Pot, Kettle, et cetera

September 16, 2009 12:59 pm ET by Jamison Foser

Maureen Dowd joins the bandwagon of pundits who lack self-awareness bemoaning the lack of "civility" in America today.

[P]artly due to the Internet, the standards of behavior in this new country are terrible.

If Beaver and Wally were around today, they'd likely be writing snarky, revealing blogs about June and Ward.

It wasn't "the Internet" that called John Edwards "The Breck Girl" -- that was Maureen Dowd.

It wasn't "the Internet" that described Al Gore as "so feminized ... he's practically lactating" -- that was Maureen Dowd.

It wasn't "the Internet" that described Barack Obama as "effete" and a "pretty boy" and a "debutante" and mockingly compared him to Scarlett O'Hara -- that was Maureen Dowd, too.

It wasn't "the Internet" that called Hillary Clinton "Mistress Hillary" and "Mommie Dearest." Dowd, yet again.

Maybe some of that had a little something to do with the breakdown of civility in public discourse, and the rise in snark? I mean, just maybe?

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- by mustardman (September 16, 2009 1:02 pm ET)
  1
  
  yawn, The media continues to report on the people being poorly informed while at the same time doing everything they can to continue to misinform.
  
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- by political_left-religious_right (September 16, 2009 1:09 pm ET)
  
  Well, Jamison, to be fair, she said it was "partly" due to the Internet. I'm sure she was leaving some room to shoulder some of the blame there.
  
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  - by mk3872 (September 16, 2009 1:14 pm ET)
    2
    
    It is the 2nd part of the quote from Jamison's posting that gets to the heart of it: "If Beaver and Wally were around today, they'd likely be writing snarky, revealing blogs about June and Ward."
    
    It's those snarky nasty bloggers that are ruining discourse in this country according to media elites like Dowd.
    
    Reply Report Abuse
- by goesto11 (September 16, 2009 1:36 pm ET)
  
  In terms of the political dialogue, is it a lack of civility "in this new country"?
  
  Or a lack of civility by this new conservative community?
  
  Reply Report Abuse
  - by The_Cat (September 16, 2009 1:52 pm ET)
    2
    
    I don't believe there is a 'new conservative community', goesto11. I think of it more as a 'new conservative mob'. But, your point is well taken. :)
    
    Reply Report Abuse
  - by NiceguyEddie (September 16, 2009 2:27 pm ET)
    
    No, no, no. Be fair now... Conservtaives may be far worse and more consistent with their lack of civility, but liberals are not entirely free of blame in that department.
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Yours truly included.
    
    Reply Report Abuse
    - by goesto11 (September 16, 2009 3:48 pm ET)
      
      You're right, the Left has plenty to account for.
      
      But it seems to me that the decibel level from the Right is up quite a few notches since Obama was elected. There's a mean-spiritedness and even desperation that the Left didn't display even during the Bush years.
      
      Reply Report Abuse
- by flounder (September 16, 2009 1:47 pm ET)
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  Don't forget that Dowd also thinks that taking someone else's words and claiming them as your own is acceptable behavior.
  
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- by shaggles (September 16, 2009 1:55 pm ET)
  
  Dowd is a clown.
  
  Reply Report Abuse
  - by Clothodi (September 16, 2009 2:01 pm ET)
    
    No. Clowns are sometimes funny
    
    Reply Report Abuse
- by aBeck in 10-O-C (September 16, 2009 3:39 pm ET)
  
  On the other hand, consider this. If you can have two opposing positions an an issue (in this case civility in discourse) then you affectively double the number of possible columns that you can write on any given subject. Wait. What if you can hold three...or even four positions? Wow, a convenient windfall for op-ed columnists, no? FOX figured this out when they institutionalized windsock reportage. So Ms, Dowd has some cover on that front.
  
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