The “Civil Discourse” Scam

From Washington, DC, around the nation and back to Salisbury, MD we hear the hue and cry for “civil discourse”. If you haven’t noticed, it’s a scam ranking up there with the promises of the PORKULUS and the forthcoming ObamaCare.
How can I say such a thing? Easy. I simply apply the “hypocrisy meter”. Who is shouting the loudest for “civil discourse”? It is those who practice it the least.

For years and years Republicans attacked Democrats for using one of their favorite tactics – the “politics of fear”. Anytime a Republican proposal was made to cut federal spending, reform entitlements, or even to slow the growth in federal spending, out came the commercials claiming that Republicans were trying to kill old people and starve little children.

Yet, what happened during the debate over ObamaCare? REPUBLICANS attacked the plan claiming that it would cut Medicare! Yes, ObamaCare does cut Medicare. Yes, Republicans argued against ObamaCare on other grounds as well. Remember “DEATH PANELS”? However, the Democrats don’t want to murder seniors any more than the GOP wants to starve little kids.

Turn the clock forward 1 year. The GOP has control of the House. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduces a bold plan to bring the nation back to fiscal sanity.
The Democrat response? To quote one Democrat member of Congress – “The Republicans won’t be happy until you’re (seniors) all dead!”. If you have paid ANY attention to the news of the last month, you can quote 100 other similar examples.

Get in your car and drive across the Bay to Salisbury. How many times over the last several years have we seen the Daily Times cry for “civil discourse”, almost always blaming the party who was actually attacked. Yet, just a few days ago the DT ran an ANONYMOUS editorial comparing the GOP majority of the Wicomico County Council to jihadists. THAT’s CIVIL DISCOURSE!

Now, before you start screaming hypocrite at me let’s get a few things straight.

First of all, I’m not running around whining about the need for “civil discourse”. Intelligent discourse … Thoughtful discourse… Well argued discourse… but not “civil discourse”.
For starters, it’s too subjective. SbyNEWS publisher Joe Albero has been called out for “victimizing” certain people. However, when you examine the claims most of them are laughable. Sure a few people can claim to have been harmed. You can also easily argue that they have not, or that their harm is (at least) equally of their own making. For most of the claims of “victimization” it is merely a case of “Joe Albero disagreed with them”. Get a life!
Second, I give as good as I get .. and don’t whine about it; although I do like to think that I give it out better. In a perfect world I wouldn’t even wish that I wasn’t attacked (which really doesn’t happen very often). I just hope that the person who attacks ME, has an IQ over 70. Better yet, attack my position. For me, vigorous debate is like Christmas.

Third, when I call someone out in a REALLY harsh way, you can be sure that I can back it up. A few years ago I compared a local landlord to a Klansman. While the landlord had gone to great pains to have his arrest and conviction records expunged, we were able to come up with the police officer’s written request for an arrest warrant which detailed some very bad behavior. This very bad, and very hypocritical behavior deserved to be brought out in light of some recent statements by the same landlord (“I’m the protector of the poor, the oppressed, the black, and the brown …”).

Am I claiming to be perfect? Hell no! It’s just that I try to admit my faults, including my bias. I recognize the “Killing Granny” ads as the high tech rhetorical devices they are. I don’t claim to be holier than thou (although I will admit to being an intellectual snob at times). I simply wish that my pals over at the Daily Times, and a host of others would either practice what they preach … or STOP PREACHING!

G. A. Harrison is a frequent contributor to SbyNEWS. “Delmarva Dealings” appears each Wednesday and Sunday at Noon on SbyNEWS.

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