A couple of comments about Congressman Dusty Johnson's Call for Civility--I agree with much of what he says, for example, "we must have thoughtful discourse among engaged citizens, not emotional attacks of enraged partisans" but I disagree with some parts of what he suggests. First, he urges us to provide the benefit of the doubt, under which he argues that "relationships fail when couples stop assuming the best in each other"--I'd argue relationships fail when people lose trust in each other, when they've been lied to and they find out. For anyone who has experienced this (guessing that's most of us) reestablishing trust is difficult. It begins when a person's behavior and actions match their words. We say things like "trust but verify" not I'm going to just give you the benefit of the doubt that you won't lie to me again. I'm all in favor of seeking out reliable sources of information--and I agree that FB or X or other social media need to be taken with a grain of salt as does the mainstream media. For example, Fox settled a lawsuit for nearly 800 million dollars for KNOWINGLY lying about the outcome of the 2020 election. Let me repeat that: they knew that the outcome wasn't impacted by fraud, but they said it was anyway. Should we give them the benefit of the doubt? I'd argue no, and I'd further argue that they are not a legitimate source of information--they've even argued in court that they aren't in the news business, but in the entertainment business. I'm happy to reject whataboutism--instead of saying every time that Trump lies that the other side lies too, I'd like it first acknowledged "this is not true". And yes, go ahead and say that when Harris doesn't tell the truth as well. Representative Johnson ends by arguing we need to amplify constructive views which use logic and not bile and that we shouldn't let the bastards get us down. We should use "terrible tragedies" like the shooting at Trump's rally (I still don't understand how we can claim it was an assassination attempt since we don't know that is what the shooter intended) to unite our nation. Uh, okay, unite away--but look at your own behavior first. Johnson claims we shouldn't assume others are being motivated by racism, fascism, communism or some other evil-ism. But calling out people for racism or fascism isn't assuming that's what motivates them--it's identifying facts that are relevant. Read Project 2025 or listen to the calls of Republican party leadership when they praise Putin (as Trump just did yet again). Historian Heather Cox Richardson puts it this way: "In today’s moment, when someone like J.D. Vance backer billionaire Peter Thiel says, “Democracy, whatever that means, is exhausted,” and the Republicans’ Project 2025 calls for replacing democracy with Christian nationalism, it makes sense for all people who care about our history and our democratic heritage to pull together." That is the challenge that faces us today, and while I agree with Congressman Johnson, that it is time to put the invective aside and engage in civil debates about policy choices, doing so requires aligning our behavior with our words. Hopefully, as Congressman Johnson urges, we can begin to pull together as Americans, replace rage with logical and civil and non-violent discourse. I worry if we fail in this quest we'll see the violence again, and whether the it's a shooting at Trump's rally or it's some other violence similar to Jan. 6th, we will have failed. We cannot afford to fail.
A couple of comments about Congressman Dusty Johnson's Call for Civility--I agree with much of what he says, for example, "we must have thoughtful discourse among engaged citizens, not emotional attacks of enraged partisans" but I disagree with some parts of what he suggests. First, he urges us to provide the benefit of the doubt, under which he argues that "relationships fail when couples stop assuming the best in each other"--I'd argue relationships fail when people lose trust in each other, when they've been lied to and they find out. For anyone who has experienced this (guessing that's most of us) reestablishing trust is difficult. It begins when a person's behavior and actions match their words. We say things like "trust but verify" not I'm going to just give you the benefit of the doubt that you won't lie to me again. I'm all in favor of seeking out reliable sources of information--and I agree that FB or X or other social media need to be taken with a grain of salt as does the mainstream media. For example, Fox settled a lawsuit for nearly 800 million dollars for KNOWINGLY lying about the outcome of the 2020 election. Let me repeat that: they knew that the outcome wasn't impacted by fraud, but they said it was anyway. Should we give them the benefit of the doubt? I'd argue no, and I'd further argue that they are not a legitimate source of information--they've even argued in court that they aren't in the news business, but in the entertainment business. I'm happy to reject whataboutism--instead of saying every time that Trump lies that the other side lies too, I'd like it first acknowledged "this is not true". And yes, go ahead and say that when Harris doesn't tell the truth as well. Representative Johnson ends by arguing we need to amplify constructive views which use logic and not bile and that we shouldn't let the bastards get us down. We should use "terrible tragedies" like the shooting at Trump's rally (I still don't understand how we can claim it was an assassination attempt since we don't know that is what the shooter intended) to unite our nation. Uh, okay, unite away--but look at your own behavior first. Johnson claims we shouldn't assume others are being motivated by racism, fascism, communism or some other evil-ism. But calling out people for racism or fascism isn't assuming that's what motivates them--it's identifying facts that are relevant. Read Project 2025 or listen to the calls of Republican party leadership when they praise Putin (as Trump just did yet again). Historian Heather Cox Richardson puts it this way: "In today’s moment, when someone like J.D. Vance backer billionaire Peter Thiel says, “Democracy, whatever that means, is exhausted,” and the Republicans’ Project 2025 calls for replacing democracy with Christian nationalism, it makes sense for all people who care about our history and our democratic heritage to pull together." That is the challenge that faces us today, and while I agree with Congressman Johnson, that it is time to put the invective aside and engage in civil debates about policy choices, doing so requires aligning our behavior with our words. Hopefully, as Congressman Johnson urges, we can begin to pull together as Americans, replace rage with logical and civil and non-violent discourse. I worry if we fail in this quest we'll see the violence again, and whether the it's a shooting at Trump's rally or it's some other violence similar to Jan. 6th, we will have failed. We cannot afford to fail.