On Saturday night after election day 2000, I attended a party of twenty or so people. The host had mentioned to me previously that he thought discussing politics at that sort of function was in poor taste, so I knew enough to keep my mouth shut. I wish he'd said the same to some of the Republicans. Three in particular started ranting about how Gore was trying to steal a state Bush had won. They angrily held forth while I gritted my teeth. But even if I had responded, I wouldn't have been yelling. Their hatefulness impressed me.
Fast forward to Monday, July 12. The headline of Mona Charen's column is "What some call charisma is really smarmy salesmanship: Edwards claims to help the 'little guy,' but it was ambulance-chasing that made him rich." There's no left-leaning columnist in the Post who's inclined to ad hominem attacks, but that kind of strafing is the main ammunition of Charen, Cal Thomas and Charles Krauthammer. Then there's talk radio and Fox. What haters. Now for the left. Molly Ivins lambastes Republicans regularly--with wit and style. Ditto Ariana Huffington. As for Krugman's columns, they are fact filled and thoughtful. And check out Barbara Ehrenreich at the New York Times. Okay, okay, I'll admit that Fahrenheit 911 is a polemic. And a damn good one. Go Michael!
Moving from pundits to politicos, we have Catharine Hanaway's bunch at the state level and, oh god, don't even let me start on Cheney, Rove, et. al.
People mourn the passing of civility now that we lefties are angry, but there comes a time when we have to push back. If I'd stayed any longer at that party, they'd have heard a piece of my mind. Maybe I should plan a party this fall for that same group--on November 7th. If I'm not grinning and complacent, I'll be angry enough to speak up this time.