Brawner: Reject The Spirit Of Contempt

Talk Business contributor Steve Brawner uses his most recent opinion column in the Arkansas News Bureau to discuss the recent Rep. Nate Bell (R-Mena) and Benton County GOP episodes of “speaking thoughtlessly.”

Bell’s tweet heard ’round Boston accusing liberals of “cowering in their homes” wishing they had a gun to defend themselves against the marathon bomber set off a firestorm of national criticism.

A Benton County GOP member who called for shooting legislators with whom you disagree with on policy also led to widespread condemnation.

Brawner writes:

A spirit of anger and contempt is infecting the land, which is how a person can stop considering the people of Boston to be fellow Americans – or just fellow human beings – and instead think of them as cowering liberals. It’s also how legislators who spent months anguishing over Medicaid become traitors to the cause who should be threatened, even killed.

This is the way we talk about politics and about each other these days, but it’s not healthy for our democracy and it surely isn’t healthy for us as individuals. It corrodes us from the inside out, makes us miserable, and makes us hate each other. It’s time to turn off the noise and resolve to be kind to one another. And to reject, not empower, those in politics and the media who preach unkindness.

But Brawner notes that as disappointing as this rhetoric is in modern times, it has been with us through the ages. Read his full column at this link.