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It's Time to Elect Civility
Townhall.com ^ | November 5, 2020 | Armstrong Williams

Posted on 11/05/2020 8:55:13 AM PST by Kaslin

Looking out the windows today, the skies are blue, but it's eerily quiet. In Washington, D.C., where I live, businesses have boarded up their windows in preparation for violent protests. Anxiety and trepidation hang in the air. It's almost palpable.

There has been so much tension in the run-up to our recent election. But I remain hopeful.

This has been a year unlike any other. We have seen unrest and conflict in America at a level that most of us have never experienced. Between the uncertainty and devastation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, violence in the streets leading to looting and rioting, and the protests organized by Black Lives Matter and antifa, people are coming into conflict on a near-daily basis.

Supporters of Joe Biden are clashing with supporters of Donald Trump. Verbal assaults are escalating into physical confrontations. Increasing polarization has led us to feel hatred toward those who think differently, and our understanding and empathy has collapsed into chaos. If you're not with me, then you're against me. This is who we've become in 2020.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

There was a time, not too long ago, when we could have political disagreements and remain civil. When someone's choice of a candidate didn't preclude him or her from having friends who supported the opposing candidate. When we believed that our differences and disagreements were constructive and made us stronger. We have lost sight of the fact that we are supposed to be the United States of America. We have never known an election cycle where the voter couldn't admit who they voted for.

Right now, it feels like we are the Divided States of America. And as Abraham Lincoln, the flag-bearer of the Republican party, noted, "a house divided against itself cannot stand."

I would venture to say that not since the Civil War has there been so much hatred, brother against brother, sister against sister.

We must not be torn apart. My hope is that we move past this election. Regardless of who wins, there will be frustration, disappointment and anger. But we need to contain ourselves and refrain from engaging in destructive behavior. We need to remain civil, and we need to be patient. Though this democracy of ours is sometimes messy, it does work. If we let it operate as it should, then it can keep us the greatest country on the face of the planet.

In the coming days, it is crucial that we not lose sight of the fact that it is no happy accident that America became the leader of the free world. Our institutions were designed for the peaceful transition of power, for political parties working together, despite differences, to achieve greatness.

To continue in this time-honored tradition, we must respect one another across political lines and acknowledge that a difference of opinion does not equate to a difference of morality. We cannot let the hatred, chaos and destruction win.

We must act with care for each other. The world will be watching this election with bated breath, and they will be judging our strength based on our collective response to this contentious moment.

America, this is our chance to show the international community that we are committed to democracy and civility and to respecting the outcome of one of our most cherished freedoms, for which so many have fought and died -- the right to vote and choose our leaders. This is the very core of what it means to be a proud American.

At the end of the day, however, the election turns out, it is time for us to get back to being the best version of ourselves. America has long been a model to the rest of the world. Let's hold ourselves to that high standard. Let's elect to be civil and choose to remain a beacon of stability and freedom to nations everywhere.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2020preselections; unity
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I agree with some what he says, but not with everything.
1 posted on 11/05/2020 8:55:14 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

I like Armstrong Williams—the problem is that when a criminal is in the process of breaking into your house is _not_ the time to be civil...


2 posted on 11/05/2020 8:58:10 AM PST by cgbg (We shall fight on beaches, on grounds, the fields, the streets, the hills. Never surrender. WC)
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To: Kaslin

I cannot disagree with that headline more. We conservatives have been insulted, threatened, assaulted, and harried for about three decades now. Really vicious behavior toward us. I am tired of being civil and putting up with it. “Don’t sink to their level,” I’ve been told.

NO! I will call democrat voters baby killers and slave-masters. That is what they are. They may not hide behind their cloak of “social justice.” It makes for neither a just, nor social society.


3 posted on 11/05/2020 8:58:54 AM PST by Jemian (War Eagle!)
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To: cgbg
I can take people voting for Biden but not the voter fraud. I can be civil and do everything possible to prevent voter fraud.
4 posted on 11/05/2020 9:00:09 AM PST by ActresponsiblyinVA
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To: Kaslin

How can you be civil with cheats and crooks who are working on stealing an election, the very same people who have given hell to Trump since the 2016 election?


