Quote:
Originally Posted by Byte1
The Russians are coming!
The Russians have been involved in the attempt to subvert our elections and ideological thinking for decades/half a century. This is not new, even though some have made it a political ploy when goals, records and policies are not strong enough to move the majority of America's ideology of a small gov and freedom to think independently. I will not say more on that in fear of violating the political rules.
I agree with civility. But, calling it as it is should not be considered being UN-civil. Being politically correct should not be a prerequisite for employment unless it is determined to be essential in a diplomatically sensitive job, such as an ambassador. Using one's sensitive nature as a crutch just shows how weak that person's argument is. Case in point; an employee in the media was just fired for using the descriptor of "colored" instead of "person of color" to describe the candidate for VP. He said it was a thoughtless slip of the tongue and not meant to be demeaning in any way.
How can anyone have a civil conversation about politics or religion or for that matter anything that is of personal importance when the conversation extends over a protracted period of time, such as political campaigning? Ooops, close to crossing the line again. Sorry. Hard to have a discussion on here on this subject without using examples.
It is when an argument turns to violence such as the current rioting in this country, that's when the discussion has turned from disagreement to out of control, physical reaction that changes from two people having different views to two people becoming enemies.
We have experienced lawyers battle it out in court like they hate each other, only to later see them later having lunch or drinks. Same with our politicians. That is the difference between professional adversity and taking a theme personal.
I have no hate for anyone that disagrees with me. But, threaten violence against my family and/or property and we become enemies.
The old KGB was instrumental (and Russia still is) in attempting to destroy our democracy from inside our nation for a long time. Our intelligent agencies have known about it since at least the '70s that I know about and maybe longer than that. You can now Google a list of media and businesses that they have subsidized/owned, etc. that they have power to manipulate. That list used to be classified, but most of it is now available on the Internet. The idea is not to be so easily convinced on a subject by media/blogs, etc. but to verify or fact check statements. A lot of stuff attributed to someone might actually be either actions of another that held the position previously or maybe just plain distorted information used as a weapon to manipulate your thoughts/view.
The Russians are no more a threat today than they were decades ago. They are just being used to manipulate the focus away from real issues. Yes, the Russians are a problem, but this problem is not new.
Civility deals with one's mental state of being. If you agree, then that person is civil. If you do not agree, then that person is not being civil about it. Yes, it depends on how intense the disagreement becomes, but it is still a state of mental being.
I can say "he's a DA" in a affectionate way. Or, I can say it in a demeaning manor, meaning that person is stupid.
Just a long way of saying, you are asking for everyone to be civil based on a presumption that your view is the correct one. Some subjects are just too intense to avoid becoming heated unless one side concedes before it becomes verbally poisonous.
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I believe in discussing religion and politics. I believe in civility and politeness, but I don’t like political correctness. I like to do the right thing, whether or not it is “politically correct.”
I would suggest, however, that civility should mean not only being civil to those with whom we agree, but to those with whom we disagree. We should try to get along despite our differences in opinion. That’s so much harder when we share outrageous memes—and I mean no matter what our beliefs are—I’m not limiting this to one side or the other. Both sides are sharing memes that are unfair. Very few people change their opinions based on being insulted or seeing their candidates insulted.
I agree that the Soviet Union and then Russia have been trying to damage our country for years. However, I have never seen before 2016 this attempt to divide us from each other and make us hate each other. Remember how we came together on December 7, 1941? Remember how we all stood together on September 11, 1941? I am NOT blaming one party or the other, but we should discuss things, not laugh as we offend each other.