Can We Be Civil?

I stopped listening to talk radio sometime ago, and now restrict who I read for political opinions. The reason isn't because I want to stick my head in the sand and ignore the world, it's because intelligent, civil discourse is sadly a thing of the past. In an effort to grab attention and therefore ratings and sponsors, pundits of both the left and right keep lowering the bar of frothing at the mouth rants until that bar is underground.

I find the pompous, ill informed Rush Limbaugh to be little more than a boring blowhard. I've never bothered with Sean Hannity. Ann Coulter is just plain mean spirited and nasty, besides being an anorexic crone, while I will admit Michael Savage's rants are captivating in the same way as viewing a car wreck, you just can't tear yourself away. There's also the perverse interest in when one of his apoplectic ravings will result in an on the air aneurysm. The left also has their share of boorish cretins. Can anyone say Michael Moore?

My own views are mostly centrist to fairly conservative. But try to find someone who can state their views in the media no matter what their leanings are without resorting to childish tantrums and name calling. This started back when Bill Clinton was in office. One would think he had cloven hooves and had replaced the presidential seal in the Oval Office with a pentagram from listening to talk show hosts at the time. Personally I thought he did some good things, starting with actually balancing the Federal budget. The Monica Lewinsky scandal was the result of the arrogance and bad judgment that so often comes with power. He could had headed off the impeachment if he had just levelled with his family and the country at the beginning, but he foolishly fell into the trap the leaders of the Republican Party had set out.

The left got their revenge with George Bush. I still feel the Iraq war never should have been fought. The 911 attackers were based in Afghanistan, and that is the country that always should have been our military focus. I had many other disagreements about his policies, but the attacks on him personally did nothing to resolve any issues facing this country.

And now the same thing is going on with Obama. I have major reservations with his policies, starting with his assumption that the government will solve everything, especially the economy. He's only been in office for a few months, yet already pundits are openly accusing him of being a fascist and comparing him to Mussolini.

Excuse me? Obama equals one of the most brutal dictators of our time? I don't think so. He comes across as a decent guy, and he is trying, though it is way too early to tell how effective of a president he'll be. But openly hoping he will fail as Rush Limbaugh has stated is the height of idiocy. A failed presidency is a failed country.

What people are quick to forget is Obama was legally elected. If you voted for him, fine. If you didn't, deal with it. If you abstained from voting for a presidential candidate as I did, still deal with it.

And when I do want to read the opinions of others, I've found the best collection of intelligent, reasonable writers can be found in the Washington Post. They cover the spectrum from left to right, with most being somewhere in the middle. For outstanding writing, the best in my opinion is George Will. You often need a dictionary to decipher his expansive vocabulary, and I admit there are many times I disagree with him. But he does his research, forms his arguments logically, and states his opinons without personal attacks. He's no fan of Obama, but he doesn't think he's the Antichrist.