Booing is a normal part of the baseball experience. I’ve personally participated many times this season — mainly when the Phillies’ $330 million slugger Bryce Harper came to bat and during a certain Wild Card game earlier this month. It’s a healthy and generally lighthearted tradition in baseball.
But booing a president attending a ballgame, no matter how terrible you believe that person to be, is never okay. It’s not healthy or lighthearted. It’s terrible and it speaks to the devastating virus that has infected too much of the American culture: political incivility.
Just ask Ellen DeGeneres. America’s Sweetheart was savaged on social media for sharing a laugh with President George W. Bush at a recent football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. The social assault was so bad, she had to address the situation on her program and remind the country that we should all be kind to one another. It’s a great message, and she received a lot of praise for it. But the sentiment is meaningless unless it’s put into action.
Sure, we say we want civility. But how many people are willing to enact it in their own lives? Social media is the perfect example. We have endless opportunities every day to shift the hostile political environment. Those opportunities include: stopping ourselves from posting negative comments on other people’s Facebook pages about a political hot take we disagree with; or not retweeting sensational headlines of articles we haven’t even read; or engaging in online conversations that don’t move a conversation forward and instead recycles itself and leaves everyone involved a lot angrier than when it started.
Restraint is hard, especially considering it’s so easy to hurt our political opponents with a mere click of a button. But the truth is that engaging in the behavior isn’t rewarding past the amount of time it takes to hit “send,” and the ripple effect has long-term consequences.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve succumbed to the temptation of petty Twitter fights. They’ve all ended badly. I felt worse afterward 100% of the time. I decided a while ago that I’d disengage as much as possible. These days, the only fights I take on are about how Nick Nurse should have stopped Drake from making the entire country of Canada look ridiculous as he stomped around the sidelines during the NBA Playoffs last season. Or shaming Twitter trolls for saying people can’t cheer for the Nationals unless they’re from D.C. There’s also the potential for fireworks over this year’s National League MVP. Anyone who says Cody Bellinger should get the award may have some heat coming from me. We’ll see how I feel.
But, back to the point. Anyone who honestly wants the divisive, exhausting, and unhealthy political environment to change needs to start at their own front door. In general, we all should take a minute to consider what we’re writing before we tweet it into the universe. Just ask any of the casualties who have had their lives and careers ruined by their Twitter behavior. I bet none of them would tell you their tweet was worth it. Maybe instead of relying on Twitter to deal with your anger, try going for a run. Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy, and happy people don’t shoot their mouths off on social media. (Shout-out to Legally Blonde.) That’s how that goes, right?
We’re all guilty of political incivility and we can all do our part to stop it. The folks at Nationals Park on Sunday night could have set a powerful example to the rest of the country by offering respect to the office of the president, despite their feelings for the person who currently occupies it. Instead, they gave in to the overwhelming tide of negativity that has engulfed our nation. We all can, and must, do better.
Nicole Tieman is a Wisconsin native, unapologetic fan of the Milwaukee Brewers, and general lover of baseball. In her spare time, she’s a communications professional on Capitol Hill.
