Incivility Roils and Rules American Politics

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A couple of days ago I used this space to recount some rather creative name-calling that had occurred between a few members of Congress at a nighttime committee hearing, a meeting in which there were reports that some members had been consuming alcohol.  The meeting began going off the rails when Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat from Texas, asked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia,about the relevance of a question that Greene had just asked.   Greene responded by saying that perhaps Ms. Crockett was unable to read committee documents because of her "fake eyelashes" - and from that point on the session quickly spiraled out of control.  

Incivility is running rampant in our nation's capital and at the highest levels of government, and it is a relatively new phenomenon.    Yes, there were some wags who referred to Richard Nixon as "Tricky Dick" sixty years ago, and thirty years ago we heard the occasional "Slick Willie" used to describe Bill Clinton.    Remarks like those are elementary school taunts compared to what we are having to put up with now - and I propose that this new and very egregious wave of incivility invaded our nation in the 2016 presidential election with the emergence of Donald John Trump.

Trump grew up in a protected environment that gave him the opportunity to learn to manipulate and bully others.  He has spent his entire life being the loudest, most obnoxious person in the room, and it has served him well.   One of his signature moments during the 2016 campaign was when he referred to Hillary Clinton, a former US Secretary of State, US Senator from New York, and First Lady of the United States, as "such a nasty woman" to her face,  live on the national debate stage.  Instead of the debate moderators, or Mrs. Clinton, stopping the debate at that point, as they should have done, the event proceeded and the concept of decency in politics washed away in its wake.

Today American politics is a dangerously backed-up sewer whose fetid waters wend their way through all three branches of government.  Members of the House and Senate are far more skilled at hurling personal insults at one another than they are at working together to pass legislation.  They revel in partisan rancor, and worry more about polishing soundbites and writing tweets that will go viral than they do about improving the lives of anyone other than themselves.

The courts have not been immune from the growing stench of politics.  The Roberts' Supreme Court has faced a growing tide of ethics complaints over the past several years.  This week Justice Clarence Thomas described Washington, DC, as a "hideous place" and said that he and his wife (an open supporter of the January 6th insurrection) have faced "lies" and "nastiness" from critics.  A few days ago there were stories in the national press that claimed Martha-Ann Alito, the wife of Justice Samuel Alito, had been in a political disagreement with a neighbor that included the neighbor calling her "the 'c' word," and Mrs. Alito retaliating by placing an upside-down US flag - a symbol of the insurrection - in her and Samuel's yard.

But the major thrust of incivility in our national government remains at the executive level and it still, as it did in 2016, revolves around and focuses on Donald Trump.  The former President wallows in name-calling;  he relishes it.    News stories about Trump seem to constantly bring up the topic of "gag orders,"  legal measures that judges find necessary because of Trump's propensity to spew lies and insults, often about people who are involved in the numerous legal proceedings against him.  He attacks judges, lawyers, and witnesses (and sometimes even their relatives) with a total disregard of fairness, safety, or even truth.

Trump's verbal attacks on his likely opponent in the 2024 general election, President Joe Biden, are seldom anything more that just plain, old-fashioned name-calling, like when he referred to Hillary as "such a nasty woman."  Trump fixates on "Sleepy Joe," or "Crooked Joe," or roars that Joe was "high as a kite," in much the same manner as an adolescent would shout at a rival while trying to a fight.

America has come a long way since 2016, however, and now some people who were perhaps raised better, are nevertheless rolling up their sleeves and beginning to fight back.  Marge Greene may zing a "fake eyelashes" remark with her peashooter wit, but it will not go unanswered.  Jasmine Crockett who operates a mental howitzer, was able to fire back her own assessment of Greene ("bleach blond, bad-built, butch body") well before the Georgia congresswoman could even begin to think about reloading.

Stormy Daniels did not hesitate on the witness stand when Trump's lawyer tried to embarrass her with a Daniels' tweet in which she had referred to Trump as an "Orange Turd."  Ms. Daniels told the lawyer from the witness stand that she "absolutely" was referring to Mr. Trump with that description.  The porn star and the lawyer bandied the term "orange turd" about several times, in fact, with Trump listening from just a few feet away.

(Some have noted that the "orange turd" description is not that far afield considering that the person to whom it was attached is basically oval in shape, somewhat lumpy, and generally orange in color - except. of course, for his tiny white hands.)

Others openly disparage Trump as well.  He was referred to as "Don Snoreleone" in social media because of his tendency to fall asleep during this New York City "hush money" trial, and just yesterday there was an opinion piece on the internet which referred to the former President as "Adderall J. Trump," a none-too-subtle response to his baseless assertion that Joe Biden must have been high on drugs to have delivered such a forceful State of the Union address.

Yup, name-calling 101, but as we used to say in grade school:  "He started it!"

Incivility roils and rules American politics!

I can remember when we were much better than that.