5 posted on 11/05/2020 9:00:35 AM PST by Ebenezer (Strength and Honor!)
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To: Kaslin

Civility is moral cowardice in these times.


6 posted on 11/05/2020 9:01:03 AM PST by mrmeyer (You can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. Robert Heinlein)
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To: Jemian

It’s back to the old GOP. That’s what headline says. Kinder gentler losers


7 posted on 11/05/2020 9:01:26 AM PST by rintintin (The)
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Comment #8 Removed by Moderator

To: Kaslin

It’s just a tad late for that. Sorry, but there it is.


9 posted on 11/05/2020 9:01:34 AM PST by Thilly Thailor
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To: Kaslin

“a difference of opinion does not equate to a difference of morality”

Well, in this case, it certainly does.


10 posted on 11/05/2020 9:01:56 AM PST by Salamander (Clap for that, you stupid bastards!)
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To: Kaslin

All I hear when someone like that says “Civility” is “Bend Over.”
Historically, civility seems to mean “Let the Democrats rape us.”


11 posted on 11/05/2020 9:04:32 AM PST by Little Ray (The Left and Right no longer have anything in common. A House divided against itself cannot stand.)
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To: Kaslin

Yeah..
Tell the DEMS that Armstrong


12 posted on 11/05/2020 9:05:45 AM PST by goodnesswins (The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution." -- Saul Alinksy)
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To: Kaslin

Its a nice wish, but realities have changed drastically.
What he desires can no longer exist because the circumstances underlying the old situation, that of a semi-unified culture, with overwhelmingly shared economic interests. This no longer exists.

There is an almost complete inability to communicate between American castes. There is no common shared conceptual space anymore. One can say something, almost anything, from one side, in ordinary English, and it will be unintelligible, or bear a very different meaning, to the other.

The political-legal terrain has also changed drastically. All US governments these days are much more about the vast executive agencies exercising effective power on their own without reference to the constitutional institutions, those parts that are actually elected. The traditional American civics lessons are completely wrong, now.


13 posted on 11/05/2020 9:06:24 AM PST by buwaya
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To: Kaslin

Liberals as a demographic are either amoral, stupid, or both. Civilty doesn’t work with them. I wish I had come to this conclusion 20 years ago.


14 posted on 11/05/2020 9:06:31 AM PST by Turbo Pig (To close with and destroy....)
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To: Kaslin
It's Time to Elect Civility

Civility wasn't on the ballot.

15 posted on 11/05/2020 9:08:11 AM PST by Lower Deck
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To: buwaya
complete inability to communicate between American castes

I have that with my own (leftist) family.

They have no clue what my views are--I pretend that politics bores me whenever they bring it up.

So, we get along fine.

But--if you had a whole country like that it would be North Korea.
16 posted on 11/05/2020 9:09:43 AM PST by cgbg (We shall fight on beaches, on grounds, the fields, the streets, the hills. Never surrender. WC)
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To: cgbg

That is why I said I agree with some of what he said.


17 posted on 11/05/2020 9:10:58 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

That is DEMON-SSocialibtard USA sliding down toward chaos , anarchy and ....tyranny AS USUAL .

TRUMPism is the opportunity , the chance to stop that fate with a clear strong choice for FREEDOM and CIVILIZATION


18 posted on 11/05/2020 9:11:40 AM PST by Ulysse (P)
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To: Kaslin
We have been civil all along, it's our uncivil opponents who are accusing us of being uncivil.

19 posted on 11/05/2020 9:12:28 AM PST by BitWielder1 (I'd rather have Unequal Wealth than Equal Poverty.)
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To: ActresponsiblyinVA

I agree with you.


20 posted on 11/05/2020 9:12:38 AM PST by Kaslin
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