Civility is the New Censorship

CALLER: Before I get to the reason for my call I would like to make a very brief linguistic observation and that is that "civility" is the new word for "censorship."

CALLER: Yeah. We don't want to criticize the state. So, Rush, the reason I called is I can only take two minutes of that whole Wellstone Memorial yesterday, and that's exactly what it was. In essence, I think people were asked to worship at the altar of the state -- and if I may be so bold as to say the Church of Barack the Redeemer. That's why there were no religious figures reading from the Bible. The statists read from the Bible. It was very discouraging.

CALLER: Yes. Yes. In fact, I saw it on the television. I decided eventually to listen to it on the radio, because what I saw on the television with people milling around that arena, I found very distasteful, and I thought, "I don't want to be distracted by watching all the people there, so I'll listen to it on the radio," and when the whooping and hollering started, I said, "This is almost sacrilegious" and I had to turn it off.

RUSH: Since you were listening on the radio, I have to ask you what your impression was of something I was watching. I was watching before everything got started. They had the cameras in there, but they did not have the cameras on the orchestra. There was an orchestra, there was a band in there that was playing. I didn't know that, and shortly before the festivities -- uh, the ceremony -- began, I kept hearing what I thought was gunshots or a drum or something. And I'm trying to figure out, "What in the world is going on in that room?" I'm looking around and nobody's reacting to it. I figured, "There's gotta be a band." Are you aware of what I'm talking about, and if you are, I'm curious what you thought when you heard this.

RUSH: Not a drumbeat, not a drumbeat. Every now and then, you know, somebody smashing a bass drum or something object a gunshot going off. Obviously it wasn't that, but I'm trying to figure out, "What is this noise in there?" The band was doing a warm-up or something.

RUSH: Well, I did. I thought, "Maybe there's some Native American ceremony going on in here before the actual memorial begins," because I couldn't see the band, and I was --

CALLER: Yes. Well, that could well be. But it was unseemly for a memorial service.

CALLER: -- President Clinton walking out and wiping the tear from his eye when he camera was on him, and the university president reminded me of the same thing: Yukking it up beforehand.

RUSH: Yeah. Yeah. We have some sound bites from the Wellstone Memorial. I'm debating whether or not we should go back and play them, and draw... There's a slight analogy. But I think her point about words is really great: "Civility" is the new "censorship." "Civility" is the new word for "shut the heck up."

RUSH: We keep hearing about "uncivil," and I love our previous caller's comment that this civility equals censorship. That's exactly what Obama and the left mean when they start talking about civility. "We need to bring civility back to our discourse," that means shut us up! Censorship. Now, if politicians are uncivil to us -- if they are dismissive of the last election, for example. They lost. They got shellacked. But if they are dismissive of that election, if they are dismissive of the Constitution (as they were the other week, when it was read on the floor of the House) how are we to react to them?

Say we disagree but do it quietly, without passion, in hushed tones, with words "please" and "thank you." How are we supposed to react when they are uncivil to us? I've actually been thinking about doing a program the way they would like to hear this program done. (laughing) I think it would be fun to try, you know, to do an hour of civility as they mean it. (interruption) Don't get scared, Snerdley. There's no reason to fear this. (interruption) No, there's not. No, there's not. It's like every other illustration we do on this program, make the point of our silly and stifling it would be. (interruption) Well, no, I could be boring. I could very easily be boring. I'd just have to be myself. (laughing)

No, seriously, I've been thinking about it. They want it? Okay, here's what it would sound like. So we got a sound bite of them saying Sarah Palin is asserting herself improperly, she's dumb and stupid. What would be the civil way of reacting to that? What would be the civil way of reacting to their allegation that this program's responsible for what happened in Arizona? What would be the civil way of reacting to it? Because understand, it is not uncivil to make the accusation, as they define all this. There's no limit on them. They are not guilty of anything. What's uncivil is when those of us minding our own business, bothering no one, are accused of some atrocity, and we respond to it. That's the incivility.

