you demonize, you lose
Here's sort of the flip side of the other day's post.
A while back, because of how parties were aligned, there were liberal and moderate and conservative Democrats and liberal and moderate and conservative Republicans. Starting back in the 60s there were all these shifts to make it so that now things are more "pure," if you can call it that. One of the results is that now, since so many package-deal issues are exclusive, there's a much smaller chance that someone who disagrees with you on X issue will even be in your party. (Even if you don't consider yourself part of a party, it still holds because, face it, we do wind up somewhere on the spectrum.) That makes it possible for us to begin attacking things other than positions and arguments. We're now in a political culture in which it's not only not outrageous but it's also somewhat common for a candidate to openly speculate on the motives or patriotism of another candidate. How did we get there? How on earth can we get somewhere else?
Demonizing is wrong for anyone to do. It's wrong for someone to do to me; wrong for me to do to them back; wrong for them to do back to me in return; wrong for me to do again in return; and on and on.
The time has come to simply stop it. Let's vigorously debate what it means to defend the Constitution; let's argue over our differences regarding what it means to have a fair system, what it means to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare; let's say this guy's economic policy is horrible, that guy's foreign policy is an embarrassment, and so on — but please, please, let us stop demonizing each other, darkly questioning each other's motives, and saying whoever disagrees hates America.
I'm perfectly happy for people to attack bad policy and bad government ideas — Romney and Obama both have plenty of those to attack — but it's time for the other attacks, the personal attacks and motive attacks, on anybody on any side, to stop.
I'm an involved, concerned, informed voter, and from everything I've seen I confidently say that both these men are running for president because they really do want to serve this country.
Change can happen in a society. We've seen it before: behavior X is perfectly normal and acceptable; then it's a bit obnoxious but people dismiss it with a thats'-my-crazy-uncle-for-ya chuckle; then it's seriously looked down on; then it can get you fired. In just a little over one generation, Mad Men-style sexual harassment has gone from acceptable to unacceptable; same with stinking up public spaces with cigarette smoke, and with drinking and driving. It's not just that the regulations have changed: people's hearts, values, really are different now regarding those things. The same can happen with this horrible trend in our politics.
What if, a few short years from now, someone who says a candidate isn't patriotic enough or doesn't really love America enough simply lost credibility right then and there?
A while back, because of how parties were aligned, there were liberal and moderate and conservative Democrats and liberal and moderate and conservative Republicans. Starting back in the 60s there were all these shifts to make it so that now things are more "pure," if you can call it that. One of the results is that now, since so many package-deal issues are exclusive, there's a much smaller chance that someone who disagrees with you on X issue will even be in your party. (Even if you don't consider yourself part of a party, it still holds because, face it, we do wind up somewhere on the spectrum.) That makes it possible for us to begin attacking things other than positions and arguments. We're now in a political culture in which it's not only not outrageous but it's also somewhat common for a candidate to openly speculate on the motives or patriotism of another candidate. How did we get there? How on earth can we get somewhere else?
Demonizing is wrong for anyone to do. It's wrong for someone to do to me; wrong for me to do to them back; wrong for them to do back to me in return; wrong for me to do again in return; and on and on.
The time has come to simply stop it. Let's vigorously debate what it means to defend the Constitution; let's argue over our differences regarding what it means to have a fair system, what it means to provide for the common defense and promote the general welfare; let's say this guy's economic policy is horrible, that guy's foreign policy is an embarrassment, and so on — but please, please, let us stop demonizing each other, darkly questioning each other's motives, and saying whoever disagrees hates America.
I'm perfectly happy for people to attack bad policy and bad government ideas — Romney and Obama both have plenty of those to attack — but it's time for the other attacks, the personal attacks and motive attacks, on anybody on any side, to stop.
I'm an involved, concerned, informed voter, and from everything I've seen I confidently say that both these men are running for president because they really do want to serve this country.
Change can happen in a society. We've seen it before: behavior X is perfectly normal and acceptable; then it's a bit obnoxious but people dismiss it with a thats'-my-crazy-uncle-for-ya chuckle; then it's seriously looked down on; then it can get you fired. In just a little over one generation, Mad Men-style sexual harassment has gone from acceptable to unacceptable; same with stinking up public spaces with cigarette smoke, and with drinking and driving. It's not just that the regulations have changed: people's hearts, values, really are different now regarding those things. The same can happen with this horrible trend in our politics.
What if, a few short years from now, someone who says a candidate isn't patriotic enough or doesn't really love America enough simply lost credibility right then and there?
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