My friend, Krista Tippet, had a forum not so long ago, calling on political leaders to exercise more civility - please, thank you very much.
In the face of the extreme Conservative attacks on civility and reasonableness - which seem to work, by the way - this author is calling on the Liberals to not descend to that same place of bickering - but to rather take the high road.
http://thebreakthrough.org/journal/issue-3/the-polarization-paradox/
This is an excellent piece - but a bit long. It calls for centrist moderation from the liberal left - not the liberal extreme reaction that many are pursuing. Some of the length comes from the exceptional research that went into this - it makes perfect sense - do read it.
OH - if you are of the conservative bent - you should read this too - it's all your fault, after all.
Here's one small quote:
"In the aftermath of a 2012 election that is likely to be among the most brutal campaigns in history, liberals would be well served to turn more attention and resources to rebuilding our civic culture, reconstructing a vital center in American politics, rather than investing ever more heavily in the liberal message machine. Reforming our civic and political institutions in ways that create some possibility for moderation, deliberation, and crosscutting discourse should be a high priority for liberals, who must recognize that without a functioning civic culture, there can be no progressive governance."
Carl, I would like to see one of our "Coffee and Conversations" on civility in public discourse and invite Krista Tippet to facilitate the discussion. Can you make this happen? I need to learn to be more civil in my own efforts. I must admit I was pleased to see the marriage amendment, voter photo ID and Chip Cravaack all defeated. I worked hard on all three as you may know if you got my Facebook postings.
ReplyDelete