Two nights ago my “Kerry-Edwards 2004” yard sign was stolen from the front yard of my Hamilton home. The Butler County Democratic Party headquarters informed me that they’ve been getting multiple phone calls on a daily basis reporting similar thefts.
Is this how divided we have become as a society? Do some among us consider theft a legitimate form of political discourse? I would love for one of my neighbors or fellow Hamilton citizens to have stopped me in my driveway to ask me why I support the Kerry-Edwards ticket. Instead, someone chose to steal my property.
A conversation between two individuals of differing opinions opens up possibilities for a free exchange of ideas, for mutual understanding, and perhaps even for finding common ground. Stealing a yard sign silences an opposing point of view. Have we become so entrenched in our support of our own side that we want to silence the other side?
Sadly, it seems that much of our political discourse takes on a similar tone. When President Bush uses rhetoric like “You’re either with us or against us,” I fear he’s attempting to squelch dissenting perspectives (indeed, the current situation in Iraq suggests the president—and the nation—would have benefited from listening carefully to multiple points of view). When hosts of cable television news programs tell guests to “shut up,” I fear they have compromised the ideals of democratic, free expression. When GOP volunteers registering new voters tear up registration cards of likely Kerry-Edwards supporters (which happened in Nevada), I fear those individuals have spit upon the most fundamental of our civic duties in this country.
We all need to ask ourselves if we are pleased with the level of political discourse in the U.S. No matter how fervently you support your side, the ends do not justify the means. Talk to your neighbors. Discuss the issues. Seek out multiple sources of information. Speak out in support of the issues and candidates of your choice. But don’t engage in discourse or actions that silence the other side. That’s not what democracy looks like.
3 comments:
Well said.
Here in Oregon, we've had the same problem. Some Republican-pary volunteers admitted that they tore up democratic registrations. What's worst about it is that the political party didn't urge them to...well, not directly. They said they would pay them for every republican registration they turned in. So if they got a registration that wasn't republican, they'd just throw it out since they wouldn't be paid for it anyway.
Perhaps more worrisome, however, was the woman whose Kerry-Edwards sign was shot eight times. And it goes both ways, unfortunately. Someone set fire to a man's Bush sign.
Odd you don't mention the AFL-CIO trashing Republican offices. Or maybe Danny Devito's party down at Florida that blocked early voting while Kerry people in the party harrassed known Bush voters. Hey, what about Kerry trying to win by lawsuit? Maybe if the Dems weren't making an effort to stuff the ballot boxes with votes from crooks bought off with crack or accusing Republicans of keeping a million blacks from voting the last election (actual proved cases:0), I'd care about the legitimacy of their complaints (the fact that the Dems darn near stole the last election doesn't lend sympathy either).
In Ohio Nader was kept off the ballot not because he would "steal votes," but because on the petitions he circulated to get on the ballot there were both forged signatures and signatures of folks not registered to vote in Ohio. Further, the petitions were circulated by non-Ohioans, which is a violation of Ohio's election laws. The decision was made by a conservative republican, Ken Blackwell, Ohio's secretary of state and chief elections officer.
Good point, though, that some democrats have implied that they "own" liberal votes. That, too, is an undemocratic proposition!
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