Disagreeing Disagreeably

Whatever happened to things such as common courtesy and respect for others?  I fully understand that there have always been people who have little or no regard for other people--especially for those people with whom they disagree.  I also know that this has long been the case when it comes to political disagreements.  But it seems as though there has been a sharp increase in the disregard for common courtesy and respect for others over the past several years--and especially over the past year or so.

It doesn't help when the nation's leaders (or leaders-to-be) engage in name-calling.  Just this morning I saw a quote purported to be from the President-Elect of the United States that called a member of the United States Senate a clown.  Name calling is almost never helpful in solving problems or in ironing out disagreements. 

I have made no secret of the fact that I have disagreed with many of the policies and viewpoints of the current President of the United States, but I have striven to make it a point to be respectful of him.  When writing things about him--even when I have written about him regarding areas where the two of us disagree--I have made it my practice to refer to him as President Obama.  Before he was elected, my practice was to refer to him in my writings as Senator Obama.  Likewise, during the 2016 election season, I generally made it a practice to refer to Secretary Clinton.  I do have to admit that I am not perfect, however; I'm pretty sure that in casual conversations I likely referred to her at times as "Hillary."  But at least that is her given name, and I do not recall having called her names.

I will continue to strive to make sure that when I disagree with people to not resort to name calling.  I hope that by my writing this blog post today, I may influence other people to consider the things I've said, and perhaps make it a point to also refrain from name calling.  Instead, I hope that people will consider treating others with common courtesy and respect.