Time To Quit The Name-calling

As I write this, as of the most recent information I have heard, Congressman Scalise is still in critical condition after having been shot yesterday.  First and foremost, we should all hope and pray for his recovery.

Some people have begun to call for a gentler tone when it comes to political talk.  A great example is this commentary by Scott Pelley of CBS News:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/commentary-scott-pelley-attack-foreseeable-predictable-self-inflicted/

Mr. Pelley makes some very good points.  But part of the problem is that each "side" tends to think that the other "side" is worse.

There's nothing wrong with debating policy, goals, and possible avenues to reach those goals.  In fact, good debate is a positive thing.  However, the reality is that both "sides" are guilty of straying from the merits (and/or lack thereof) of various policies and into the realm of verbal attacks and name-calling against the people who hold opposing views.

Beginning nearly two years ago--well prior to the determination of the nominees for President during the 2016 campaign--I started keeping track for a while of some of the different verbal name-calling that I was seeing on Facebook. I made note of name-calling in posts that might be deemed political, keeping track of when liberals used the name-calling tactic and when conservatives used the name-calling tactic.  Here's what I found:

Conservatives said of liberals:

…This is an evil man

…this idiot

…these creeps

…a distraction from the other traitor

…Libtard

…douchebag

…Dumb A** (edited by me)

…nut case

 Liberals said of conservatives:
…poor dumb SOB’s;

...ignorant white dudes

…a very crafty greedy evil man

…Knuckleheads

…These people are stupid beyond belief

…lunatics

…he’s just so….icky!

…moron…blathering idiot…unelectable turkey…

…angry misanthrope

…idiots

…such a buffoon

…Ludicrous, cheap, uninformed, and sleazy

…F****** sociopath (edited by me)

…this turd

…the idiot

Basically, both "sides" have been guilty.

 I hope that Americans will continue to debate ideas and philosophies.  I also hope that we will cease to resort to name-calling and verbal attacks against those with whom we may disagree.

One Final Slap In The Face

The setting: Xenia, OH -- the intersection of W. Main St. and King St.  I can't begin to count the number of times I've had to stop for a red light at that intersection while driving on Main St. when there was no cross traffic.  It's likely that in years (or perhaps decades) past, there was a legitimate need for a traffic light at that intersection.  But in the five-plus years I have personally been passing King St. on Main St. on a more or less regular basis, very rare has been the time when traffic patterns have warranted a traffic light there.  In fact, I'd said in the past that being stopped by that traffic light almost seemed like an insult.  So several weeks ago, when a road sign was erected stating that the traffic signal would be removed on June 12, 2017, I was very happy to see that sign.

As my schedule developed, it turned out that I had to drive down Main St. and pass through that intersection at about 7:15 on the morning of June 12th. As I was about a block away from King St., the light was green, and I figured that it was still too early in the day for the signal to have been removed.  I also thought that perhaps--just perhaps--I might avoid getting stopped by that light the one final time it would have the opportunity to stop me.

But it was not to be.  The light turned yellow when I was about a half block away from King St., and I had to stop for the light one last time.  The entire time the light was red for me, there was absolutely no cross traffic.  When I saw the light at the next intersection about a block ahead turn green with a left turn arrow--the intersection where I would need to turn left--I may have experienced a very, very, slight temptation to just go through the King St. intersection against the red light, but I had also noticed in my rear view mirror that the vehicle behind mine was being driven by one of the city's finest.  So as I sat at that intersection and waited for that blasted red light at King St. to turn green for me one last time, I also looked at the light a block ahead and hoped that it would stay green long enough for me to get through it once I had my (hopefully) final opportunity to simply sit idle and take in the ambiance of the Main St.-King St. intersection. Finally the light turned green, just a few moments before the light at the next intersection turned yellow, meaning I'd have to wait for about another minute and a half before I could make my left turn.  And as timing would have it, once I turned left, traffic patterns were such that I got stopped at three of the next four traffic lights after I made my turn.

It was one final slap in the face from that unneeded traffic light--one final insult.  I haven't had to drive through that intersection again since yesterday morning; I hope that traffic signal was actually taken down as scheduled yesterday.  I have one final thing to say to it: good riddance.