Pelosi Sounds a Warning

Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, sounded a warning today that I hope those in politics and those who make it their business to cover politics, will heed. Referencing the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone back in 1978 and tying the nasty political climate of that period to the one we're going through at the moment, Pelosi had this to say:

"I think we all have to take responsibility for our actions and our words. We are a free country and this balance between freedom and safety is one that we have to carefully balance. I saw...I saw this myself in San Francisco. This kind of rhetoric was very frightening and it gave—it created a climate in which violence took place. I wish that we all again would curb our enthusiasm in some of the statements that are made, with the understanding that some of the ears this is falling on are not as balanced as the person making the statement might assume."

Given some of the incredibly hateful things that are being said- and, more sadly still, believed by far too many as fact- about President Obama and others who are trying to improve the health care system in this country, Pelosi's warning comes at a pretty scary time. Will anyone pay the slightest bit of attention, though? Those in the business of stirring up this kind of hate don't seem to care what the results are, as long as it helps achieve their short term political goals.

I think most Americans are disgusted by the kind of hateful propaganda we've been seeing, but there is a core group out there all too ready to believe it, and who knows how many among them are capable of being driven to extremes by it? It's truly scary.

I wish people would step back and remember that no matter how passionate you feel about an issue, no matter how much you disagree with someone, you can do so in a civil way. So much of the political discourse in this country is so hateful and ugly, and instead of doing anything about it, we seem to have just accepted it and started looking the other way.