Let's All Calm Down, OK?

In the aftermath of the House passage of the Health Care reform bill, the news media has been consumed with the extremist reaction from both sides. Hate-filled voicemails, threatening e-mails and isolated incidents of vandalism or threatening behavior are being reported as if widespread—and could become a self-fulfilling prophesy.

When does REPORTING the news cross over into INCITING future “news”?

I don’t know, but frankly, I’m worried.

The most heinous acts against politicians in our history have mostly come from lone nutcases. Since I believe both Kennedy assassinations were far more involved, I’ll exclude them—but from Lincoln to McKinley to Garfield, Teddy Roosevelt, the attempts against Ford, Reagan and Wallace, a demented soul acted alone.

These crazies are out there—and I fear that the media is inspiring them to act. Perhaps there are those media personalities (who will remain nameless) that secretly hope for violence to spring from the outrage they spew over the airwaves, but I suspect that most are simply “doing their job”---namely, not ignoring a “story”.

It’s time to move on.

And with enough blame to go around on both sides, I have some advice for everyone (not that I am qualified to tell anyone anything):

1) To President Obama: STOP THE VICTORY LAP. You won. Health Care reform is now the law of the land—and while I am largely in favor of the overhaul of a faulty and corrupt system, there is nothing to be gained now by going around the country and sticking it to Republicans. Cries of “bring it on!” in response to threats from the right to repeal the law do nothing to heal the wounds caused by this battle. Please turn your attention to jobs and the economy. Bringing us back to prosperity is the best insurance for seeing to it that health care reforms are eventually seen as necessary.

2) To the Republicans: STOP TALK OF REPEAL. You are now simply whining. You have lost this battle. If you wish to make Democrats pay at the voting booth, then by all means, fight the individual battles in the districts where you feel you can pick up seats. Until you control the House, the Senate AND the White House, you will not repeal this law—and to incite your faithful with talk of repeal is disingenuous, unrealistic and a general waste of time. Using state Attorneys General to bring lawsuits is also a tactic that will backfire. Even your supporters will peel away, looking for something positive to support.

3) To the Right Wing Talk Show Hosts: (and this includes the entire FOX Network): STOP INCITING THE FRINGE. Yes, the informed and righteously opposed conservatives are listening to you, but so are the ignorant and deranged, the racist and intolerant. These cretins are your biggest fans—and frankly are the most likely to act out. Does this mean you pull an about-face and start supporting the President? No. But opposing his policies can be accomplished and articulated without the threatening and insults that have been your stock-in-trade. But,of course, being reasonable and even-handed isn’t good for ratings, is it? “Fair and balanced”---yeah, right.

4) To the Liberal Media/”Progressives”: STOP GLOATING. The unbridled glee at your recent legislative victory is hard to watch. Perhaps the loss of Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat to the Republicans WAS the blessing in disguise that provided the necessary wake-up call to Democrats. Perhaps it was the galvanizing event that in retrospect got the Dems to finally work together. Whatever. Get over yourselves, stop kicking the Republicans when they are down—and move your attention to the other areas of the agenda that concern you.

5) To the Public at Large: DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE, HEAR OR READ. A healthy skepticism is needed—and clues are left in the text and speech of those who seek to incite. They use “absolutes” when describing the consequences of anything. Words like “ALWAYS”, “EVERY TIME”, “WITHOUT EXCEPTION”, “EVERYTHING” used before a statement are ALMOST always (see how I refrained?) suspect. There are few “absolutes” in life and most certainly none in politics. If you are a Republican, spend a few hours away from FOX and watch MSNBC. Democrats, do the opposite. It will be good for you—and Public TV is largely even-handed, delivering the facts-and leaving the conclusions to the viewer. Be especially wary of content on the internet (blogs like this one!) Fact-checking is not a requirement for posting anything worldwide—and the wide dissemination of falsehoods makes separating fact from fiction even more daunting.

Democracy is messy. Compromise may not have been the hallmark of the last bill to be debated, but Democrats can go a along way in bringing civility to the next project by reaching out across the aisle. If they get slapped again, maybe Americans of all stripes will see a Republican party that’s only concerned with defeating the other side. If, however, a few brave Republicans can demonstrate statesmanship over politics—a trait that can be exhibited by the majority party too---maybe we can get something accomplished that has some semblance of unity.

Dreaming, aren’t I?

If you’d like my blog in your weekday box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com