Intemperate Speech

In the moments following a heinous or tragic event hyperbole seems to reign. I suppose it is a natural thing to try to find some words to describe one's horror or to find someone or something on which to place the onus for the act. This is why I have held my opinion on the senseless shooting in Arizona this long because I too was tempted to trumpet my initial feelings. A column at that time would have been written far differently than this one.

You have often read in this column of my distaste for uncivil and hateful speech and this is no different. I have heard the shouters on talk radio trying to deny any responsibility for the culture of disrespect and the lack of civility but, to paraphrase The Bard, methinks they doth protesteth too much. I think they realize that without their intemperate speech their ratings would plummet and they would be reduced to actually having to have something to talk about. On the other hand they may actually believe they are contributing something positive to the democratic discourse in which case they are sadly deluded.

This morning I heard Mike Huckabee, otherwise a fairly temperate person, go off about the "left" using the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and the others for political fodder. I can’t deny that someone may have done that but the people to whom I have listened have not gone that far. What I have heard is that there can be no direct connection made between anyone’s speech and the shooting and it is irresponsible to try to do so. However, the uncivil and intemperate speech by people to whom people listen feeds the fires of our own worst instincts and makes fertile the ground in which action that mirrors that speech can take root. In the minds of many it will create a perception that if one seeks to delegitimize the positions of another then it becomes acceptable to take action against the person who lacks legitimacy. The craziest people will take the craziest actions. No, it cannot be directly linked to hateful speech but the results of that speech are evident in our newspapers and on the television news.

It takes no great leap of the imagination to know that the rancor over the health care bill or the assertion that the President is not a citizen contributes to the delegitimization of his office and his policies. It is only a short step from there to the idea that it would be OK to remove him. An action that would be anathema to most of us but may be acceptable to someone. As an example I bring to mind those who murdered doctors who performed abortions even though those procedures are legal. Regardless of how you feel on that issue taking the law into your own hands is not acceptable.

The vitriol directed at Congresswoman Giffords during her campaign and the attacks on her positions has the effect of painting her as something less than a true American rather than one who just has a different view of how things should be. Arizona has been a hotbed of such speech and we only have to witness the radicalization of Senator John McCain in his effort to play to the right of his challenger. Once a moderate who could work across the aisle he now is frequently seen participating in the same kind of speech he opposed just a short while ago.
While this speech is more prevalent on the right it exists also on the left. It seems that our political speech more and more seeks to radicalize the electorate rather than appeal to reason and logic. The reason for that is that it works. The recent Senate campaign in our own state certainly illustrates that. I don’t recall seeing a single positive message on either side with both parties seeking to paint the other as un-American and out of sync with the people.

It is understandable to most that we all have base emotions but it should also be understandable that we need to resist those undesirable inclinations and aspire to be something a bit better. Those of us who are Christians or those who belong to almost any other faith should recognize this principle in the teachings of our faiths. It applies not only to the ecumenical but also to the secular. I was brought up to aspire to be a better person, a more polite person and to be gentlemanly and it seems to me that crudity has overwhelmed this ambition and become much too acceptable in our society.

At the very least, those who speak from an elevated position in society should present an example that the people can wish to emulate rather than appealing to their base emotions. I think it would go a long way toward preserving the tenor of debate and the safety of the Republic.

That's my take on despicable speech and its results.
rmoore@somerset-kentucky.com