Shouting vs Comity

What Difference Does It Make?

By Jerry Climer

A month or so ago, Kimberley A. Strassel opined in the Wall Street Journal:

“In a clip posted in April 2024, (Charlie) Kirk was asked by a (somewhat scornful) college student: “Why are you here?” Kirk responded: “OK, I’ve been asked that question a lot. First of all, the question should not even have to be asked. But when people stop talking, really bad stuff starts. When marriages stop talking, divorce happens. When civilizations stop talking, civil war ensues. When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group. . . . What we as a culture have to get back to is being able to have a reasonable disagreement, where violence is not an option.”

Oh, how fast we forget. Yes, that was over a month ago. Strassel also noted that good behavior, then being exhibited by many following a shock like the assassination of Kirk, usually lasts a few days, maybe a week. It did not make the two-month mark.

She also contrasted that point by noting: “It’s notable that few if any of our elected representatives—the institutional embodiment of civic society—engage in anything resembling the outreach or engagement of Kirk. Washington politics is rarely anymore about ideas, education, persuasion or constructive disagreement. It’s a partisan blood sport, players vying for pole position in the race for nasty put-downs and righteous anger—in moments staged for viral sensation. Those lamenting Kirk’s death, celebrating his success in creating a young conservative “movement,” seem to miss that he did so by reaching out—not lashing out.”

Shouting, not talking, summarizes her point.

Was she right when she predicted that the death of a guy advocating conversation at the hands of an assailant not interested in talking seems not to have made a lasting impact? Where are the media and elected officials staying focused on civility or comity?

The nation has watched as both parties in Congress have worked overtime to avoid discussion, compromise, and getting the people’s work completed. Each blames the other for the shutdown of the US Government. Senate Minority Leader Schumer throws barbs at the House of Representatives and President Trump. Speaker Mike Johnson keeps his Members AWOL, which makes conversation very hard. And as the nation looks on, it is reminded, these are the so-called adults running the federal government. Others might even call it childish.

As Michael S. Johnson and I discuss at length in Fixing Congress: Restoring Power to the People*, Congress has devolved into a failing institution. So many procedural traps exist that the idea that both Houses the Congress can pass an appropriation bill that will be signed by the President is almost unattainable. And a whole budget, what are you thinking?

In Congress, too much is centralized so that even if the House and Senate Committees assigned the task of drafting budgets or writing appropriation legislation were to do their jobs, it is doubtful that both bodies could finish the task. Both parties are too worried about image building, how to destroy the President or prop him up, to find time to worry about their constituents, the folks back home who voted to send them to Washington to set national public policy. Republicans don’t push back on Trump when he is wrong, and Democrats can’t bring themselves to say he has done anything right.

Strassel goes on to observe: “Worse, a nation that hears its leaders darkly warn on a daily basis that their political opponents are hell-bent on imposing tyranny is more liable to justify any action in response. And a media that has made a business model out of amplifying the showboats, mouth-offs and provocateurs—rather than giving attention to serious players—only eggs it all on.

It starts at the top. The politicians waiting around for their constituents to ask them to behave better will be waiting a long time; they’ve already created a raging nation. The only hope is that at some point, those politicians begin to realize that unshackled political violence has them as its primary target. Soon, none will be safe. If for no other reason than self-preservation, perhaps then they will remember the example that was struck down in Utah on Wednesday. And turn today’s empty words into meaningful ones.” She wrote that five or six weeks ago, does anyone remember the nation’s feeling at learning of Kirk’s efforts to stimulate discussion, much less his death?

Shouting, not talking. From President Trump to members of the town council, including the officials in between, especially Congressmen and Senators, need to stop shouting.

An assignment for John and Jane Q. Public: Stop rewarding the shouting. Call, write, or otherwise get the message to your Congressman or Senator and tell them you’re mad as hell and won’t take it any longer, but say it in a very civil fashion.

An assignment for the media in all its incarnations, stop rewarding the shouting by repeating their grade school squabbles as news about public policy making. It isn’t.

• Fixing Congress is available:

  • https://cincinnatistate.ecampus.com/fixing-congress-michael-s-johnson-jerome/bk/9781636983981

  • https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fixing-congress-michael-s-johnson/1144671211

  • https://bookshop.org/p/books/fixing-congress-restoring-power-to-the-people-jerome-f-climer/f900e2c6001c9433?ean=9781636983981&next=t&

    https://bookshop.org/p/books/fixing-congress-restoring-power-to-the-people-jerome-f-climer/f900e2c6001c9433?ean=9781636983981&next=t&