Alright, my friends, I'm doing something that I wouldn't normally do because I find some of the comments in the thread to Senator Schumer's
diary to be, shall we say, less than cordial. I'm taking the comment I made in the thread to his diary and I'm posting it here. I don't contend that it's anything special or that my thoughts are particularly significant or riveting. There are certainly people who have been here alot longer who have a better grasp of political issues, and who are much more qualified to comment on the Senator's words to this community. I'm doing it strictly as an exercise in civil discourse, which most of us throw to the wayside in the heat of debate, and I'm including myself in this, because I'm no different than anyone else, I say nasty things sometimes when things get heated or I don't like what someone has said.
The following is the comment I left for Mr. Schumer:
Thank you, Senator Schumer,
for taking the time to acknowledge the very hard work that the DKos community and all of netroots performed during this election cycle. It is good to know that you and your colleagues understand the power that netroots can and will be exhibiting...power of the people. As you can see by the vast number of comments and opinions in response to your diary, we are as varied here as the entire country is, and we debate and carry on just as the country at large will and does do. To silence the many voices and opinions here would be to silence the very voice of democracy, the very principles that this country was founded to respect and protect.
One of the interesting developments in this community brought about through the election is a movement to form committees of average citizens to police the progress of the new Congress on the issues that it was elected on, and to ensure that our new Congresspeople do not fall to the temptation of so many before them, the temptation to let power and the influence of those with money overcome their best intentions and good judgement. In other words, Little Brother will be watching, and actions which bring dishonor to our cause or evidence of personal greed/lust for power will be viewed as grounds for punishment in future elections. We expect progress to be made on the issues that matter most to average Americans: bringing home our brave soldiers from Iraq, an increase in minimum wages, removal of the influence of lobbyists, election reform, investigations into the wrong-doing of the current administration. The list goes on and on. Perhaps you could pass this information along to your colleagues in Washington.
Again, thank you so much for coming here and ackowledging our efforts, as well as Howard Dean's marvelous 50-state strategy. We really do appreciate it. And please, if there have been things said that you do not agree with or that cause you pain, please put it down to the wonderful effects of Democracy in Action!!!
Now, had I wanted to I could have used the comments of countless others for an example, because there were many that did what I'm trying to illustrate here. I just used mine because if this diary is going to get lambasted, I'd rather it be about my stuff and not someone else's stuff. But what I want to point out about the comment is a. the tone and 2. the way the desired points are made.
Let's consider the tone. I was kind, I thanked the man for taking the time to talk to us here. This is no small thing, because a standing US Senator has some serious time constraints, and yet he took the time to write to us and thank us. He's acknowledging the contribution we made, as he should. We at least owe him the courtesy of acknowledging his effort. It is also a sign of respect to this man to be cordial and thank him for his time and service. No matter what conflicts we may have with some of his actions, he deserves our respect if for no other reason than that he has served the Democratic party well for many years.
As to point 2., I wanted to make it clear to the Senator that we would be watching his actions and the actions of all our new congressmembers, and I wanted to both acknowledge his mention of Howard Dean and to make sure he understood that we believe that Dr. Dean is responsible for the 50 state strategy that won us this election. I think I did that pretty well, and without having to resort to being nasty about it. I also wanted to dampen any offense he might have taken over the tone of some of the comments (if, in fact, he reads them) without making it sound like those comments weren't valid, because certainly they are.
In fact, the point of this diary is not to castigate anyone for their opinions or the strength thereof. I am only suggesting that it might be better, at least when addressing someone who is in a position to help our varied agenda(s), to be civil about it. I feel there is no more sure way to guarantee that these men and women will listen to us than to use civility to point out what we need/want from them. I also believe the opposite is true. I know that when someone starts "shouting" abuse at me in a comment thread, I am no longer willing to consider their point(s) as valid, and will, more likely than not, get snippy, myself. It all goes downhill from there.
So, in closing, let me just reiterate my points. When dealing with someone in a position such as Senator Schumer's let's make sure we make our points as cogent as possible, and let's do it in a tone that offers cooperation. You really don't need to be mean to be heard. At least, that's my opinion. I've been told I'm entitled to that. So are you. Let's just make sure that everyone is hearing us.
UPDATE: I see from some of the comments that I didn't make myself clear on one point I think is important. It is important that we treat everyone with respect, not just the odd Senator or Congressman. It is just good sense that if you want people to listen to your opinions and take them seriously, being respectful enough to not insult in some way will go a long way in ensuring that. You are, of course, entitled to say whatever you want, and you can say it in as crass and crude a way as you desire, just don't be surprised if no one listens to a word you say thereafter.