Didn’t your mother teach you better?

People are weary of the angry, hateful rhetoric and violence and many have just tuned out any political or current event discussions. It’s just better not to hear it, they say, than to have to deal with it.
If you don’t believe that today’s rhetoric has escalated beyond the pale, just ask a politician, teacher, newsperson, election official, medical professional or columnist. Better still, ask sales clerks, fast-food workers — just about anyone who deals with the public. They will tell you stories about face-to-face threats and insults, ugly intimidating cell or email messages, sometimes even aggressive and abusive actions they’ve endured.
We seem to believe we can say anything we want, directed to anyone we choose, using any language we desire.
When did we lose our civility? What happened to the socially acceptable manners and language we were taught? I would love to ask some of these ill-behaved men and women (yes, most are adults), “didn’t your momma teach you any better than this?”
My folks also taught us about restraint, and when we didn’t practice restraint, we learned the repercussions from not behaving in acceptable ways. Like it or not there are repercussions to the intemperate words and actions we see all too frequently.
There is a scripted playbook for those, often politicians, who want power and money. They start by complaining about how they — and imply you, also — are a victim, discriminated against or even persecuted. Next, they tell you who is to blame for your miserable lot in life.
The oppressor-to-be then cleverly makes you afraid of these ugly people, frequently employing the replacement theory, telling you that this boogeyman wants to displace you and put themselves in your rightful place.The playbook next calls for frequent loud messages ratcheting up the severity, anger and hate. We have witnessed how these tactics work in collecting disciples.
Before you realize it, a movement has begun. And we know too well that movements, once rolling, are hard to stop. It isn’t a big leap for this hate speech, now ramped up to fever pitch, to demand or imply that action is needed.
Jan. 6th is the prime example of the results of this strategy, as was the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the attempted kidnapping of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and many other notable examples. History records the evolution of these wannabe autocrats and oppressors. In times past, good people would rise up, speak out and turn away these haters.
What is puzzling is our response to them today. Why are we unable or unwilling to stop these wrongful movements before they go too far?
I know we believe in free speech, even when we think it wrong or harmful and it’s not good manners to meet ugliness with ugliness. We want to believe these are trends that will peter out.
And you know, it might hurt my chances for promotion, be bad for business or make my friends and neighbors upset. So, we remain quiet.
But our silence is interpreted as either complicit agreement or, at least, neutrality.
When good people keep quiet the bullying continues, the attacks become bolder and the stakes become larger.
When will we draw the line? When will the silent majority say “enough.” I pray it happens before it is too late.
AUTHOR:Tom Campbell is a North Carolina broadcaster

[QUOTE=ZoraSpook;584819]People are weary of the angry, hateful rhetoric and violence and many have just tuned out any political or current event discussions. It’s just better not to hear it, they say, than to have to deal with it.
If you don’t believe that today’s rhetoric has escalated beyond the pale, just ask a politician, teacher, newsperson, election official, medical professional or columnist. Better still, ask sales clerks, fast-food workers — just about anyone who deals with the public. They will tell you stories about face-to-face threats and insults, ugly intimidating cell or email messages, sometimes even aggressive and abusive actions they’ve endured.
We seem to believe we can say anything we want, directed to anyone we choose, using any language we desire.
When did we lose our civility? What happened to the socially acceptable manners and language we were taught? I would love to ask some of these ill-behaved men and women (yes, most are adults), “didn’t your momma teach you any better than this?”
My folks also taught us about restraint, and when we didn’t practice restraint, we learned the repercussions from not behaving in acceptable ways. Like it or not there are repercussions to the intemperate words and actions we see all too frequently.
There is a scripted playbook for those, often politicians, who want power and money. They start by complaining about how they — and imply you, also — are a victim, discriminated against or even persecuted. Next, they tell you who is to blame for your miserable lot in life.
The oppressor-to-be then cleverly makes you afraid of these ugly people, frequently employing the replacement theory, telling you that this boogeyman wants to displace you and put themselves in your rightful place.The playbook next calls for frequent loud messages ratcheting up the severity, anger and hate. We have witnessed how these tactics work in collecting disciples.
Before you realize it, a movement has begun. And we know too well that movements, once rolling, are hard to stop. It isn’t a big leap for this hate speech, now ramped up to fever pitch, to demand or imply that action is needed.
Jan. 6th is the prime example of the results of this strategy, as was the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband, the attempted kidnapping of Governor Gretchen Whitmer and many other notable examples. History records the evolution of these wannabe autocrats and oppressors. In times past, good people would rise up, speak out and turn away these haters.
What is puzzling is our response to them today. Why are we unable or unwilling to stop these wrongful movements before they go too far?
I know we believe in free speech, even when we think it wrong or harmful and it’s not good manners to meet ugliness with ugliness. We want to believe these are trends that will peter out.
And you know, it might hurt my chances for promotion, be bad for business or make my friends and neighbors upset. So, we remain quiet.
But our silence is interpreted as either complicit agreement or, at least, neutrality.
When good people keep quiet the bullying continues, the attacks become bolder and the stakes become larger.
When will we draw the line? When will the silent majority say “enough.” I pray it happens before it is too late.
AUTHOR:Tom Campbell is a North Carolina broadcaster[/QUOTE]

