The Lack of Comity isn't Funny

Words have consequences. Tone counts. Signs symbolize and provoke. No one, left or right, can believe that the demonization of an adversary doesn't risk physical consequences. Yes, our political rhetoric is often overheated on both sides. I did not think it appropriate when former members of the Free Speech Movement in Berkeley shouted down speakers they didn't want to hear. The policy critiques that Code Pink made of Bush policies might have been okay but not their tactics of disruption. I am generally in favor of saving the ecology but when environmental extremists shout "By any means necessary," this is clear code for violence.

People who bring loaded guns to a town hall meeting with the president with a sign partially quoting Thomas Jefferson that says, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants," cannot honestly hold that this is just about Second Amendment rights. The implication is clear. People cannot--with neither insight nor irony--call Obama a Nazi and put swastikas on signs and then claim it isn't inciting violence.

It was wrong when Rumsfeld questioned the patriotism of war protestors. It was wrong when my generation shouted "Hey! Hey! LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?" He didn't want to kill us. Obama doesn't want to rip a baby from your womb and then euthanize your grandma. We all need to simmer down before a tragedy ensues.

The fabric of our society is woven together with the right to protest, the right to speak and the responsibility to listen to each other with respect. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are easy in good times. They are still more precious in tough times when we are tempted to throw them out. We do not need to turn adversaries into enemies. But truly, I do fear for all of us.