Civility

Last night, our President gave a speech before Congress. During the speech, one of the congressman yelled, "You lie" and pointed his finger at the President. Another member of Congress wore a sign around his neck that said "What Bill?" I understand that the Republicans in Congress disagree with President Obama's healthcare proposals. What I don't understand is the utter lack of civility in the debate.

It's not even really a debate. It's been acrimony piled on acrimony. Obama was trying to avoid the mistakes that Clinton made in appointing a special panel to try to fix the problem that then came to Congress with "the answers." Instead, the President gave Congress a broad scope of what he wanted out of healthcare reform and waited for them to come up with a proposal.

What we got was a fight, as bad as I can remember. I'm a Democrat and I believe in helping others. But I'm ashamed of the way that the Democrats in Congress have handled things, too. Rather than reaching across the aisle, they blocked the Republicans from participating in the process. The Republicans, in addition to being uncivil during the President's speech, appear to have bussed in dissenters to town halls. Sarah Palin, a sad excuse for a human being IMHO, coined the phrase "death panels" and stirred up more acrimony over a point that has absolutely no basis in fact.

What I'm truly appalled by in all this is the lack of civility. I expect our two parties to disagree in how to solve problems. Healthcare reform is perhaps one of the toughest nuts to crack - ever. As Obama mentioned last night, they've been trying to solve this situation since the 1940s.

But I expect them to behave like adults. To allow participation in the process. To not spread false and vicious rumors. To offer up an alternative if they don't like what they hear, and not just pooh-pooh the other guy's solution. In other words, to be civil.