The controversy here at DKos over what comments are appropriate or inappropriate when a public figure dies got me thinking about civil discourse, or the lack thereof. Usually I come down on the side of not saying anything about the recently deceased if I don't have anything positive to say.
But the question I asked myself was, "If Dick Cheney died suddenly, would he deserve the same respect?"
My gut instantly says, no. If Dick Cheney were to die suddenly of natural causes, I would not feel the need to post sympathies to Lynn Cheney and to his children and grandchildren. For one, it would be insincere, and in the extremely unlikely event that one of them should be reading the comment thread on DKos, they would certainly know it.
More importantly, Dick Cheney is my enemy, by which I mean that I believe he is guilty of war crimes and of sending over 4,000 of my countrymen and women to their deaths for no reason, and for the killing of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. He has abused his power, shredded the Constitution, and bullied and intimidated anyone who stood in his way. I would not want to kill him, nor would I urge anyone ever to harm him, but his death would not be a tragedy. I usually try to remember something good about the dead, but I have no positive memories of Dick Cheney, and I would imagine that few in this community do. To my list of "enemies," I would add George W. Bush, and could think of a few more living examples of people whose deaths I could not mourn, such as Rush Limbaugh. What about when Kissinger dies? The media will ignore his war crimes and call him a great statesman. But many of us will remain firm in the conviction that he was an enemy.
Those are easy.
Now for the hard part: opponents. Think of chess: the person you are doing everything in your power to defeat is your opponent, in spite of the fact that she may also be your mother. In the moment, you wish her harm in one discrete area of life: the chess board. She is working against your interests, trying to outfox you at every move! She might beat you! But she's still your mother. When the game is over, you still love her. Politics can be like chess.
When Senator Ted Kennedy became ill, politicians from all over the political map praised him as a human being, even those who vote opposite to him on every issue. Perhaps this was political expedience, but it is more likely that Ted Kennedy has friends all over Washington, not merely because he is a powerful Senator, but because people like him. They admire his character, his wit, his intelligence, his political skills. People such as Senator Orrin Hatch view Kennedy as an opponent, a fierce, powerful, committed opponent, but never as an enemy.
When Senator Tim Johnson became ill, we on the left expressed disgust at Republicans who started salivating over the possibility of the Governor of South Dakota appointing a Republican to replace him before his term was up. To hope that this Democrat would be replaced with a Republican was a way of celebrating Johnson's illness and hoping for his death, as one would for a true enemy, and by all accounts, the only reason for this was Senator Johnson's political affiliation. We scorned those who saw their opponent as an enemy.
What about Tim Russert? I don't have cable TV, so I usually saw Russert in unflattering clips on YouTube from Crooks and Liars or elsewhere. Yet affection poured out for this man all over the media and in many private conversations all over the country. It seems like many people liked, trusted, and identified with him. And others didn't.
But was he an enemy? Or an opponent? Was he someone whose grave you can dance on in good conscience? My guess is no.
How about Hillary Clinton? She was vilifed by many on DKos, and I was troubled often by the way people spoke about her personally on here. To me, she was their opponent. To them, she was her enemy. She will be in the Senate for years to come, almost all the time voting the way we would like her to (except in the unlikely case that she becomes VP). Is she then our enemy? Not logically. Is she our opponent? Or is it too personal for that?
I look forward to a day when we have peace in the culture wars in the U.S., when all of us who can't be friends can at least be opponents. I would hope that next time a public figure dies, we all think very carefully about whether the deceased is an enemy or opponent, and blog accordingly.