We all need to read this. But I fear that people like Roger Stone won't listen to Tom. And that is the problem I see. I sincerely wise that the fairness doctrine was never set aside and that Roger Ails boss, Rupert Murdock, had never been given US Citizenship by Ronald Reagan. And I wish that Ronald had not done away with the fairness doctrine which allowed right wing media to thrive.

Yep is started with Reagan and it came into full force when Obama was elected. Trump then used this playbook to a T.

Its one of the reasons I think Trump is one of the worst leaders in history. Leaders are supposed to bring people together, not divide them. He lies and tries to scare gullible people into thinking he is the only answer, which couldnt be further from the truth.

Was the country more or less unified after the Trump presidency than it was before he took office?

Because that is my metric on whether I think leaders have accomplished their goals.

[QUOTE=Buzzy;584823]Yep is started with Reagan and it came into full force when Obama was elected. Trump then used this playbook to a T.

Its one of the reasons I think Trump is one of the worst leaders in history. Leaders are supposed to bring people together, not divide them. He lies and tries to scare gullible people into thinking he is the only answer, which couldnt be further from the truth.

Was the country more or less unified after the Trump presidency than it was before he took office?

Because that is my metric on whether I think leaders have accomplished their goals.[/QUOTE]

I agre we do have a reall bad batch of leaders out there on all sides.

[QUOTE=ZoraSpook;584837]I agre we do have a reall bad batch of leaders out there on all sides.[/QUOTE]

They need to learn to compromise and work together for the better of all our people. If they can't do that, they get rid of all of them and put in people who can do that. The trouble is that new people are doing the same thing as the ones we go rid of. All they care about is getting re-elected and staying in power. That is the problem, and our founding fathers didn't anticipate political parties.

[QUOTE=Moveon;584838]They need to learn to compromise and work together for the better of all our people. If they can't do that, they get rid of all of them and put in people who can do that. The trouble is that new people are doing the same thing as the ones we go rid of. All they care about is getting re-elected and staying in power. That is the problem, and our founding fathers didn't anticipate political parties.[/QUOTE]


Agred with that, at some point it became more important to selected folks to stay in office than it was to set an example of what we are about. and those same folks saw the younger generation playing victim, name calling, and getting what they wanted when people backed down from the temper tantrums, and so some of those elceted folks took that same behavior on thinking their supports would defend them.

This will drive ya nuts I know. But I could give a crap which party is in office or running the country so long as WHAT THEY ARE DOING....makes sense, makes the country stronger, safer, less crime, and more economical to live in.

But I could give a crap which party is in office or running the country so long as WHAT THEY ARE DOING....makes sense, makes the country stronger, safer, less crime, and more economical to live in.[/QUOTE]

Both parties should do this.