Carefully monitor the conduct of their elected representatives. They will highlight those officials who reach across the aisle to help solve the country’s problems and criticize those who do not. They will call out politicians whose rhetoric exacerbates those problems, and they will establish lines that no one should cross. Politicians, media personalities and opinion leaders who recklessly demonize their opponents should be on notice that they can no longer do so with impunity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The ultimate point will be to foster a \u201cpolitics of problem-solving.\u201d<\/p>\n
The contradictions of this manifesto are apparent, as John Podhoretz has pointed out:<\/p>\n
In the name of broadening the political discussion, a group called No Labels will come into being with the purpose of \u2026 labeling. If you \u2018recklessly demonize\u2019 your \u2018opponents,\u2019 you will \u2018no longer\u2019 be able to \u2018do so with impunity.\u2019 They will \u2018establish bright lines no one should cross.\u2019 In other words, cross the line and we will label you a \u2018reckless demonizer.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In short, free political speech will be circumscribed by someone\u2019s subjective taste about what is acceptable speech and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
More important, like other calls for \u201ccivility\u201d or attacks on the \u201cpolitics of personal destruction,\u201d a movement like No Labels in fact displays a dislike for democratic equality and freedom.<\/p>\n
Historically, democratic speech has been rough, vulgar, and insulting, often at a level light-years beyond what we today consider acceptable. In ancient Athens, politicians were pilloried publicly, on stage in comedy or in public speeches in the equivalent of our Congress. Taking bribes and homosexual prostitution were favorite charges for smearing politicians. As classicist K.J. Dove pointed out about ancient comedy in the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., \u201cthere is not one [politician] who is not attacked and ridiculed\u201d in ancient comedy. \u201cAll these leading men, and many minor politicians besides, are uniformly treated by the comic poets as vain, greedy, dishonest and self-seeking,\u201d and accused of being \u201cugly, diseased, prostituted perverts, the sons of whores by foreigners who bribed their way into citizenship.\u201d Political debate in the Athenian Assembly was not much better. Accusing your opponent of accepting foreign bribes, sordid sexual escapades, and disreputable parentage were standard charges.<\/p>\n
Nor was American democratic debate conducted with the powdered wig and silk knee-breeches civility of our idealizations. The charge that Thomas Jefferson fathered children by his slave Sally Hemings began as a political smear. Abraham Lincoln was called the \u201cmissing link\u201d and the \u201coriginal gorilla.\u201d The\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0\u2019 Paris correspondent called for an embargo on portraits of Lincoln, for \u201cthe person represented in these pictures looks so much like a man condemned to the gallows, that large numbers of them have been imposed on the people here by the shopkeepers as Dumollard, the famous murderer of servant girls, lately guillotined near Lyons. Such a face is enough to ruin the best of causes.\u201d From jingles about Warren G. Harding\u2019s illegitimate daughter, to caricatures of \u201cTricky Dick\u201d Nixon as a used-car salesman, American political speech has always used invective, personal attacks, and vulgar insult in disputes with opponents.<\/p>\nIndeed, from the beginnings of democracy in ancient Athens, elitist critics have focused on just this impudent vulgarity typical of ordinary citizens presuming to speak publicly to their betters on political matters. To anti-democrats like Plato, free speech was a manifestation of a political freedom more accurately understood as rampant license: \u201cAre they not free,\u201d Plato has Socrates sneer in the Republic, \u201cand is not the city full of freedom and outspokenness \u2014 a man may say and do what he likes?\u201d<\/p>\n
For elitists like Plato, free speech was an expression of the misguided equality that lay at the heart of democratic freedom. So too the 4th-century orator Isocrates, who accused the people of looking on \u201cinsolence as democracy, lawlessness as liberty, impudence of speech as equality, and license to do what they pleased as happiness.\u201d Disliking free speech, then, goes along with distaste for the political equality that free speech is a manifestation of, an equality that disregards distinctions of education, wealth, or family.<\/p>\n
Contemporary complaints about \u201cincivility\u201d in our political speech usually have this same whiff of anti-democratic elitism about them. Frum and Galston give the game away when they evoke the \u201cnew politics of problem-solving.\u201d This formulation assumes, however, that politics should be the purview of technical elites who have the knowledge necessary for solving problems and so are necessarily undemocratic. This \u201ctechno-politics,\u201d as French political philosopher Chantal Delsol calls it, also happens to be the central tenet of progressive politics. Just get those low-brow, vulgar people and their selfish irrational interests and beliefs out of the way, and the technicians can create the brave new world. But as history shows us, technical elites must reduce the power and freedom of the rest of us in order for them to put their schemes into practice.<\/p>\n
