Can civility be lost if it was never found?

By Jonah Goldberg

There is much gnashing of teeth and rending of cloth these days about the death of civility.

Personally, I'm not sure I know what people are talking about. When was this Golden Age of civility?

Was this glorious era of politeness during George W. Bush's presidency? Funny, that's not how I remember it.

So maybe the 1990s was the last great outpouring of lovingkindness? Hmmm, no. At least I don't think Clarence Thomas would say so. Nor do I think anyone who watched the Clinton show would claim it was a hallmark of sober debate on either side. Clinton's minions attacked victims of his sexual aggression or revelations about his accomplices in his adultery as “bimbo eruptions.” Was civility the norm when Rep. Charlie Rangel said of Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, “Hitler wasn't even talking about doing these things”?

Was it the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was routinely dubbed a nuclear-trigger-happy “amiable dunce”? I was young then, so I'll check with Robert Bork and see what he thinks.

Perhaps it was in the 1960s and 1970s? Sure, there was admirable civil disobedience in the beginning, but there was a lot more uncivil disobedience, what with all the domestic terror attacks and the protesters asking LBJ how many kids he killed today.

The 1950s? Who knew the McCarthy era was such a high-water mark of domestic tranquillity? What about the 1930s? America saw its worst labor violence, and FDR had to put up with demagogues like Huey Long and Father Coughlin (who attacked him from the left, by the way).

OK, enough of all that.

And yes, let me offer a sincere denunciation of rudeness for rudeness' sake. Let me also concede that there is no shortage of bilious, nasty rhetoric on the right.

But here's the thing. First, it was ever thus. American democracy always has been a hurly-burly. More important, a lot of the complaints about incivility today are really complaints from the people in power or their supporters in the media, aimed at the folks who won't shut up and get with their program.

And there's something distinctly undemocratic about that.

The civility caterwaulers claim that Obama's opponents are trying to “delegitimize” the president, often suggesting that such efforts are racist. But what some see as delegitimization, others see as criticism. What strikes me as truly uncivil is the effort to demonize critics of the president with racial bullying.

I think Obama really does have a problem with dissent. In August, he said: “I don't want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking. I want them to get out of the way ... I don't mind cleaning up after them, but don't do a lot of talking.”

Now his White House is targeting Fox News and urging other news outlets to ostracize it.

Democracy is about disagreement, arguments. Citizenship in America requires speaking your mind. Indeed, it's worth recalling that the freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment always envisioned a partisan press. “Objective” journalism is a 20th century confabulation.

Civility came to mean politeness in the 16th century; before that it meant being a citizen. It seems to me that authentic civility requires some incivility.

n Contact the writer:

jonahscolumn@aol.com