Reply #5: I didn't ask for them to be rewarded, now did I?

[lwcon]

In fact, I characterized them as rude jerks. But everywhere one turns, there's another paean to protocol, a plea for "civility," a paralyzing fear of conflict and of breaks in the national hush.

The Democratic 2008 platform stated: ""A great nation now demands that its leaders abandon the politics of partisan division and find creative solutions to promote the common good. A people that prizes candor, accountability and fairness insists that a government for the people must level with them and champion the interests of all American families. A land of historic resourcefulness has lost its patience with elected officials who have failed to lead."

The problem is, standing up as partisan opponents to the Reagan Revolution is precisely what we need, and pretending that "partisan division" can be wished or whisked away isn't candor. It's Beltway happy talk that furthers the status quo.

There is much in American politics and economics today that demands far franker opposition than we get in our oh-so-polite media stream. And inculcating our fellow citizens with this excessive fear of breaches of protocol -- and admiration for the likes of Laura Bush for being so "nice" -- isn't going to help heal this country.