Courtesy and Civility

[Beavah]

Yah, I must say my view of da current state of U.S. politics was summed up by the behavior of the Republican member from South Carolina during Obama's address.

 

We have really sunk so low that all measures of courtesy and civility in our august chambers are being thrown to the wind. Heckling the President? Are we now the British House of Commons?

 

Health care is a complicated thing, eh? Changin' it is goin' to be hard work. All kinds of things we could get wrong. All kinds of ways to disagree.

 

But that's no excuse, eh? The Republican Party used to pride itself on Values and decency. On respect for those who serve.

 

Now they've got members who behave worse than my kids ever behaved when they were 6 years old. If a scout did that at a public event, every single one of us, liberal or conservative, would be haulin' him out of the room by his ear.

 

One would hope that the Republican Party would immediately endorse a challenger, and da good people of South Carolina would act to remove this person from office at the next available opportunity.

 

I fear it is not to be. South Carolina has one of the highest high school dropout rates in the nation, eh? And those folks are da loyal core constituency of the Republican Party and seem to be in control.

 

Courtesy, Civility, and Decency. Those things are important, eh? They let us disagree and still work together on behalf of a nation that we love. Those who abandon such principles in favor of playin' political football over policy details have no business in public office.

 

Beavah

 

[Eagle92]

Beavah,

I hear you. Unfortunately both sides of the aisle are guilty of that behavior, as those same words have been uttered during the previous adminstartion.

 

We may be turing into the House of Commons, but at least it isn't as bad as the 1850s when one representative struck another with his cane.

[packsaddle]

Beavah, I guess the flippant way to respond would be to explain the event with two words, "South Carolina". That state has a history of incivility but I suppose that might be true for a few others as well.

But if you take a close look at the history of the South and South Carolina in particular, you'll see evidence that the culture lends itself to this sort of thing by design. Especially for South Carolina where the plantation culture, transplanted from Barbados during early colonization, was perpetuated into political structures and conventions that exist even today...originally to make sure that a black people cannot have controlling power. Today it ensures that the legislative body, as chaotic as it is, controls political and governmental power. Trouble is, while this system might have also cultivated an educated elite to occupy those seats at one time, today education and civility are somehow looked upon with suspicion or perhaps even disdain.

Where else can a popular governor bring a pig into the legislature, dominated by his own party, and allow it to crap on the floor of the statehouse as a demonstration of his contempt for them? Where else...this could go on. But the end result is that the people chose Wilson as their representative. I suspect he guaranteed re-election last night.

[BrentAllen]

Yeah, he should have just boo'd Obama like the Dems boo'd Bush. That's acceptable, right, Beavah?

 

Remove the guy from office? For that??

 

It's not like he killed someone (Chappaquiddick) or had an affair with an intern (Bill & Monica) or leaked top secret information (Leahy) or ... I could write all day. I'd say this guy's transgression falls pretty low on the list of serious offenses.

[GernBlansten]

As Ron Burgundy might say: You stay classy, South Carolina.

[scoutldr]

On the continuum of boorishness, I guess it's better than being callled an "a-h" by a Presidential Czar.

[GernBlansten]

Those who resort to name calling have exhausted all constructive responses.

[scoutldr]

Poor manners, yes.

 

But is it "name calling" if it's true?

 

I can hear Robert Gibbs now..."Well what the President MEANT to say during the debate with Mrs. Clinton was, "enrollment in health insurance WILL be mandatory for all citizens and those who don't will be fined up to $3800 by the IRS."

[skeptic]

Hopefully, those on these boards that do not see a problem with this type of behavior, do not relay that attitude to their scouts.

 

"Live the Twelve"; "Do Your Best"! Simple, it seems. If we can even come close, it will be an improvement.

[SMT224]

"Poor manners, yes.

But is it "name calling" if it's true?"

 

So you suggest it's ok to call someone a liar if you perceive their words to be true? That is quite a charge, and you better make sure before uttering those words.

 

I don't see there is evidence to say the President was consciously lying in his speech last night. It sounded more like he was saying that we have a problem and let's work together to fix it.

 

To call people names because of something they might do at some point in the future is ridiculous! There has been no solid legislation and no language in place that could support such a charge.

 

Therefore, what is name calling when it's not true, when it cannot be true?

 

Defamation, Libel and Slander.

 

Such a remark and related behavior do not fit within the Scout Law.

 

[packsaddle]

The President wasn't lying. Wilson's outburst was in response to parts of the bill that have been struck down previously. The bill now explicitly prohibits federal funding for persons not legally in the US. If he was really that interested, Wilson should have known this.

[GernBlansten]

It would have been great if Obama responded to Wilson like Cheney did to Leahy on the senate floor. However biologically and mechanically impossible that act is.

[scoutldr]

No...I think it's accurate to characterize someone as a "liar" if it is indeed true that they lied. Maybe not polite, but accurate.

 

I'm not saying that the "Gentleman" from South Carolina was accurate in his characterization of the President on that particular issue. I do not believe that the Democrat health plan intentionally includes illegal aliens...yet.

[GernBlansten]

Well, using that criteria, the plan also doesn't include coverage for space aliens, yet. So Obama is a liar. I think I see where you are coming from.

[Eagle92]

Unfortunately the illegal alien problem will not go away until the broders are secured and immigration laws are enforced.

 

Also while illegal aliens may not directly recieve money from the US governement fopr medical care, because of EMTALA, they will still be treated via the emergency rooms across the US, resulting in higher medical expenses for the rest of us. After all if the illegal alien will not pay for medical, somebody will have to. So they will still get free medical care via the US governement.