EMILY POST, WHERE ARE YOU?

     Now I am not one for prissy manners, eighteen pieces of silverware at a meal, but I am one for discourse between people. Without talking to each other, without listening to each other, there will never be any compromise reached nor any progress made. We used to value polite remarks, constructive criticism, and proper behavior and mouths. Certain offices demanded a dignified manner and speech. National positions forced the officeholder to remember that he/she represented the entire nation and not a piece of it.
     Today we seem to have lost the values of Emily Post. We no longer seek civil discourse. We no longer protect the dignity of an office. We no longer talk to each other, but rather rage into the night and at inappropriate times. And as for polite and constructive criticism, well, it is hard to continue to do that when any statement of concern or opposition engenders raging comments and pure lies.
     I have seen that here in CV when criticism or questioning of David Israel led to nasty comments in return, or cruel imitations of people who annoyed him, and did he not imagine that people could imitate him? But people who are insecure within themselves and with their policies are never the ones to be polite, but always play the wounded and aggrieved bull. That is true, perhaps even more so these days, of public office on a larger playing field. Such is today's climate.
     It used to be an honor to request the presence of the President at a function, be it a wedding, a funeral, a state visit or a special event. No more. Trump, today, gets disinvited to almost everything other than his hate filled venom spouting supposed rallies which look more and more akin to incitements of violence than anything else. His verbal statements, along with his body language, with a body that is always pushed out, a bulwark against his 'enemies', a face that is always angry, or sulking, or pouting, or fierce in hatred all combine to an evil synergy that is far more than the sum of its parts.
     However, the worst thing about this is how contagious it is. It ranges from the simply nasty to the insane. McCain is blamed for the timing of his announcement of his illness, his death and Kelli Ward says that these 'mistimed' statements were bad for her run at office. Guess we all need to consult with our local and national politicians when we have any illness or G-d forbid death. 
     Remember when there was a rule in society that one did not speak ill of the dead? Well, not always kept, but at least most people waited till the deceased was interred. But not today. Not now. The extremist nutjobs of the Republican Party, the 'new' conservatives, raged yesterday, blaming it all on McCain. He did not behave appropriately, nor show proper respect to Trump, disagreed with too many of Trumpian policies, and on they ranted. On they raved. McCain needed to be more courteous. This about the man who was courteous, who treated the office of the President with respect through all administrations, even when the office was defiled by Trump. But he never engaged in the wild diatribes of Trump, only using calm, yet forceful statements when in opposition.
     Well, I just read that air pollution makes us dumber, harms our cognitive processes, especially old men. Hmmmm….'nuff said? Perhaps this explains all the corruption of politicians - that, and blaming it on the wife! So could gerrymandering also be a result of cognitive loss, that the violators and the creators of this did not 'realize' what they were doing? An inanity defense?  And could that be stretched to cover as a plea for misfiled government requirements, cruel misbehavior to tenants, collusion with Russia, the back and forth statements of all involved in the current mess, denying ,saying, denying, saying, until the truth is so obscured that no one knows which way is up anymore!
     All I know is that the situation is getting worse and worse and we are shouting at each other like two harridans except that the shouters are supposed to be running the country and not rising to tar and feather tempers! Yet, how does one avoid this when the cause is a raging and demented, incapable, hate filled, misogynistic, biased man who hears only the evil befogged sound and words of his own fevered mind and mouth and dispenses with morals and values?
     See, I do not have the answers to that other than to suggest that these politicians all grow up, stop creating and engendering tribal politics in a nation that once was able to have differences without going ballistic. Get rid of this guy and all his backers. Impeach, force resignations, arrest and charge, elect opponents, whatever, but we must do something! The alternative is not a good one. Emily Post, where are you?