slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

John Feehery 5:37 p.m. EDT March 23, 2016

Trump is the symptom but not the root of the incivility that threatens our political process. Of course, House Speaker Paul Ryan is correct. Incivility is making it increasingly difficult for America to resolve its problems through a peaceful political process.

This has been the case well before Donald Trump even thought about entering the race for president. Indeed, Trump is just the most notable symptom of a much more pernicious disease.

You don’t have to go far to see how incivility infects our society. Just watch any episode of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” to see how supposed friends interact in the most uncivil ways.

Tune in to talk radio and hear about how our political leaders are liars, i***ts, crooks or worse, and then turn on the television and watch commercials where those crooked politicians say the exact same thing about each other in attack ads.

This disease is not confined to the right. Democrats routinely attack Republicans for being r****t, sexist, f*****t and worse. In fact, their campaign strategies are often based on those memes.

I worked for House Republican Leader Bob Michel and it was Bob who lived politics by the mantra of being able to disagree without being disagreeable. Michel was a master legislative strategist who pushed through the Ronald Reagan agenda from his position as minority leader.

He was able to do that because he had a good working relationship with House Speaker Tip O’Neill and House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski. Michel was old-school. He saw firsthand what happens when the political process completely breaks down when he went to war against the N**i regime and was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge.

Radio talkers like Rush Limbaugh routinely criticized Michel for not being a strong enough conservative. But Michel understood the importance of the political process, the importance of political civility, the importance of coming to hard-fought agreements better than provocateurs like Limbaugh ever could.

We have reached a nadir in our national political discussion. When the Democrats aren’t comparing the Republicans to N**is, the Republicans are calling each other liars. Trump likes to call Sen. Ted Cruz “Lying Ted”, and there was one debate where Cruz, Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio called each other liars continuously throughout.

If those gentlemen were politicians in the early 1800s, they would have been forced to fight a duel to defend their honor. But these days, there is damn little honor among the political class.

And politicians face little backlash if they choose to be uncivil to one another. Joe Wilson, the Republican from South Carolina, raised $1 million in less than 48 hours after he called President Obama a liar from the House floor. Cruz called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a liar from the Senate floor and now he is in strong position to win the GOP nomination for the presidency. Heck, he even got an endorsement from Jeb Bush, whose family is known for being civil to a fault.

Social media has only made things worse. If you want to get sick to your stomach, read the Facebook page of any member of Congress. The things people will say to public servants are completely outrageous and disrespectful. It’s worse on Twitter. Most newspapers have decided not to publish comments at the end of their articles because those comments are so inappropriate.

Trump has figured out that having no class is a political plus. His fans love that he is politically incorrect. They love that he will say anything to anybody and about anybody. They love that he has no filter.

But guess what? The American people need a filter. They also need to have a greater appreciation of how their words — and those of their leaders — affect their colleagues, their neighbors and their kids.

Our political discourse needs to shape up. As Ryan said, "We shouldn't accept ugliness as the norm." Whether anyone heeds him or not, I am glad he said what he said.
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John Feehery is president of QGA Public Affairs and blogs at www.thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) when he was majority whip and as speechwriter to former Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

Yelling insults and throwing feces is what it s about these days. the worst in human nature is being brought out.. K**l the Liberals !! I read it all the time right here. Conservatives are ruining our country !! I read that here too. Stupid people fall for that crap. The uber rich are laughing at all of us. They are getting to get over on the world while we are busy squabbling with each other and being engrossed in propaganda sources. I called bulls**t on all of it a long time ago. People are amazed at the success of Donald Trump. The Liberal media has tried hard to squelch Bernie Sanders. Both of these men have capitalized on the frustrations of the common people and some have been shaken awake by this fact and far more have been mesmerized by blind rage at enemys real and imagined. Well good luck every body I hope sanity comes back soon.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

This e******n season is not the nastiest we've ever had, it is just much more visible and intrusive, thanks to the information age. Prior to instant communications, people had to pause a moment before committing their thoughts to paper and often filtered themselves somewhat.

The telegraph saw an increase in the vitriol spewed by candidates, but the vitriol hadn't increased by any measure, it was merely promulgated more widely. As the method of communication changed, increasing the audience and the speed of delivery, the nastiness appeared to increase. This is a classic mirage.

All manner of h**e and vitriol may be spewed instantaneously, with no filters applied. Many were shocked at first, but people will become used to anything after a sufficient length of time. What was once confined to private conversation between intimates, is now communicated directly to everyone. Politics and those practicing it, are no more nasty and h**eful than those that preceded them, it is simply that no delays occur between the thought and the promulgation of thought. There are no filters, or inhibitions online - those must be provided by the user.

Some concepts failed to develop at the same pace as the technology, such as, online bullying. Before the tech revolution, children avoided bullies as much as possible. Taking different routes home from school, h*****g with large numbers of friends, etc. When the social media craze hit, children had no instinctive self defense mechanisms in place - and did not know how to avoid the bullies. Bullying became acceptable, because it was easy to do and no one knew how to stop it. Ignoring the h**e messages, or deleting a facebook account, simply hadn't occurred to anyone, nor did bullied kids ganging up on the bullies occur to anyone either.

In the 21st century, 24/7 entertainment is the new norm and ALL entertainment is acceptable. What once was behind closed doors, is now in our faces, from family dynamics, criminal activities and the political process. The problem is, unlike the scripted reality TV show, this is real - but people cannot tell the difference. It all appears to be the same type of thing.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Excellent analysis, Doc (aka Lpnmajor). :wink: :thumbup:

Mary Griffin

This would not keeping going if our politicians were honest. Some have been caught doing very nasty or law breaking deeds. They get off Scott free or little else. Our politicians think they are above the laws. No one is above our laws. So let's not blame Trump for what's happening in politics, blame the real bad guys our representatives and the lobbyists and companies paying them off

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

Americans need a filter? Funny how important that filter gets when the guy who needs to use it is kicking your ass. I'm sure that's what Ryan meant.:lol: :lol: :lol:

Sorry! Americans have the MMA and gangsta rap (listen to it sometime), death metal, Naked and Afraid, people eating raw lizards, everything on MTV!

Americans don't need a filter...we need to be rid of the goddam Establishment!

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

I wish the Ghost of Christmas present would take the jerks in office on a middle of the night journey through all of the misery they should own and make them break down in shame.

:evil: :evil: :twisted: :twisted: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

BigMike Loc: yerington nv

Or the Ghost of Christmas Future could use a little psychology on them... :evil: :lol:

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

The phonieness I see in the p**********l campaigns is pathetic. If I see so do a lot of other people.