Friday, October 09, 2009

Losing Our Decorum

When a country loses its civility, it is in danger of losing a lot more.

Throughout our nation, we’ve seen an appalling lack of civility these last few months surrounding the health care debate, from everyday folks to elected officials. Our own region, unfortunately, was not exempt from this behavior.

At a recent town hall debate with Congressman Joseph Courtney, some of the attendees demonstrated inappropriate behavior. Foul language and a blatant disrespect for others and their opinions was the norm rather than the exception, and their actions left a bad taste in the mouths of those who simply wanted to be part of one of the most important debates in our nation’s history.
When we act in ways that are not civil, we destroy those things that bring us together.

There is a need for people today, more than ever, to pay attention and to learn about government functions rather than relying on misleading sound bites. We all have a responsibility to understand both sides of the issues we feel passionately about, and make an informed choice about our own stance. A resource such as www.factcheck.org/, offering unbiased truths on Democratic and Republican claims and policies, is a good starting point.

Like it or not, we depend on our elected officials to be well-informed and to make the right choices, because we live with those choices. The quality of our community depends on our ability to recognize fact from fiction and elect those who stand the closest to our beliefs. And when we disagree, our community depends on us to voice that opinion in a civil, polite manner.

Tony Sheridan
President, Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT

Comment by Jeffrey Sandstrom | Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 12:07

Everyone should be treated with respect. That holds true whether you agree with them or not. It amazes me that so many people find that hard to do. I know this will probably sound corny but if everyone simply followed "The Golden Rule", "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You", there would be far less problems in this world. Why should that be so hard
to do??

Comment by Fred Allyn Jr. | Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 12:08

We could dispute the trashing that several of us have taken in the past few months. Newspapers have, with their "blogging" opportunities, created a whole new level of personal distruction without the benefit of facts!

Comment by Jack Jolls | Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 12:08

I attended the Montville Town Meeting held by Congressman Courtney. I arrived early; but not early enough. The hall was full. The local fire marshall sent us away. People outside were eager, full of expectation, edgy, well behaved; but, you could feel the tension.

I was troubled by the fact that apparently those advocating the single payer plan had preferential positioning in the entry way to the hall. Those opposed were relegated to the outdoors. Advocates of the single payer plan were working the lines indoors making sure people had the "right" stick-on badge. I am unsure of how this arrangement could have happened.

There was no evidence of any SEIU people outside and I saw no out-of-state license plates in the parking lot as was reported by the Courant at the Woodstock Town Meeting. I also had two very useful and civil conversations with people on the opposite side from my view on the health care issue.

My point here is that people on the "NO" side of the issue who pay attention to media such as Fox News see town meetings in several parts of our country where the "deck got stacked", where there was physical intimidation by people who seemed to be there solely for that purpose, and by restricted access to microphones. Through this process they come "pre-wired" to expect to be denied in the coming process. Amplify this through three or four iterations and you get behavior that can be easily labelled "uncivil."

Such is the way of democracy, constant argument. Anyone who participates in the New England open town meeting format of governance knows that all is not always "cordial" or fair.

Usually when the process is fair and civil there is a presence of strong and balanced leadership. They all kind of go together. This whole process has been lacking in the latter-two attributes (strong and balanced), in my opinion. I did not say, "Fair and balanced." FOX is not always right either.

Strong leaders of a community forum have the option to choose to make the process fair. But it is a choice.

Both sides have demonstrated strong but not balanced leadership. They have not chosen "fair." Maybe that's the real problem. Maybe it's about leadership.
Maybe.

Comment by robert | Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 12:09

@Jack Jolls:
I was at that meeting in Montville, too. If you didn't see any out-of-state plates, you weren't paying any attention. You couldn't miss them if you were watching for them, they were close to the front, meaning a lot of them arrived early, and were almost certainly in the auditorium. They were also the ones wearing the pre-printed stickers of various kinds that no one seemed to have available there, you had to be one of "them" to have one.
As you noted, there was limited space. I have to wonder why it never occurred to anyone at the Town Hall to check ID's and give that limited space to only people who actually live in the 2d District. Or am I wrong in thinking the whole purpose was for Joe to talk to his constituents? If it was just a show, then I guess there wasn't a problem.

Now, about civility, to which this Health Care debate is a very good lead in.

The bottom line of this issue is the Constitution. There is no federal authority to be involved in it at all. Now, if it is true that an overwhelming majority want this, it should be no challenge to change the Constitution the way that document allows for such changes, with an Amendment. However, as long as you don't have that federal authority, no amount of pretending the Town Halls do not get packed with people from other states (regardless of which side of the issue they are on) and no "mandate" to the President will give them that authority, and it doesn't matter what the polls say or how accurate or biased they are. If it isn't in the Constitution, there is nothing to discuss, report on, or take polls about.

The Constitution is all we have that preserves our Liberty. It is far more important than any possible crisis, in health care or anything else. If being "civil" requires me to give that document up, to stand silent and allow it to be ignored and interpreted at the whim of polls, or to allow lies to be presented as truth, then I have no interest in being "civil."

Chamber Blog

Losing Our Decorum

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