Bill Clinton is right. We can’t insult our way to the White House

Is it just me, or has politics roughened within the past decade?

A brief walk through the presidential past revealed many, many insults. Some were creative, some downright funny.

Lyndon Johnson once said of Gerald Ford: “He’s a nice guy, but he played too much football with his helmet off,” and Pat Buchanan said of  Bill Clinton: “Bill Clinton’s foreign policy experience is pretty much confined to having had breakfast once at the International House of Pancakes.”

These statements weren’t nice, but they were harmless.

Since 1990, the political chatter has cheapened and has lost its intellectual edge, and social media has given the agitators from both parties a place to vent.  Each party has shifted blame, claiming their language was a response to the previous administration’s ugliness.

Trading jabs is typical in politics, but attacks on President’s George Bush and Barack Obama and their supporters  have been more vicious than the average back-and-forth between the dominant political parties.

Last year, The Chicago Tribune defended President Obama: “But no president in our nation’s history has ever been castigated, condemned, mocked, insulted, derided and degraded on a scale even close to the constantly ugly attacks on Obama.”

His opponents called him everything from a “liar” to a “secret Muslim,” but does The Chicago Tribune remember George Bush’s presidency?

During the Bush years, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer coined the fictitious psychiatric disorder  “Bush Derangement Syndrome,” (BDS) which he defines as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.”

According to Vox’s Ezra Klein, Bush Derangement Syndrome was justified and more acceptable than what President Obama has faced. He wrote, “BDS, at least in the examples Krauthammer gave, was mostly about Bush’s policies. He continued later, “Obama Derangement Syndrome is different. It isn’t so much paranoia about President Obama’s policies as it is paranoia about the man himself — that he is, in some fundamental way, different, foreign, untrustworthy, even traitorous.”

Really?

Popular columnist Michelle Malkin posted a photo collage of disturbing images depicting Bush’s execution. There was a movie made about his “assassination.” Human Events provided multiple examples of prominent liberals promoting violence, assault, and even extermination of Republicans.

The Bush era is over, and President Obama’s presidency is winding down. Here we are, gearing up for next year’s election, and as America’s problems have multiplied, so have the insults. There has been plenty talk surrounding Donald Trump’s insulting comments toward his competitors, but he isn’t the only one engaging in childish behavior. The problem encompasses anyone drawn to politics, and this election season  is shaping up to look like The Jerry Springer Show on steroids.

When La. Governor Bobby Jindal announced his presidential run, the hashtag #BobbyJindalIsSoWhite was popular on Twitter. Vice-President Joe Biden, who may run for President, declared to gay-rights activists, “‘Oh, there are homophobes still left. Most of them are running for President, I think.”

Dr. Ben Carson, the quiet neurosurgeon who has dedicated his life to children, has been vilified in the media for his position on the Confederate flag and  gun rights. A University of Pennsylvania professor called  him a “coon,”and actor Seth Rogen tweeted “F**k You” to Dr. Carson. This superficial, profanity-laced piece titled “F**k Ben Carson” appeared in GQ, insulting the good doctor and Republicans in general:

You are now bearing witness to an arms race of stupid, because stupid is in such high demand from the GOP base at the present moment.

Conservatives are not innocent.

Breitbart posted a fill in- the-blank sentence, along with a piece on Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  The sentence read “Debbie Wasserman Schultz is a ________.” Replies included: “delusional idiot,” “ditzy wacko socialist,” and “leftist extremists c*nt.”

Bill Clinton was correct when he said, “Don’t insult your way to the White House.”

A Psychology Today piece titled “A Psychologist’s Open Letter to Voters” offers a do’s and don’ts list to help voters identify healthy leadership qualities, and on the list he advises voters to discourage insults.  He also wrote:

Politicians are groomed by us—by our applause, by our polls, by our votes. Whatever you seem to love or hate, they’ll embrace or reject. So be careful what you applaud or attack. It matters what they—and all the little future leaders watching them—think you want in a leader.

We can show some respect. Insults and hate tear us apart, and our survival will depend on our willingness to unite. Derogatory comments have all but eliminated productive discussion.  Fingering the bottom of the toolbox for an insult, when we have so many other tools, is like trying to kill a fly with a clothespin. We have better options.

Psychology Today wrote, “You have the power to shape the future of this country.”

This is true, and we need to start believing it.

Don’t get me wrong,  I do not want another weak candidate. I want a fighter who speaks the truth, but the candidate we ultimately choose will be a reflection of us. At this critical time in our nation’s history, the opportunity is here for conservatives to be light in the darkness. If we stop tearing each other apart, maybe the candidates will too, and we can get back to the business of saving America.

Free speech is constitutionally protected, and every individual has the freedom to engage others using harsh language, but is that the best choice? Whether in person or online, we can use facts and good debate skills to engage voters.  To contrast them, we need to offer a competing vision of America that includes vibrancy, passion, good policy, sound judgement, and respectable behavior- all ushered in by a fresh-faced, rejuvenated party. To paraphrase pro-life advocate Abby Johnson,  we need to tear down arguments, not people.  Every minute spent insulting others could instead be used to advance our ideas.

Until that happens, hold on to your American flags people, because the 2016 race is going to be a rough ride.

Attribution: Creative Commons Idiot by Say_No_To_Turtles is licensed under CC by 2.o