Thursday, August 6, 2009

Freedom of Speech and the Responsibility to Listen

At this point I want to depart from my usual theme and talk about this recent phenomenon, driven by a grass-roots conservative movement, where public forums about health care reform are being dirsrupted by an unruly crowd that shouts down the speaker at the podium. Their purpose is to prevent any meaningful discourse from occurring, and to create the impression in the media that there is a groundswell of opposition to health care reform.

First, I find it somewhat ironic that this ultra-conservative group is using tactics made popular by leftist radicals in the 1960s. But more to the point, I'd like to make these observations:

  • When a person resorts to yelling and dirsrupting reasonable discourse, it usually means that the person has nothing useful to bring to the discussion. It becomes an indictment, therefore, against conservative forces, who betray that they are "agin" reform, but have nothing better to offer.
  • These people were raised in a barn, and their mommas never taught them any manners.
  • It's a sad day in the body politic when we cannot have civilized and rational discourse on the issues at hand. It speaks sadly to the deterioration of civilization in our nation.
  • It behooves us to engage one another, even with wildly divergent views, in order to find a place where we can meet. Because we can't stay where we are, with regard to health care in this country.
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1 comment:

  1. RoyAugust 7, 2009 at 11:36 PM

    My friend, I would disagree wholeheartedly with your characterization of your fellow citizens as written above. A few carefully edited television clips backed by DNC advertising does not an "unruly crowd" make.

    Grass-roots conservatives have as much a right to make themselves heard by their representatives as the "grass-roots" movement that elected our president. The same president, by the way, that is spamming his e-mail list to ask that his "friends" report "fishy" e-mails received to a special address at the White House. Contravening federal law.

    Often a person will resort to yelling and disruptive discourse when they feel that they are being dismissed and ignored without a hearing. I personally called my representatives office to request the bill number on pending legislation that I wished to review and (after a long pause on hold) was given a bill number that was last used in 1997. In addition I was told that my representative "had not made a decision on this pending legislation" when their website had copies of speeches that the representative had made supporting a "yes" vote for the bill.

    How can you have a civil and rational discourse with an elected representative who is in a "safe" seat and is engaging in rushing through legislation from which there may be no recovery? It speaks to the deterioration of the representation in governance of our country.

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