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From the front page of yesterday's LA Times:
The caption reads, "President Obama waves to union members after a speech at the AFL-CIO's Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati. Obama said it was time for the healthcare debate to end and accused opponents of spreading lies and fear."
Under Obama, the Democrats are the party that attacks civil debate. Per yesterday's LA Times, Obama said "it was time for the healthcare debate to end" - explicitly demanding an end to the public debate on healthcare reform. And to further attack civil public debate, Obama insulted those who disagree with him, saying they are "spreading lies and fear."
Obama is following Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. Alinsky's Rule #12:
RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)
Obama is insulting those who disagree with him, and insults are by definition, the opposite of civil debate. He is doing this to attack civil debate because civil debate leads to people discovering the truth - the truth which will set you free - the truth which, if widely recognized, spells an end to his efforts to turn America into a totalitarian state.
This leaves a massive opportunity for the Republicans to accurately brand themselves as the party that welcomes civil debate, that loves civil debate, that invites civil debate from all sides, all parties, all races, creeds, and colors, because it leads to the truth, and brings us together, after the motto of the U.S. - "E Pluribus Unum": "Out of Many, One."
