All rally around the Civility Pole.
The latest example of supposed civility is nothing more than a “made for TV” battle cry that the media will love. Mark Udal of Colorado proposed that Congress sit in no particular political side of the aisle for the upcoming State of the Union Address. Udal proposed this in a letter to his colleagues pointing out that there’s nothing in our founding documents saying that lawmakers must sit in separate parts of the Capitol Building during the speech.
He’s right, it’s not specifically written in the Constitution, but he must not have read Federalist Paper 10, or James Madison Rules America, by William Connelly Jr. Either will give him a good look at the Constitutional origins of partisanship.
I’ll get to that in a moment, but first, Udal knows the media will take this “ball of supposed bi-partisanship” and run with it. Democrats don’t have to appear as bi-partisan as Republicans because they have the media doing their dirty work for them every step of the way. Democrats have the luxury of knowing they can sit in their Ivory Tower of Unity and the activist old media will be there to give them cover.
Look at how this discussion has been crafted since Saturday’s tragic shooting in Tucson. The left jumped out before the blood had been wiped up from the scene (literally) and blamed Republicans and conservative talk show hosts for their incivility. Forget that none of the details about what motivated the shooter was known at that point, and forget that their theory has since been totally de-bunked, they are moving forward with it anyway. This accusatory tone is standard operating procedure for the left and their media. This was not born with this latest tragedy.
Civility is the new censorship. That’s what a brilliant caller on Rush Limbaugh’s show shared with the nation this week. The left has wanted to shut the right up for years and it is absolutely despicable that they are using this tragedy to silence conservatives. Didn’t Gabrielle Giffords read the First amendment from the floor of the House earlier this month? Yes, she did.
The activist old media refuses to point at the incivility by this President and those on the left–oh, they will make a passing statement that it is bad on both sides–but they refuse to get specific and blast their beloved Democrats. Truth be known, the left is much more uncivil than the right. Everything from a lib in Wisconsin blasting his TV set because Bristol Palin was rising to the top on Dancing With The Stars, to the President of the United States urging his followers to “punch back twice as hard” against those who oppose him. It is everywhere on the left.
As for what the Founders said about civility, left’s go there. Dare I bring this up without facing the wrath from the left? Cover me, I’m going in and bringing up our Founding documents. Besides, Udal said he was unaware of their thoughts on the issue.
James Madison, was one of the most partisan of the Founding Fathers, in fact, would anybody be amazed to believe that he once said: “No free country has never been without parties, parties are the natural offspring of freedom.” Yep, Madison 1821.
He also said “parties must always be expected in a government as free as ours.” 1792.
Federalist 10 has much more on this issue.
Oh, by the way, Madison’s nickname(along with Father of the Constitution) was Jemy The Knife, even though he was described as no bigger than “half a bar of soap,” Madison stood for something and was known as brutal when it came to getting what he wanted. Oh, he could get along with others in that sweaty Hall in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 but he would not give ground when it came to the cause of Liberty.
Historian Joseph Ellis called the American Revolution “The age of passion … it was a decade long shouting match.” By the way, author David McCullough estimates that 1% of the American population was killed fighting the Revolution. It was a pretty brutal time, and I’ll spare you the viciousness of the Civil War, but it was much, much worse.
Partisanship has its founding in our Constitution. Our Founders believed that friction creates light as well as heat.
It was Woodrow Wilson who first advanced the “progressive” talk of bipartisanship to a large degree in this country. He was a scholar, professor, and later President of Princeton. He was a brilliant man who wanted everybody to just get along and follow him. He talked Republicans into jumping on board with him to build the Federal Reserve. Need I say more?
Through the 1950’s until 1994 the conflicts in Congress were minimal because Republicans were willing to walk around with their tails between their legs to save their jobs. In spite of the fact that the Republicans held the White House for most of those years, Congress was a different beast, it was filled with Republicans wimps. It was this spirit of bipartisanship that gave us the LBJ “Great Society” for which we are still paying a “Great Price.” The left has made its greatest advancements when they have first demanded a spirit of bipartisanship, often preceded by tragedy (WWI with Wilson, Kennedy Assassination with LBJ—and just for fun, study what FDR tried during WWII) This silencing of conservatives is the nirvana that the Democrats lust after today, but they know after Nov. 2, 2010 they are lucky to have survived as a party. They also know Nov. 6, 2012 is coming.
Listen, I’m all for people getting along. Let’s do that. Let’s make the Constitution our middle ground and begin our talk right there. There is no better middle ground for this nation. When liberals agree with me on that, let’s have the most civil discussions that anybody could imagine. Short of that, you will see me stand my ground and I may pull out some “Jemy The Knife” quotes that you will find uncivil.
But, never forget, the media loves and fuels conflict better than any group out there, but they love their leftist agenda more, so for this short time they will feign civility and talk about how everybody needs to get along so that conservatives will shut up. When we don’t, Big Eddie will snap (again.)
Big Journalism
