As you know, I'm a great believer in civility. Most of my close friends don't think exactly the same way I do on certain issues but we can have an enjoyable time discussing almost anything.
Including politics.
But I'm running into more and more folks who come on with hate words.
Recently, when I was feeling sad about this, my friend reminded me of an article in the AARP Newsletter called "Civility in a Fractured Society."
In it Jim Leach reminds us that this isn't the lowest point in our political history. In 1804 Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton, our greatest Secretary of the Treasury.
Fifty years later Congressman Preston Brooks caned Senator Charles Sumner unconscious on the Senate floor in an argument over slavery.
We've always accused our leaders being a member of whatever group we're hating the most at the time - Thomas Jefferson a Catholic, Franklin Roosevelt a Jew, George Bush a fascist and, of course, Barack Obama a fascist and Muslim.
But it's much worse now because we're in the age of instant communication and hate-based talk shows.
I want to listen to you and learn from you but please don't tell me who you hate and why that person is Satan. Tell me how you would solve problems. Tell me what you love and why.
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