A lecturer at Iowa State U recently blasted the College Republicans (CRs) and the US Military in the college newspaper. He really took on the CRs for gathering gift boxes for our deployed troops; he had lots of nasty names for all concerned. See: http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/university-teacher-attacks-military-college-republicans.html
Hatred seems to rule today in politics. It’s fine to disagree strongly with ideas, actions, and programs. It’s not fine to attack humanity of the person who holds those views. Using emotion-laden terms like stupid, greedy, racist, and the like is totally inappropriate. Indeed, I will absolutely not vote for anyone who uses such terms. Indeed, such terms have zero meaning in fact–using them is a statement by the speaker that he/she has zero facts but wants to make points like throwing mud. People who speak like that very often are, themselves, beneath contempt.
Ronald Reagan, a very conservative Republican, and House Speaker Tip O’Neill from Mass, were political opposites and fought for their positions with great energy and emotion. But they never attacked each other’s humanity; indeed, they were friends and respected each other. That’s why, at the end of the day, they could sit down and work out a compromise that worked. Few in Washington today can do this. One of my favorite quotes from Tip is, “Mr. President, it’s quarter to five; can we knock off early and be friends now?”
Our nation needs leaders who have the intellect and integrity to stand up for what they believe, but are also able to defend their positions with facts and logic–not hatred.
