Sean Kershaw's Weblog
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July 20, 2009
The Irony, and Reality, of Uncivil Discourse
It amazes me -- but not really -- that in the middle of a fantasic update of Nate Garvis' "Uncivil Discourse" speech at last week's National Civic Summit -- where he talked about the dangers of ideology, dogma and bad politics -- we see a perfect example of a very uncivil discourse, dogma, and bad politics.
This has nothing to do with party identity -- both the DFL and Republican parties are equally guilty in my book. But if this is a preview of next years' election, we're in trouble.
This is not the conversation or the focus that will help us deal with the financial and policy challenges we face -- or the civic opportunities people want. We've got to both vocally resist this type of politics, and practice a better politics ourselves.
For starters, I think people should consider thanking Target for their support, (click on link or call 1-800-440-0680), I don't want the loudest partisan voices in the room to drown out other civic conversations.
Posted by Sean Kershaw at July 20, 2009 6:17 AM
Comments
Nate's speech was indeed a good one, Sean.
I capture the audio and blogged it at:
http://wigleyandassociates.com/archives/1258/
And yes, the uncivil discourse knows no party boundaries. See the uncivil sarcasm in this recent DFL press release:
http://www.dfl.org/index.asp?SEC={BB64F6EA-94CE-43DA-93B9-B26FF9EFFE0B}&DE={AB9A1F8C-413C-4C5D-BF5F-FFCEEBAAF8FF}&Type=B_BASIC
Posted by: Griff Wigley | July 21, 2009 11:43 AM