Posted 8:38 am Tuesday, June 19, 2012
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Incivility Disturbing To Most Americans
Just as a new survey, “Civility in America 2012” is released, Time magazine demonstrates just why most Americans believe we have a “major civility problem” in the country — and expect it to get worse.
Last week, Time published an article of pseudoscientific claptrap by a Washington psychoanalyst titled “The Root of Mitt Romney’s Comfort With Lying.”
Last week, Time published an article of pseudoscientific claptrap by a Washington psychoanalyst titled “The Root of Mitt Romney’s Comfort With Lying.”
Dr. Justin Frank presumes two things to be true: First, that Romney is lying, and second, that he’s comfortable with it. He doesn’t bother to back up either assumption.
He does cite one example — Romney’s conclusions drawn from “The Escape Artists,” a book by Noam Scheiber. Romney’s takeaway from the book is that the Obama administration knew it was sacrificing economic recovery when it focused instead on health care reform. The book’s author says that’s the wrong takeaway — but looking closely at the passages cited, it’s not an unreasonable conclusion.
He does cite one example — Romney’s conclusions drawn from “The Escape Artists,” a book by Noam Scheiber. Romney’s takeaway from the book is that the Obama administration knew it was sacrificing economic recovery when it focused instead on health care reform. The book’s author says that’s the wrong takeaway — but looking closely at the passages cited, it’s not an unreasonable conclusion.
Schreiber himself wrote last week, “On some level, Obama was prepared to accept (and I’m making up these numbers for argument’s sake) three years of painfully high unemployment with health care reform rather than 30 months of painfully high unemployment without it.”
Schreiber doesn’t really accuse Romney of lying — he merely quibbles with Romney’s wording. But it’s enough for Time’s Frank.
Schreiber doesn’t really accuse Romney of lying — he merely quibbles with Romney’s wording. But it’s enough for Time’s Frank.
“This pattern of lying and not acknowledging it, even when confronted directly, has persisted and led me to look for other sources of Romney’s behavior and of his clear comfort with continuing it,” Frank wrote. “I think much of this comfort stems from his Mormon faith.
There it is.
Mitt Romney is a liar because he was born and raised in the Mormon religion.
Frank’s arguments aren’t just mean, they’re deeply offensive. His essay is a perfect example of the incivility Americans are tired of.
There it is.
Mitt Romney is a liar because he was born and raised in the Mormon religion.
Frank’s arguments aren’t just mean, they’re deeply offensive. His essay is a perfect example of the incivility Americans are tired of.
“The increasingly uncivil tone of our public dialogue is hurting our ability to deal with issues and discouraging people from participating in the discussion and entering public life,” says Pam Jenkins, whose research firm, Powell Tate, helped conduct the civility study. “We are suffering from a national civility disorder that is leading us down an unhelpful and unhealthy political path.”
The study itself adds that “a rancorous political environment is primarily responsible for driving a ‘national civility disorder’ and most Americans say politics is increasingly uncivil, complicating resolution of major issues and deterring qualified people from entering public service.”
Frank’s column shows just how destructive and discouraging the public conversation can become. Time magazine should be ashamed of itself for publishing it.
“Now is the time for Americans to be standard bearers for civil discourse,” another of the study’s authors, Jack Leslie, says. “We need to demonstrate to the next generation that people can hold different points of view, reach compromise, and treat opponents with dignity. To maintain our democratic and open society, we must find common ground.”
The study itself adds that “a rancorous political environment is primarily responsible for driving a ‘national civility disorder’ and most Americans say politics is increasingly uncivil, complicating resolution of major issues and deterring qualified people from entering public service.”
Frank’s column shows just how destructive and discouraging the public conversation can become. Time magazine should be ashamed of itself for publishing it.
“Now is the time for Americans to be standard bearers for civil discourse,” another of the study’s authors, Jack Leslie, says. “We need to demonstrate to the next generation that people can hold different points of view, reach compromise, and treat opponents with dignity. To maintain our democratic and open society, we must find common ground.”
