Civility in Politics

Last week the Washington press was abuzz, caused by VP Cheney's cursing out of Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy for his accusations of impropriety regarding Halliburton contracts in Iraq. For the most part, the press was full of statements saying that this is an example of the lack of political civility of Washington politics. As Charles Krauthammer points out, in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek article is how this same press notices this incivility, but gives a pass to the almost daily incivilities hurled at the Bush Administration by the Coalition of the Wild-Eyed".

Ah, but the earnest chin-pullers are not amused. Cheney's demonstration of earthy authenticity in a chamber in which authenticity of any kind is to be valued has occasioned anguished meditations on the loss of civility in American politics. Liberals in particular have expressed deep concern about this breach of decorum.

Odd. The day before first reports of Cheney's alleged indiscretion, his Democratic predecessor, Al Gore, delivered a public speech in which he spoke of the administration's establishing a "Bush gulag" around the world and using "digital brown shirts" to intimidate the media. The former vice president of the United States compared the current president to both Hitler and Stalin in the same speech -- a first not just in hyperbole but in calumny -- and nary a complaint is heard about a breach of civility.

If you suspect that this selective indignation may be partisan, you guessed right. But here's an even more important question. In the face of Gore's real breach of civil political discourse, which of the following is the right corrective: (a) offer a reasoned refutation of the charge that George Bush is both Stalinist and Hitlerian; (b) suggest an increase in Gore's medication; or (c) do a Cheney.

The correct answer is "C." And given the circumstances, go for the deuce.