Sep 18, 2009
Daniel Shays is Crazy
In May, 2004, the president of the Heritage Foundation gave the commencement address at Hillsdale College. He used the occasion to decry a sudden explosion of incivility in American political life, noting that a prominent liberal had written a whole entire book about Rush Limbaugh being a big fat idiot. Not only that, but there were a bunch of websites that stooped so low as to attack the High Holy President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief of America (PBUH):
"Further down the food chain, lesser lights take up smaller hammers, but they commit even more degrading incivilities. The Internet, with its easy access and worldwide reach, is a breeding ground for Web sites with names like Bushbodycount.com [and] Toostupidtobepresident.com."
With George Bush as president, conservatives were perpetually horrified by the terrible incivility of the day. A new senator declined to shake the hand of the commander-in-chief; Cindy Sheehan impolitely asked if her son had died for a reason. The horror.
The argument about incivility was a narrative of power, an attempt to wall off the public sphere. Those making the" civility" argument aimed, in effect, to create a free-speech zone in which dissent could be contained and suffocated.
The argument about uncivil behavior is still a narrative of power. Today, it's wielded by different hands. It still has the same purpose.
"Further down the food chain, lesser lights take up smaller hammers, but they commit even more degrading incivilities. The Internet, with its easy access and worldwide reach, is a breeding ground for Web sites with names like Bushbodycount.com [and] Toostupidtobepresident.com."
With George Bush as president, conservatives were perpetually horrified by the terrible incivility of the day. A new senator declined to shake the hand of the commander-in-chief; Cindy Sheehan impolitely asked if her son had died for a reason. The horror.
The argument about incivility was a narrative of power, an attempt to wall off the public sphere. Those making the" civility" argument aimed, in effect, to create a free-speech zone in which dissent could be contained and suffocated.
The argument about uncivil behavior is still a narrative of power. Today, it's wielded by different hands. It still has the same purpose.