”, all liberal/progressive/socialists can do is say “shut up”, usually accompanied by them sticking their fingers in their ears.? You just scratch the thin veneer of their argument, er, I mean talking points, and they get frustrated and belligerent, frequently yelling in an attempt to drown you out.
    ?
    It is the equivalent of arguing with monkeys in the zoo, and having them fling feces at you.



Obama Tucson

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