A plea for civility – Editorial

Nothing is more crucial to our way of life than the freedom we enjoy to disagree with the government and to voice our opinions and feelings with gusto.

In other parts of the world, people give their lives fighting simply to earn that fundamental freedom that Americans, frankly, too often take for granted.

So when we see horrific incidents such as a deranged gunman taking aim at a member of Congress over political differences, we’re looking at perverted, extreme behavior, and we’d do well to remember that.

TV and radio blabbermouths will always stoke the fires of disharmony, because the majority of audience members are more likely to tune in to such verbal violence. But any suggestion that our rhetoric is too feisty or derisive for America to handle without going off the deep end is absurd, and any politically correct movement to silence opposing voices threatens to weaken the republic, regardless how obnoxious, selfish or misguided they are.

This country is all about disagreement. We were founded on it. Our future depends on it.

But with that freedom comes a responsibility that we share as a community to be civil toward each other in our conversation—to never lose perspective of what’s important.

When our own Metro Council was debating whether to build a new downtown library, some local kooks sent pictures of nooses to black councilmembers, disgusting threats that clearly implied they’d be lynched if they voted the “wrong” way.

More recently, when LSU Coach Les Miles was being courted by the University of Michigan, the phone banks lit up at local radio stations with callers chiming in on this urgent development. Some pledged their support of Miles; some said they were happy to see him go; and still others, far more worked up, vented inexplicable hatred for the man. All over a guy who coaches a football team that won 11 games for a university that’s facing massive budget cuts, and which has already seen layoffs among its faculty.

Just as with our political discourse, a healthy dose of perspective goes a long way toward keeping the conversation sensible—and the disagreeing parties civil. Not only do we have the right to voice our opinions, including our opposition to a particular lawmaker’s views, we’re incredibly lucky and blessed to have the right to vote that lawmaker out of office in no more than a handful of years.

This year is certain to be one of anxiety, fear and disagreement as we all continue to wrestle with difficult financial times. The approaching 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks are, unfortunately, almost sure to bring a fresh spate of argument over the cause of the tragedy, its handling by two administrations and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Don’t make any of this harder than it needs to be.

Let’s keep our discourse robust, but civil.