In a commentary about the current state of the Democratic Party, Fox New politics editor Chris Stirewalt writes, “Democrats have come in for a great deal of mockery over a silly promotion in which supporters were asked to vote on their preferred slogans for campaign stickers. One of the options was, “I mean, have you seen the other guys?” This is some undeniably weak sauce right there. It probably only reflects the foolish, stale snark of some poor intern tasked in finding a way to flog the same donors for another $5.”
Although Stirewalt specifically mentions the Democratic Party, he could easily be talking about the Republican Party.
I shake my head whenever political partisans proclaim, “Our guys may be bad, but the other guys are worse!” It is as if each side believes that it is somehow morally superior to the other.
When it comes to claims of moral superiority, I keep in mind two passages in the Tanakh (a.k.a. Old Testament):
Ecclesiastes 7:20: “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.”
According to these Tanakh passages, it isn’t false equivalence to say that Democrats and Republicans are morally equal. So, I reject a holier-than-thou attitude coming from either Democrats or Republicans. Such an attitude is foolish and does nothing to promote civility in political discourse.
Regarding civility in the current state of American politics, David Plazas writes the following:
Plazas’ observation about the state of American politics is echoed in this statement by the bipartisan network Better Angels:
This appeal to one’s better angel comes from the ending of President Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address:
Even if we have failed to use our better angels when discussing politics (as I know that I have certainly failed), it isn’t too late for us to do so.
The “Wanted” posters say the following about David: “Wanted: A refugee from planet Melmac masquerading as a human. Loves cats. If seen, contact the Alien Task Force.”