The childish tantrums that forced the shutdown of the federal government are the climax – so far – of a period in American history in which civil discourse stopped being civil. We are now a nation where political debate has been reduced to the chanting of meaningless slogans designed by pollsters to maximize appeal to a desired segment of the voters.

Such a climate is the reason White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta can compare Republicans to ”terrorists,” as if children and the elderly were going to die en masse as a result of the GOP’s budget cuts. Such a climate is the reason Newt Gingrich conveniently forgets that these cuts – exaggerated potential for harm or not – are the real issue, and instead tries to portray the entire mess as a simple matter of Republicans who want to cut those dreadfully high taxes working stiffs must pay vs. Democrats who want to keep taxes as high as possible.

The public rightly complains about the morass of partisan cynicism that politicians are wallowing in, but much of the public is not exactly swimming in pristine waters. The same poisonous spirit that infects our leaders also pollutes the thinking of average Americans, at least the thinking of those who bother to call radio talk shows or write to newspaper columnists.

I try to offer rational analysis in this column. I do not expect all readers to agree with me. But seldom do I receive letters that disagree with me on the substance of something I actually wrote. What’s common is for readers to infer something I did not write, which allows them to attribute to me ludicrous beliefs I do not have. Thus having turned a reasonable argument into an indefensible one, I am converted into One of Them.

Take, for instance, the response from a woman in El Paso to a column in which I wrote that ”in some cases, students who do not speak English should be taught basic subjects in their native language until they master English. ” Her letter said, ”In the 1940s I taught beginning Mexican Hispanic children (English). At the end of nine months, these children spoke English. They were smart enough, and they will learn if the likes of you don’t tell them they can’t.”

I pulled out the particular column that so upset this reader, and reread it carefully to see what sentence could possibly have been construed as telling anyone that children were unable to learn English. I found none that even remotely came close to implying anything of the sort.

The reader apparently believed bilingual education is not effective, but instead of rationally supporting her view with one of the studies that assert this (other studies say bilingual education is indeed useful), she decided it was easier to make me a member of the group People Who Tell Children They Can’t Learn English. Since the basic belief of such a group is ridiculous, I too am ridiculous and she wins the argument.

On a bigger scale, that’s precisely the kind of rhetorical tactic that put Democrats and Republicans in a deadlock. Partisanship, of course, is essential to politics in any democracy. What is new, however, is the blind virulence of partisan bickering today.



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