FrankRep
02-25-2011, 04:44 PM
http://www.thenewamerican.com/images/stories2011/11aFebruary/handshake.001.jpg
Americans don’t need government or foundations to teach them courtesy and civility, they need government to leave them alone.
Does America Need a "Civility Institute"? (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6464-does-america-need-a-qcivility-instituteq)
Bruce Walker | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
25 February 2011
Fred DuVal, a friend of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, has proposed a “Civility Institute” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110221/ts_csm/364763) to promote compromise among opposing political parties and views. He believes the best way to start is by attempting to define “best practices and corrosive practices” in public discourse. DuVal puts it this way: “How do we nurture robustness on one hand and not in any way chill speech, and keep it in bounds that are not destructive to democracy? Will it change the nature of dialogue? That will be a tall order.”
Fox News host Greta Van Susteren will sit on this new board. She believes the institute can calm partisanship, and observed on her blog: "I jumped at the chance. I was flattered to be asked and eager to do whatever I can to help and serve. Count me in!" Former Presidents George H. Bush and Bill Clinton will serve as co-hosts of the institute, presumably to enhance the non-partisan nature of its activities. Brint Milward, who will be director of the Civility Institute, informed the New York Times that it would focus on political disagreements “from the grass roots all the way to the top.”
Will this work? Should it work? Samuel Huntington, in his book The Promise of Disharmony (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674030214?ie=UTF8&tag=libert0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0674030214), has noted some inherent problems with such an idea. America, he observed, is "individualistic, democratic, egalitarian, and hence basically anti-government and anti-authority.... The distinctive aspect of the American Creed is its anti-government character. Opposition to power and suspicion of government as the most dangerous embodiment of power are the central themes of American political thought."
...
Full Story:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6464-does-america-need-a-qcivility-instituteq
Americans don’t need government or foundations to teach them courtesy and civility, they need government to leave them alone.
Does America Need a "Civility Institute"? (http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6464-does-america-need-a-qcivility-instituteq)
Bruce Walker | The New American (http://www.thenewamerican.com/)
25 February 2011
Fred DuVal, a friend of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and a member of the Arizona Board of Regents, has proposed a “Civility Institute” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110221/ts_csm/364763) to promote compromise among opposing political parties and views. He believes the best way to start is by attempting to define “best practices and corrosive practices” in public discourse. DuVal puts it this way: “How do we nurture robustness on one hand and not in any way chill speech, and keep it in bounds that are not destructive to democracy? Will it change the nature of dialogue? That will be a tall order.”
Fox News host Greta Van Susteren will sit on this new board. She believes the institute can calm partisanship, and observed on her blog: "I jumped at the chance. I was flattered to be asked and eager to do whatever I can to help and serve. Count me in!" Former Presidents George H. Bush and Bill Clinton will serve as co-hosts of the institute, presumably to enhance the non-partisan nature of its activities. Brint Milward, who will be director of the Civility Institute, informed the New York Times that it would focus on political disagreements “from the grass roots all the way to the top.”
Will this work? Should it work? Samuel Huntington, in his book The Promise of Disharmony (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674030214?ie=UTF8&tag=libert0f-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0674030214), has noted some inherent problems with such an idea. America, he observed, is "individualistic, democratic, egalitarian, and hence basically anti-government and anti-authority.... The distinctive aspect of the American Creed is its anti-government character. Opposition to power and suspicion of government as the most dangerous embodiment of power are the central themes of American political thought."
...
Full Story:
http://www.thenewamerican.com/index.php/usnews/politics/6464-does-america-need-a-qcivility-instituteq