Civility
Maybe the last nail in the coffin of civility was hammered this week with the death of Rush Limbaugh. It is truly pathetic and sad to see the vitriol coming from the left-wing haters within seconds of his announced death. It was astonishing but not unexpected. Sadly though, none of these haters in all likelihood, had ever listened to his show. Instead, they bought into the urban myth, widely proliferated by leftist progressives who hate all conservatives and their ideas, that Rush was a cacodemon.
Rush was called a racist and a misogynist with regularity and yet his show’s producer, James Golden, also known by his pseudonym, "Bo Snerdley," is black and employee for over 20 plus years. He has also served as a call screener and engineer for the syndicated radio talk show. Cookie Gleason has been with the show for 29 years and she’s an executive producer. Two key employees, a black man and a woman. The haters are either clueless or ignorant, or both.
It’s hard to understand Americans today, celebrating any death of another American. It says a lot about the erosion of our values and faith, accelerated by the leftist progressives. The disappearance of common courtesy and decency in societal behavior is tragic.
The commentary on broadcast and social media about his death has been appalling. Two Joys, Behar of The View and Reed of MSNBC were especially nasty. Not surprising as they are two well know haters of all things conservative. Twitter and Facebook were full of inappropriate, mean-spirited commentary along with the usual liberal loving newspapers, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times.
By contrast, one would be hard pressed to find the same degree of detestation from conservatives when liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away last fall. Former President Trump when informed of her death by reporters after a campaign rally said the following.
"She just died? I didn't know that. you're telling me now for the first time. She led an amazing life, what else can you say? She was an amazing woman — whether you agreed or not — she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life." That’s civility, being respectful, gracious and considerate. A true gold standard of civility that surprised many
In a later statement he called her a "titan of the law". The press release further read, "Renowned for her brilliant mind and her powerful dissents at the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg demonstrated that one can disagree without being disagreeable toward one's colleagues or different points of view."
Being more open minded and charitable of those that disagree with us would go a long way to achieving the “unity” that Joe Biden is seeking. Regrettably, that dialog from the Nation’s leadership is missing in action with little chance of it being found. Biden’s uncivil remarks made in the wake of the January 6th Capitol riot about Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri were unnecessary. He was quoted as saying, “They’re part of the big lie, the big lie”. “The Big Lie” was an apparent reference to Nazi Joseph Goebbels who originated the concept. There hasn’t been an outbreak out of politicians singing Kumbaya and holding hands in Washington DC since then.
We should have the ability to have civil discourse and conversations without a loss of temper. Turning into a committed hater just because someone disagrees with you is uncivil. Our country is divided in many ways and the longtime democratic core values of tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism are increasing hard to find. The great American melting pot, where individuals from various cultural, racial, political and social backgrounds can meld and co-exist has turned into individual hostile pots.
Taking cheap shots at the passing of a man who pioneered the talk radio format is disgusting, uncalled for and without a doubt, speaks volumes about the current state of civility in the Republic. Rush Limbaugh was widely known for his charitable heart, giving millions to many in need. He never wanted these actions widely publicized, and they weren’t because it didn’t fit the narrative the haters in media continued to hang on him. Now with his death those stories are slowing emerging from those he helped.
Joe Biden didn’t say anything in his lovefest town hall meeting with Anderson Cooper of CNN the other night, that could be remotely associated with bring unity to our country. No, he said one of the greatest threats to the nation was white racist hate groups, completely ignoring the violence attributed to Antifa or BLM. The compliant, gushing press won’t ever report what those groups do, they’d rather trash Rush Limbaugh, who time after time expressed his love of country, constitution and his constituent listeners. Never once did he advocate violent acts directed to those who govern the county. He was not an uncivil man. He had his faults and made mistakes doing conservative schtick on the radio. When he did, he apologized publicly to his audience.
Perhaps return to civility will happen when Joe Biden finally recognizes that he’s not President of the Left-Wing Nation but one Nation, negating the need for coffin nails.