On Civility

In the days following the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords in Tucson, it has become apparent that her assailant is bereft of any coherent political ideology, mentally ill and more Mad Hatter than a Tea Partier. The left has had to backtrack on their outlandish claims that hate-spewing right-wing talk radio and the vitriolic conditions that reign in our bitter and fractured political climate fueled the shooting rampage.

There has nonetheless been the call for more civility in the tragedy’s wake: for politicians and partisans to reach out across the aisle, for the lion to lay down with the lamb. Can’t we all just get along? There has been historical precedent for this: On May 22, 1856, the pro-slavery Congressman Preston Brooks (D-SC) reached across the aisle of the floor of the Senate to the windy and supercilious Senator Charles Sumner (R-MA), a staunch abolitionist. Unfortunately for the right honorable gentleman from the Commonwealth, and following a terse preamble, Congressman Brooks did most of the reaching with an inch-thick gutta-percha cane. Mr. Brooks trapped his colleague beneath a heavy wooden desk and proceeded to beat him savagely about the head, stopping only when the cane broke into bits. Left bruised and suffering from chronic headaches, Mr. Sumner would survive the attack and return to lead the Radical Republicans of the Senate during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Mr. Brooks’ despicable actions were met by huzzahs from his adoring constituents (who also furnished him with a fresh supply of canes), but he died the following year of the croup.

As far as skirmishes and fisticuffs in the halls of government are concerned, we have a long way to go before things here resemble the South Korean Parliament or the Duma in the Ukraine, but such is the history of civility amongst the elected officials at the national level in the U.S. After tragedies involving the body politic, like Arizona, the gray lice in Washington are quick to pounce on a planned new era of institutional politesse and offer sound bites that the faux bonhomie will allow.

I am not buying it anymore. This won’t last. Following tragedies at the national level in Oklahoma City and New York City in 1995 and 2001, it wasn’t long before it was business as usual in our nation’s capital, and with the usual acrimony. I am not particularly disturbed by all this, though, and would trade politesse and decorum for competent government any day. Unfortunately for us, we will soon be left with the worst of both worlds—a paralytic and feckless government in Washington marked by rancor and partisan bickering.

We are largely an uncivil society, bilious and irascible. It was ever so and the roots of our incivility date to this country’s earliest years. Our commercial institutions have historically made their living preying on the weak and the helpless. The rest of us are quick to take offense, we squabble among ourselves and file lawsuits against one another like nobody’s business. The vulgar and violent actions and imagery, regardless of source, that color our social and political discourse have always been part of this nation’s fabric.

A long-standing history of national coarseness and incivility is nothing to be proud of, but our country’s historical greatness stems from the ability to transcend this in times of crisis and solve our problems.

Such a time looms large today. And which crisis, specifically? Examine the financial health of our state, and that goes for you out-of-staters residing here as you seek an education as well. The state of North Carolina is in debt to the tune of $2.5 billion, which it borrowed from the federal government, mostly to pay for benefits to the swarms of the unemployed. Our state’s insolvency leads to reductions in state-supplied services—just look what’s going on at the campuses of our neighboring public universities. North Carolina is not an anomaly and joins many other governments at the state and municipal level hemorrhaging red ink, awash in debt of unimaginable scale. The federal government in turn operates at a deficit level measured in the trillions of dollars, one trillion of which are carried by the Chinese, whose leader held most of the cards as he met with President Obama Thursday.

I remain unconvinced that anyone in Washington, Democrat or Republican, has any earthly idea how to stem this rising tide of horrific debt or prevent the collapse of our currency and the way of life that we practice in America today. But to have a feel-good moment and be nice to an opponent for a day or so to make some political hay, that they can do. Then it’s back to running this country into the ground and playing host to the visiting leadership of the totalitarian state which carries our debt.