Mark Tapscott on let's leave the gutter to the Left
By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
July 2, 2009
Take a conservative stand in the blogosphere, cable television and the mainstream media and you can count on being attacked in the rudest, crudest, and foulest possible language, much of it unprintable in a daily newspaper, by zealots on the Left.
I ignore such stuff, knowing that Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" encourages the use of abusive, garbage language as a tool to isolate and discredit people and institutions. Perhaps that makes it easier to send those the commissars deem utterly evil or hopelessly ignorant to re-education camps, or worse.
But I never expected to hear such language from people on the Right.
Then, in a Beltway Confidential post Tuesday, I asked what is the difference between folks on the Right calling the eight Republican House members who voted for Obama-Waxman-Markey the "cap-and-traitors," and the infamous "General Betrayus" ad bought by the Left's Moveon.org in The New York Times.
In no time at all, comments variously described your humble servant as a "moron," a spreader of "piffle," a "clueless knave or a fool," and "a boil on journalists' butts," among much else. A few folks offered reasonable contrary arguments, but the clear verdict of most was that I am either incredibly stupid, or I've ingested an overdose of MSM fairy dust.
Before posting the query, I expected a lot of people to disagree with me on the merits. There are two definitions of "traitor" in Mr. Webster's book; the first referring specifically to the act of treason against one's country, and the second to the more general case of someone betraying a cause, group or principle.
My main point in raising the issue was not that the word choice itself was grammatically incorrect, however, but that it is evidence of a growing number of people on the Right succumbing to the temptation to use the same vile rhetorical weapon so often deployed by the Left.
The fundamental problem here is that substituting personal invective for logic and fact points to the disappearance of a key aspect of republican virtue - putting the pursuit of truth in public debate before self-aggrandizement, also known as moderation or temperance.
It also signifies the continuing corruption of public language. Contrary to the deconstructionists among us, language is crucially important in a republic because it enables rational consideration of alternatives. Dismissing a proposal out of hand because it comes from a "moron" denies the possibility of logical argumentation and poisons the reasonable discourse required for a republic to function peacefully.
It is one thing to encounter such rhetoric from the Left. It is profoundly disquieting to find it growing on the Right.
At a certain point in the discussion on Beltway Confidential, I challenged my critics to produce one example of Ronald Reagan referring to political opponents as traitors. A reader promptly noted that Reagan had done so in 1964, referring to Sen. Thomas Kuchel and other liberal Republicans who viciously attacked Barry Goldwater.
There may be other instances, but I seriously doubt it. Usually with Reagan it was "our opponents," or "the other side." He was always a gracious speaker and a superb debater, quick to refute specious arguments or personal attacks with facts and logic. Reagan was tough, but he was a gentleman and an honorable adversary.
Reagan steadfastly avoided using personal opprobrium as a substitute for facts and reason because he refused to demean himself or his cause by diving into the gutter with others who were all too eager to hurl themselves and others there.
It's not uncommon these days to hear suggestions that Reagan is no longer relevant. But his example of extending courtesy and respect to opponents - including those who don't deserve it - is relevant for all time because it's the right thing to do.
Mark Tapscott is editorial page editor of The Washington Examiner and proprietor of Tapscott's Copy Desk blog on washingtonexaminer.com.
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