No integrity, no honesty, no service.

[whell]

Originally Posted by donquixote99

Oh, spare us. You know you LIVE for the occasions you can provoke someone into intemperate reaction. You always regard them as your great triumphs. Which, of course, is truly sad.

Actually, I don't. It's called a "differing opinion". I know you can't stand the thought that someone might have an opinion of their own, which is why it likely provokes you "into intemperate reaction".

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Religion/biblically-based morals. Same diff.

Swing and a miss. Strike two.

Unless you're suggesting that someone can't live a "moral life" without religious influence.

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Have you being paying any attention to your Dear Leader's behavior? Trump cultists like you have no standing to comment upon civility or morality. The restaurant owner was unwilling to help SHS unwind after a hard week of lying to the public about mass child abuse and you want to criticize her for it?

Have you been paying attention: this question wasn't directed to you, and it wasn't about Trump? Not that you wouldn't resist an opportunity to bloviate on your favorite pet peeve.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

Have you been paying attention: this question wasn't directed to you, and it wasn't about Trump? Not that you wouldn't resist an opportunity to bloviate on your favorite pet peeve.

Unwilling to answer a question that would reveal your fealty to your vile Dear Leader?

[whell]

Originally Posted by bobabode

"Here we go again: As Trump administration policies become ever more intemperate and inhumane, critics of those policies are being counseled to become more “civil” in their criticisms.
This is an old pattern and a discreditable (and discredited) one. The idea seems to be that if the critics would just air their views politely and tactfully, their targets would suddenly awaken to the error of their ways. All Americans would then march hand-in-hand toward a nirvana of permanent comity.
The truth is that, as urged upon critics by their targets, pleas for “civility” are a fraud. As aired by members of the critical camp themselves, the pleas are a trap. More often than not, the result is to blunt the impact of the critique and enfeeble the opposition. That is, of course, what the targets hope for.
As we observed a few years ago during a free-speech controversy on the UC Berkeley campus, the targets of free speech always try to counteract it by the use of weasel words. Calling for "constructive criticism" is weaseling. So is "You can express your views as long as they're respectful." In those examples, "constructive" and "respectful" are modifiers concealing that the speaker really doesn't wish to be challenged at all." LA Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/hilt...625-story.html

Ol' Mike Hiltzik from my hometown paper has the long and the short of it. In effect, we're being provoked and then gaslighted by these crooks and liars in the White House, aided and abetted by their willing sycophants in congress. Interesting times we're living in, that's for sure.

This is actually a fascinating exercise in juxtaposition and possibly hypocrisy, though I'm laughing that this "story" isn't in the opinion section where it belongs.

So, let me get this straight. When Democrats call for "civility" in political discourse - as Obama did - its an attempt at being "unifying" and supportive of "bi-partisanship". But when Repubs do it, its a "fraud" and an attempt to curtail free speech?

So, when Pelosi called for civility after Auntie Maxine called for folks to "go out and create a crowd to push back", that was curtailing Auntie Maxine's free speech? Pelosi was perpetrating a fraud?

This is just fascinating.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

So, let me get this straight. When Democrats call for "civility" in political discourse - as Obama did - its an attempt at being "unifying" and supportive of "bi-partisanship". But when Repubs do it, its a "fraud" and an attempt to curtail free speech?

Any Trump cultist calling for civility is indeed a fraud and a hypocrite. Why is that so hard for you to understand? Trump complaining about a lack of civility is akin to Hitler complaining about anti-Semitism. In both cases, incivility and anti-Semitism are their respective defining traits.

[whell]

What a nice, non-level playing field you've set up. Throwing people out of restaurants is "civil" according to you, but calling for civility is "fraud" depending on who is calling for it.

At least there are some Dems out there trying to be adults, even if you're not:

David Axelrod, the former Obama campaign strategist, urged calm.

“Disgusted with this admin’s policies? Organize, donate, volunteer, VOTE! Rousting Cabinet members from restaurants is an empty and, ultimately, counter-productive gesture that won’t change a thing,” he said in a tweet, according to The Times.

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by whell

What a nice, non-level playing field you've set up. Throwing people out of restaurants is "civil" according to you, but calling for civility is "fraud" depending on who is calling for it.

At least there are some Dems out there trying to be adults, even if you're not:

David Axelrod, the former Obama campaign strategist, urged calm.

“Disgusted with this admin’s policies? Organize, donate, volunteer, VOTE! Rousting Cabinet members from restaurants is an empty and, ultimately, counter-productive gesture that won’t change a thing,” he said in a tweet, according to The Times.

Axelrod's point is a political one, not a moral one. He's afraid of allowing Trump to misdirect the discussion of incivility towards Democrats (a dishonest tactic that you're more than willing to employ), thereby alienating Independents. It changes nothing about Trump's inherent and obvious immorality, something you're obviously blind to.

[Rajoo]

Originally Posted by Oerets

I believe after dealing with family and friends that playing nice only appears weak to them. Speaking up and fighting back showing strength upsets their game. The Left needs to take back the narrative, ID themselves. Quit letting the Right do the ID'ing.

From WiKi:

"I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity? I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice. On this subject, I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation. No! no! Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; — but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present. I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD. The apathy of the people is enough to make every statue leap from its pedestal, and to hasten the resurrection of the dead."

William Lloyd Garrison, American abolitionist, journalist, and social reformer.

I came across this quote on the internet and remembered. Speaks to your point of view, though I am not sure how effective this will be in the end. The Democrats have no credible leadership to attract the Independents who now have a significant sway in elections.

[Dondilion]

Originally Posted by whell

So, when Pelosi called for civility after Auntie Maxine called for folks to "go out and create a crowd to push back", that was curtailing Auntie Maxine's free speech? Pelosi was perpetrating a fraud?

The smart Dems are very nervous re a "free" Aunt Maxine.