Sunday Musings 9/11/16 Civility in Language

I am struck by how anger can overwhelm common sense in this political campaign.  The Cable TV culture which Donald Trump has used to feed his need for narcissistic approval while camouflaging what he really believes has gotten under Hillary's skin to the point when she is in front of her true believers she has lost control of her common sense button.

Now I do not believe that common sense thrives in the Cable TV culture.  Doing the outlandish is what draws people into watching it, improving ratings and advertising rates and increasing the pay of the reality TV starts.  This is clearly the playbook of Donald Trump but I wish Hillary would simply put a lid on her language and remember that every voter is deserving of respect, even if you don't like what they are saying.

Now I will admit that getting throngs of people saying "Lock them Up" and referring to me would make me angry, but we expect more from our candidates for President.  We expect them to be calm and rational.  Hillary was calm when she disparaged 50% of Trump's supporters, but that was an irrational statement made in the thrall of being the center of attention within a group of people who think similarly.  Not unlike why Donald Trump gets the audience chanting "Lock her Up".

But I believe most voters know people who are supporting or will vote for the candidate of the other party.  They understand that a lack of civility in language and process has made Congress dysfunctional.  And if the President does not lead us in civility, then there is no hope for ending the dysfunctionalty.

While I have written blog postings in anger, because I am always hoping that what I write will convince RedStateVT to support one of my positions, I try to keep my language civil and respectful of what the other side is saying.  That is why I am disappointed in Hillary's language the other day and incredibly impressed by President Obama's ability to be civil in the face of incredible incivility towards him by many in the GOP.

As for Donald Trump, I have written many words about his lack of morality in how he has pursued increasing his personal wealth.  It is this lack of morality combined with his uncivil language that make the potential for him to win this election completely foreign to my way of thinking.  I am incredibly stressed out by this potential.  I don't understand how any person who cares about civility could vote for him, but I know that this will happen.