The President, at least symbolically, has moved somewhat to the center since the November 2 “shellacking” and Democrats at the national and local levels are calling for a return to civility in our political discourse. Of course, that’s after trashing Republicans every day for the past two years (and Sarah Palin twice on Sundays). We won’t discuss the eight-year “Bush is Hitler!” era.
But some Democrats, no doubt enlightened by seeing dozens of newly-elected Republicans sitting in seats their former colleagues once occupied, are signaling a change: they invited a Republican to sit with them at Tuesday’s State of the Union message. CNN noted this bit of theatrics with the lead-in, “Will Tuesday be 'Date Night' in Congress for President Barack Obama's State of the Union address?” Some cynics might say that this clamor for more civility in politics is akin to a foxhole conversion in which the President and/or his allies have suddenly realized that their past strategy of “dissing” every Republican in sight while ignoring their views may cause Democrats to lose the Senate and Presidency in 2012. Whatever the reason, the President and his party have (temporarily) put their principles in a “lock box,” put on a smiley face, and invited Republicans to the dance. Democrats will still choose the music and the Republicans’ dance cards will be virtually empty, but they will receive a welcoming speech from the President promising bipartisanship—as long as the opposition agrees with him and “shuts the hell up!”
Locally, the ICO’s Fence Post is the only forum available for presenting conservative views to counter the cacophony of liberal voices. Letters bearing the CCV imprimatur focus on the broader political issues facing our state and nation. We believe that gratuitous name calling (e.g., “stupid) is neither civil nor helpful.
Jim Littlejohn
