[Torus34]

The language used by politicians in the United States of America and the things they say about other politicians is quite different in both content and quantity from that of a few years ago. We've instances of a politician accusing another of being a traitor and suggesting execution. A group of state legislators has censured members of their own party and again called them traitors. There may well be some here in our nation who will take these accusations as a license to carry out the recommended punishment.

It's quite easy to ascribe this state of affairs to the administration just passed. Doing something that's easy, though, doesn't mean that it is correct. Thinking back over the years, I'm tempted to put the start of the degradation in political accusations to a state of the union speech by Mr. William Clinton during which a legislator in the audience said, loudly, 'You lie!"

Whether we'll see a tamping down of the verbal fireworks in the next few years is open to conjecture.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

[Torus34]

The language used by politicians in the United States of America and the things they say about other politicians is quite different in both content and quantity from that of a few years ago. We've instances of a politician accusing another of being a traitor and suggesting execution. A group of state legislators has censured members of their own party and again called them traitors. There may be some here in our nation who will take these accusations as a license to carry out the recommended punishment. The increase in sheer nastiness of political accusations exacts a price, though at present it's only the salaries of additional bodyguards and security personnel.

It's quite easy to ascribe this state of affairs to the administration just passed. Ascribing something that's easy, though, doesn't mean that it is correct. Thinking back over the years, I'm tempted to put the start of the degradation in political accusations to a state of the union speech by Mr. William Clinton during which a legislator in the audience said, loudly, 'You lie!" Others may suggest another starting point.

Whether we'll see a tamping down of the verbal fireworks in the next few years is open to conjecture.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

[QatzelOk]

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

[Torus34]

Hi!

Thank you for taking time to respond.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

[late]

The language used by politicians in the United States of America and the things they say about other politicians is quite different in both content and quantity from that of a few years ago.

Hamilton and Jefferson both had newspapers so they could slag each other in the press.

It's what we do.

The government needs people to be able to work in a bipartisan fashion. That stopped when Newt Ginrich became Speaker. The problem is that Republicans came to depend more and more on their extremists. Now they are basically captives in the nightmare they created.

I suspect this is a lot worse than you think, and I am pretty sure it's going to get worse.

[Torus34]

Hamilton and Jefferson both had newspapers so they could slag each other in the press.

It's what we do.

The government needs people to be able to work in a bipartisan fashion. That stopped when Newt Ginrich became Speaker. The problem is that Republicans came to depend more and more on their extremists. Now they are basically captives in the nightmare they created.

I suspect this is a lot worse than you think, and I am pretty sure it's going to get worse.

Hi!

I agree that the Republican Party, through its primary process, got someone quite different from what they had expected as President of the United States of America. There's a parallel of sorts in an old Chinese saying; Man drinks wine, wine drinks wine, wine drinks man. The party's elected officials need to dry out but, again a parallel, it's a process not without some real discomfort.

A golden opportunity has been presented to them; the second impeachment of Mr. Donald Trump. Whether they will see it for what it it -- a chance to re-group and heal their party -- or not will depend upon their leadership and their own personal risk assessments.

Regards, stay safe 'n well. Remember the prophylactic Big 3: masks, hand washing and physical distancing.

Reminder. I try to respond to all who quote my posts. If you do not get a response from me, it may be that you've made it onto my 'Ignore' list.

[late]

The party's elected officials need to dry out but, again a parallel, it's a process not without some real discomfort.

A golden opportunity has been presented to them; the second impeachment of Mr. Donald Trump. Whether they will see it for what it it -- a chance to re-group and heal their party -- or not will depend upon their leadership and their own personal risk assessments.

Never going to happen.

Things change, but it won't because of them, it will be because events overtook them.

[Torus34]

Never going to happen.

Things change, but it won't because of them, it will be because events overtook them.

Hi!

I'm afraid my crystal ball's a tad cloudy this morning. I can neither confirm nor dispute your prediction.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

[late]

Hi!

I'm afraid my crystal ball's a tad cloudy this morning. I can neither confirm nor dispute your prediction.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

The situation keeps getting worse. They threw Steve King out, and he wasn't nearly as bad as a bunch of them are now.

McConnell knows most will shun lunatics, and that's what the party is devolving into.

[Rancid]

This is a filler post that adds nothing to the conversation at hand.

[Torus34]

The situation keeps getting worse. They threw Steve King out, and he wasn't nearly as bad as a bunch of them are now.