So what would be a civil response to that allegation? I've been toying with it. I don't know. Someday I may just spring it on you without even telling you that's what I'm doing. It would be instantly spottable. You'd know it instantly what I'm doing. But I just want you to know that I've been toying it. When they pass laws to harm our businesses or control our lives, what should we do? What's the civil response? What is the civil reply to legislation that limits freedom? What's the civil response to legislation that further erodes the opportunity for economic prosperity? Well, some say that I wouldn't have to do a program the way the libs want me to. Just listen to NPR and you have the idea -- and to a certain extent, yes.

And I could do NPR. I've done it, way back, long ago. I did a half hour or so that way on this program. I actually tried to become a liberal for a half hour, and some people bought it. The point was to prove something. I forget exactly what it was, but I was getting inundated with calls about how Republicans always fail. "They tell us one thing and they're gonna lie and they're gonna go out there and lie to us in the campaign and they're gonna be cave when they get into governing," and I was being inundated, as though I was responsible for it. "When are you gonna tell the Republicans? When are you gonna tell the Republicans? Why are the Republicans...? I'm not them! "What do you...?" I was judged to be the one to have the ability to make 'em stop, so I was gonna actually be one of those guys that caved. I still think it would be fun so I'll spring it on you when you are least expecting it. Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.

RUSH: I forgot all about the Coretta Scott King service. It took three hours for somebody to remember that there was a body in that casket, and that was Bill Clinton. So you see that's a parody of ours from years and years and years ago. There's a pattern of behavior here, of course very civil behavior. Let me ask you a question here. Was Saul Alinsky civil? Did he preach civility? Was Reverend Wright's church civil? Bill Ayers, architect of the Pentagon bombing, Obama's buddy, was he civil? Let's have some examples of leftist civility. The next time they talk about it, which will be sometime today, tonight, let's ask, "Let's have some examples of leftist civility. Where is leftist civility in any of your discussions of Sarah Palin?" Was John Kerry civil during his happy days protesting against the Vietnam War? Have you noticed we haven't heard much from Harry Reid? My guess is they locked him away somewhere, keep him away from this event 'cause very little that's civil comes out of his mouth.

Fortney "Pete" Stark, Barney Frank, well known for their civility, insulting their own constituents. Was Barbara Boxer civil when she berated that general for not calling her "Senator"? When the late Ted Kennedy went on the Senate floor and smeared Robert Bork when he was nominated to the Supreme Court by Reagan, was Kennedy civil in his vicious accusations against Bork? Was Joe Bite Me civil when he orchestrated a hateful smear campaign against Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearings? And if you'll permit me to be blunt, you can say much about this current presidency, but civility is one of the last words that comes to mind when thinking and talking about this regime. Has Obama been civil to his predecessor, George W. Bush? Has Jimmy Carter been civil to the state of Israel? And who can forget all that civility surrounding the candidacy of Sharron Angle or Christine O'Donnell.

RUSH: Okay. Civility lessons, civility practice. Practice, ladies and gentlemen, your civil reaction to this charge: The Republican Party's policies are based on hate and racism. Tell me how you would respond in a civil way. The reason you oppose immigration is because mostly Hispanic people are coming across the border and taking your job. Give me the civil response to this charge. I got some other examples, too.

RUSH: President Obama urges civility in public discourse. F. Chuck Todd is now happily reporting this on MessNBC: President Obama urging civility in public discourse. When I think of the left wing, I think civil, don't you? Code Pink, the New Black Panthers, union bosses beating up black conservatives in St. Louis, ACORN, illegal alien marches, why, it doesn't get more civil than that. The trashing of the Tea Party movement for the last nearly two years, that's civil. When I think of MSNBC, I not only think of journalistic excellence, but civility, don't you? That whole class warfare thing, I mean that's nothing but civility on display. When I think of the counterculture movement of the sixties, I think civility. When I think of Rahm Emanuel, the man Obama chose as his own chief of staff two years ago, I think of civility. We don't need lectures from uncivil leftists about civility, much less Obama. Bitter clingers and all the other incendiary things he's had to say, both as a candidate and as president.

