For some older readers

[veronica_rich]

At the age of 38, I've only witnessed a certain amount of things in history, of course. So I'm curious about something, from people my age or older, who can speak best to this: Do you think the political rhetoric/discussion/debate in the U.S. today is more ... incindiery, or charged, uncivilized (use your own word to basically mean "less diplomatic/calm") than it has been for decades?

I'm just curious, not only in the wake of Arizona last weekend, but as something I've wondered for the past several years. Some of the remarks and rhetoric and arguments and words I hear now as a matter of course are the kinds of things that back in the 1980s, I only truly remember from shows like "D.C. Follies" or "Spitting Image" - parodies of politics, exaggerated for comedy.

Comments

[the-dark-snack.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's changed at all. The problem is that more people have access to the ability to get their thoughts heard. This innundation has just made us notice it more.

It's the same way with most political issues and such. We are bombarded with everything and it's hard to tune out the excess and realize that that doesn't make a few isolated events/ideas to be as commonplace as they seem to be.

Also, parents need to actually parent their children and teach them that actions have consequences and stop trying to be their friends and let them get away with anything. This path is leading us to destruction.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

Yep, between the Internet where crazies can find each other, and the 24-hour news cycles that depend on making a big deal out of absolutely everything (and scandal to keep their jobs safe), I definitely think things have gotten worse - in the sense of there being so much more visible, if not the quality of the rhetoric.