Jeffrey Feldman of Frameshop asked us to send him questions for the Democratic presidential candidates participating in the YearlyKos panel in a few days. Well, I have a question – and I think it’s a hard one. Here it is:
What plans do you have to raise the level of discourse in the political community and in the national political conversation so that we can have a productive exchange of ideas and work together for the common good of our people and of the country?
In October 2004, a month before the presidential election, one of our Maryland state politicians put together a "Progressive Summit," billed as a way to "energize the base." Held on a Saturday at a hotel in Columbia, Maryland, it was a gathering of Democrats and progressives to hear speeches and get some training about hot political issues and what we could do about them.
As my friend and I approached the hotel that morning, we saw an enormous Bush/Cheney bus parked nearby. I wondered what it was there for and whether by some chance they were having an event in that area as well. As we parked in the garage and started to walk to the hotel entrance, I found the answer. A throng of people lined both sides of the walkway and screamed epithets and venom at all those walking into the building. Just like that - that was their activity for the morning - to stand there and scream and holler at us.
Obviously there are many examples of arrogant opposition, crass rudeness and vitriol – Vice President Dick Cheney’s "Fuck yourself" to Senator Patrick Leahy being a shining example. And there is no one authoritative on the right - least of all our leader President Uniter-Not-a-Divider - saying this behavior is not only unacceptable but, even more important, counterproductive to useful discourse. (I know "moderates" like Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins go around with that pained raised eyebrow look, but I heard nary a peep from them either. PLEASE)
However, besides being unpleasant – well, disgusting - this negative, nasty posture makes a civil exchange of ideas impossible. (Yes, I know it can be fun to try to outdo the other side, but come on, lots of people are suffering and even dying because we have a government that does not work for the people.) I am old enough to remember when Republicans were actual people who had different ideas about some things and with whom one could come to reasonable compromises or at least have reasonable discussions. Unfortunately for our country, those days are gone, and I wonder what kind of leadership the people running for president bring to that area.