In fact, ladies and gentlemen, isn't one of your complaints that Republicans are too docile? Isn't one of your complaints that Republicans just sit there and take it, that the left is always on the march, always accusing, always throwing bombs, and the Republicans just sit there and take it? The fact of the matter is the Republicans are civil, as the left defines it. They don't say anything. That's exactly what civil means. Another couple of examples. Give your civil reaction to the charge that you oppose Obama because he's black. Give me your civil reaction to you are a racist because you have criticized President Obama. Show me how to react in a civil way. Give me your civil reaction to this: You want to take money from the poor and line your pockets and the pockets of the rich. You don't care about the unfortunate. In fact, you and your buddies have created homelessness. Give me the civil reaction to that. If it was up to you, we would still have slavery today.

Give me the civil reaction to the entire sports media making up quotes about you, quotes suggesting that you support slavery, quotes utterly false and made up, give me the civil reaction to this. Give me the civil reaction to you don't care how many soldiers die when you send 'em into battle. It's all about oil profits for your contributors. Give me the civil reaction to any of this. And of course this exercise establishes that we don't need lectures from uncivil leftists. What is the civil reaction to being accused of inciting murder, the Oklahoma City bombing and now the Tucson shootings. Somebody tell me how to react to that in a civil way, in a way that the left would approve, in a way that the president would approve. What are we supposed to say, "You're right, I'm sorry. I won't do it again?" What is the civil response to this? Lest we forget just a few weeks ago we were told that people were shooting their TVs because Bristol Palin was on Dancing with the Stars, what's the civil reaction to that?

Sheriff Dupnik was in attendance at the speech last night. He was not on the dais. There was no dais. He was not in the front row. He was midway. He did not get a shout-out from Obama for his wonderful civility. By the way, is that an example of civility, Sheriff Dupnik, is he civil? What's the civil response to any allegation being made by Sheriff Dupnik? Now, Sheriff Dupnik did get a camera shot when Obama was talking about the great work that had been done by people in the area to bring order to the chaos.

What is the civil reaction to the president joking that you are a racist? What is the civil reaction to a TIME Magazine cover that asks are you good for America? Many of these questions I'm asking you are allegations that have been made about me and to me. What's the civil reaction? I would venture to say I've been pretty damn civil during all of this for 23 years, laughing at a lot of it. Apparently the civil thing for Sarah Palin to do is to get down on her hands and knees and beg forgiveness for her obvious crimes, and maybe that's what some Republican candidates would have done in the past. But Palin isn't that kind of Republican, whether she's a candidate or not, I don't know.

It's just leftist wordplay again. For them, it's always a one-way street. We have to be civil, while they can be as vitriolic, hateful, nasty, and unseemly as they want towards us, but we just have to sit back and take it, according to the libs. Same deal as “bipartisanship”. Liberals always means we have to go along with them (that's bipartisan), but they aren't required to go along with us, because if we ask them to, we're being “partisan”.

Frankly, I agree with the call for greater civility among elected and aspiring politicians.

I doubt any reasonable person expects entertainers like Rush, Hannity, Beck, etc. (or the equivalent on the left) to tone themselves down. Their ratings would drop and that is not what they get paid to do.

Rather the point is that the elected and aspiring politicians don’t get drawn into the same type of rhetorical exchange.

I do believe that Sarah Palin, as long as she allows for the possibility that she will run for elected office (and in part by virtue of already having held it) has a different responsibility than Glenn Beck - who nobody expects to attempt to try to get elected. He is an entertainer pure and simple. She is a politician. People are smart enough to differentiate.

Therefore, if Rush’s point is that to ask him and his like to be more “civil” than he is right about it being censorship. If the point is that the supposed “adults” who actually lead the country might be well advised to actually discuss things more like adults and less like middle-school children than I agree with that. I also am of the opinion that the President actually did mean to chastise both sides in this respect.

Of course I am far less to the right than many here and don’t see everything through coke bottle partisan lenses. So I am sure I will be corrected - in a civil manner of course.

ERE, interesting ‘civility’ perspective. I would ask if you thought the 111th or 110th US Congress was civil with ‘adult’ leadership. It is obvious that the bi-partisan democrats were drunk with power and intent on completely blocking any attempt from the opposition to have input in an enormous amount of law making. No amendments nor discussion allowed. This may be what you expect from your EU rulers and especially from your German history of representative democracy but that is exactly NOT what we as free citizens expect or will allow. It would be better and more ‘correct’ if you could try to understand more about our country before posting on this site.

