10.17.11
F— civility
One of the primary complaints the defenders of the status quo level at OWS, and any protests in general, is that they’ll lose legitimacy if they dare become uncivil.
Davos Nick Kristof is big on civility. Everyone at the top is.
Okay, we’re all in trouble when the first encampment of Real Americans that Joe discovers is located tucked away “in an affluent suburb of St. Louis.” (No Real Americans in St. Louis itself? How about East St. Louis? Who am I kidding?) At a time of 15 percent real unemployment in the country, and 8.8 percent officially in St. Louis County, is there a reason why I should care particularly what any of these people think? There are a lot of places where you can find what’s really going on in this country, and an affluent suburb of St. Louis isn’t high on that list. Things fall apart even there, alas, because a local Tea Party blowhard goes off ranting and everybody else runs for the canapes.
There’s nothing else here except a little local more local color, and a nice little moment at the end where Joe picks up a broom and helps a guy sweep up a sidewalk. Oh, and there is a lot of talk about civility in our politics, and how we’d all be much better off if everybody would just stop yelling at each other and agree to… wait for it… a Grand Bargain to solve our nation’s many problems …
And when I hear someone, anyone, appeal for a return to “civility,” I generally run headlong to the door.
This country has faced serious problems before, and it has overcome them, and of all the tools it used to overcome them, “civility” is one of the least significant. The fight against slavery took place in a lot of different arenas, public and private, but in none of them was it civil.
“Sylvester Stallone, the star of Rocky, is Johnny Kovac in F.I.S.T., a Gene Corman production of a Norman Jewison film … F.I.S.T, a motion picture achievement that will be talked about and remembered for years to come!”