McConnell knows most will shun lunatics, and that's what the party is devolving into.

Hi!

Whether things within the Republican Party will get worse remains to be seen. What should be troubling to some of us is the large group of people who found Mr. Donald Trump acceptable as a president of the United States and still remain loyal to him. As far as educating our citizenry in avoiding the pitfalls inherent in accepting people as authorities, we, as Mr. Ricky Ricardo said in the old TV comedy, "... got some 'splaining to to."

Regards, stay safe 'n well. Remember the prophylactic Big 3: masks, hand washing and physical distancing.

Reminder. I try to respond to all who quote my posts. If you do not get a response from me, it may be that you've made it onto my 'Ignore' list.

[Potemkin]

This is a filler post that adds nothing to the conversation at hand.

This is @QatzelOk we're talking about, @Rancid. Every single one of his posts is filler that adds nothing to the conversation at hand. This is why he is such a beloved figure on PoFo, a living legend if you will.

[Torus34]

Hellllooooo, Potemkin!

Nice to see your posts again. Hope all's well with you and yours.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

[Rancid]

This is @QatzelOk we're talking about, @Rancid. Every single one of his posts is filler that adds nothing to the conversation at hand. This is why he is such a beloved figure on PoFo, a living legend if you will.

Of course.

I made that post because he was complaining in the basement about a post of mine. He called it filler. Yet does not see that most of his posts are filler.

[Potemkin]

Hellllooooo, Potemkin!

Nice to see your posts again. Hope all's well with you and yours.

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

A bit shout out to you too, @Torus34. My plans to conquer the world are proceeding apace; I'll keep you posted. Until then, keep safe.

[QatzelOk]

This is @QatzelOk we're talking about, @Rancid. Every single one of his posts is filler that adds nothing to the conversation at hand. This is why he is such a beloved figure on PoFo, a living legend if you will.

This thread is about American political dialogue, both its language and its attacks (its forms of aggression).

I provided an example of a political but commercial media product - an important form of political "dialogue" for most North Americans I know. And it is in humorous commercial media, that one finds the most common forms of socially-acceptable aggression.

That this "dialogue" is actually a viewer watching a monologue... is a very significant characteristic of American political dialogue. People who grow up watching and watching, learn to speak (and write) like viewers who watch - passive participants who have only their empty virtue-signalling to demonstrate *character and thought* to other viewers who watch. "Would you like some cookies during the commercial break?" one could ask fellow viewers, to signal that *I care about other people* while staring at screens.

I think that perhaps my unrelenting *on-topicness* makes me seem off-topic to the victims of a constrained-culture of short attention spans and an inability to speak in metaphors.

I made that post because he was complaining in the basement about a post of mine. He called it filler.

The post I complained about, you quoted two paragraphs of someone and just wrote "agreed." This is pointless waste of pixels. You added zero content, unlike my osensibly "empty" posts which, nonetheless, are full of links, layers of meaning, and references to other possible ways of approaching and unpacking "the topic."

[Potemkin]

Never change, @QatzelOk.

[anna]

Thinking back over the years, I'm tempted to put the start of the degradation in political accusations to a state of the union speech by Mr. William Clinton during which a legislator in the audience said, loudly, 'You lie!"

It was actually President Obama who was the target of the "you lie!" yelled out by SC rep Joe Wilson. I couldn't remember the year though, and had to look it up. 2009.

It's been the last five years though that have changed the game, perhaps irrevocably. There are many millions of Americans who said Trump "spoke for them." They loved his coarseness, they called it strength. They loved his insults, called it honesty, loved his chaotic disdain for the rule of law, called it patriotism, loved his protection of the rich and the white, called it restoring America.

[Potemkin]

It was actually President Obama who was the target of the "you lie!" yelled out by SC rep Joe Wilson. I couldn't remember the year though, and had to look it up. 2009.

It's been the last five years though that have changed the game, perhaps irrevocably. There are many millions of Americans who said Trump "spoke for them." They loved his coarseness, they called it strength. They loved his insults, called it honesty, loved his chaotic disdain for the rule of law, called it patriotism, loved his protection of the rich and the white, called it restoring America.

Interesting that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union back in the day. Prob'ly just a coincidence....

[anna]

Interesting that South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union back in the day. Prob'ly just a coincidence....

Joe Wilson was one of the reps trying to overturn a lawful election, no surprise there...