I only saw the second half of the speech which I did not care for. I hear the first part of Obama’s speech was more inline with the purpose of a memorial.

I noticed the classic preachy, disciplinary BS that included broad generalizations about the need for bipartisan civility by all Americans. He conveniently gave a pass to the instigators on the Left by lumping them in with the general population whom are without any fault whatsoever.

If the point is that the supposed “adults” who actually lead the country might be well advised to actually discuss things more like adults and less like middle-school children than I agree with that.

Left politicians prefer to build a majority like they did in 2006, and then practice power-politics.

Parliamentary bonhomie has been low on their list of priorities since 1974 and the "Watergate class" of new legislators came to DC under the Democratic banner, with a new moral smugness and disinclination to confer and cooperate, the way things had been done in the old days. That was the start of the resumption of factional fractiousness. Guys like Robert Michel and Bob Dole and James Rhodes got walked on like doormats: Hence the assertive, combative style taken on by Newt Gingrich.

The old-style Republican conciliators were getting no results with the more liberal, and more frankly Frankfurt-School Marxist, Democrats. So Newt started really competing and playing hard with them, and the Democrats picked up the clubs -- this includes the Media people, who are 90% partisan Democrats (and lie about it) -- and went after all the conservatives, playing for keeps. It's been plumb rough in Congress and national politics ever since the Republicans won the Congress in 1994, something the Democrats had forbidden them to do, lol.

As the title of James Carville's 2008 book showed (40 More Years), the Democrats were hoping to build a one-party, one-armed Republic -- a People's Republic, very like your old DDR. Younger Democrats all have the mentality of Stasis anyway.

He conveniently gave a pass to the instigators on the Left by lumping them in with the general population whom are without any fault whatsoever.

The ink was still wet, so to speak, on Obama's speech when Katie Couric ignored him and organized another lynch-mob getogether with some Congresscritters, including Black Caucus stalwart Rep. Clyburn, who "bracketed" (good propaganda word) white conservatives with segregationist mobs of the 1950's and the Ku Klux Klan -- and the Arizona gunman, crazy eyes and all. "I saw eyes like that, back in the day...." -- bushwah, dude.

Real smear party. Sounds like his own partisans weren't listening to Obozo.

One thing that everyone needs to understand is that leftists are not in the least bothered or embarrassed by these exposures of their hypocrisy. They know they are using a double standard, but they have no sense that that’s “wrong” when they do it. After all, they’re advancing an agenda toward a goal of ultimate utopia on earth, so any means necessary are justifiable.

But, I’m not saying it’s a waste of time to point it out.
There are those who AREN’T leftists who don’t pay much attention most of the time, yet vote. THEY are the ones that vote for what sounds good, and if they associate leftism [rightly] with inherent dishonesty, then so much the better for the cause of truth.

Of course I am far less to the right than many here and don’t see everything through coke bottle partisan lenses. So I am sure I will be corrected - in a civil manner of course.

Chris Wallace on Fox News just now said that being "civil" meant that we shouldn't call the current administration "socialist" or "fascist."

That is absolutely unacceptable. That is to fail to accurately label a marxst political movement that is taking over the country. That is a partisan control-the-debate tactic. It cannot stand.

A civil person has the right to correctly label a marxist as a marxist. Period. The marxist, due to the nature of marxism, will accuse the civil person of lying and trying to smear him "un-civilly." That is because marxists lie. How do you resolve this well-known real-life situation???

Obama has a LONG history of calling for civility, while he lets his minions (and himself) continue to do attack and incite:

Gallup: 35% Think The Tone And Civility Between Dems And Republicans Has Gotten Worse Under Obama http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2310567/posts

Obama pleads for civility, cooperation in politics (Barf)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2439725/posts

Obama Demands Civility But Keeps Attacking
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2443194/posts

Obama prays for civility in Washington
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2444503/posts

Victor Davis Hanson: Obama and the New Civility (Kicks butt & takes names!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2498044/posts

Obama Defends Priorities, Makes Plea for Civility [”Direct Rebuttal To ‘Tea-Party’ Activists”]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2504855/posts

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