Contrary to Frum and Galston, politics is not about \u201cproblem solving.\u201d Politics is about passionately held beliefs in fundamental principles that can\u2019t always be reconciled with other beliefs and principles. And that passion will emerge when people talk about and defend those beliefs and principles. Trying to moderate or police the clashing expressions of that passion based on some subjective notions of \u201ccivility\u201d or decorum will necessarily compromise the freedom to express those beliefs. Nor need we worry that political leaders will be hampered in fulfilling their obligations because of their \u201cfear of social or political retribution .\u201d Anyone so thin-skinned that he will not act on principle to avoid getting his feelings hurt is probably a lousy politician \u2014 as our current president illustrates.<\/p>\n
If you truly prize free speech and democratic equality, then you have to accept that at times political speech will be raucous, insulting, even vulgar. But this is a small price to pay for the historically unprecedented freedom of millions of diverse, ordinary people to speak freely and publicly in their own style, no matter how disturbing to others, about what\u2019s important to them. Political \u201clabels\u201d aren\u2019t what we need to worry about, but rather the eagerness of many to control and hence limit free speech.<\/p>\n
\n
\u00a92010 Bruce S. Thornton<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Bruce S. Thornton RightNetwork.com Earlier this month, Republican David Frum and Democrat William A. Galston published a\u00a0manifesto\u00a0in the\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0announcing the birth of a new political movement, No Labels, the first meeting of which was December 13.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[22,470],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p466Sb-gj","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2906,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/from-vs-limbaugh\/","url_meta":{"origin":1011,"position":0},"title":"From vs. Limbaugh","author":"victorhanson","date":"March 12, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Victor Davis Hanson National Review Online In the end, the controversy boils down to an argument of the moment versus one of the ages. Frum believes that conservatives have to change their message to appeal to new constituencies without which the Republican party will lose future elections. Limbaugh argues\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "March 2009"","block_context":{"text":"March 2009","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/archives\/2009\/march-2009\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":519,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/time-for-liberals-and-progressives-to-get-new-labels\/","url_meta":{"origin":1011,"position":1},"title":"Time for ‘Liberals’ and ‘Progressives’ to Get New Labels","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce Thornton Frontpage Magazine We need to find a new label for the ideology espoused by leftist Democrats. \u201cLiberal\u201d doesn\u2019t accurately describe the party of blinkered intolerance, fanatical certainty, and an eagerness to destroy freedom in order to achieve some dubious utopia. \u201cProgressive\u201d is more historically accurate for ideas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":862,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/obama-a-creature-of-the-corrupt-university\/","url_meta":{"origin":1011,"position":2},"title":"Obama a Creature of the Corrupt University","author":"victorhanson","date":"April 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton FrontPage Magazine The November presidential election was the favorite topic at the Freedom Center\u2019s West Coast Retreat last weekend. Amidst the prognostications and arguments about which Republican would or should get the nomination, or how pessimistic or optimistic conservatives should be about defeating the President, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2482,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/principle-and-the-possible\/","url_meta":{"origin":1011,"position":3},"title":"Principle and the Possible","author":"victorhanson","date":"August 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton Advancing a Free Society The continuing stalemate over raising the debt ceiling is provoking a lot of voters into Mercutio\u2019s \u201ca pox on both your houses\u201d response. \u201cThey\u2019re acting like 6-year-olds pretty much on both sides,\u201d one woman told the\u00a0New York Times. \u201cI think it\u2019s stunning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4078,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/on-reminding-the-politicians-whos-the-boss\/","url_meta":{"origin":1011,"position":4},"title":"On Reminding the Politicians Who’s the Boss","author":"victorhanson","date":"January 22, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce S. Thornton RightNetwork.com The Democrats and their tribunes in the mainstream media weren\u2019t too happy about the House of Representatives reading aloud the Constitution. The\u00a0New York Times\u00a0called it a \u201cpresumptuous and self-righteous act,\u201d while New York Representative Jerrold Nadler dubbed the reading a \u201ctotal nonsense\u201d and \u201cpropaganda.\u201d In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bruce S. Thornton"","block_context":{"text":"Bruce S. Thornton","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/our-contributors\/bruce-s-thornton\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":634,"url":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/the-democracy-delusion-and-failed-mideast-policy\/","url_meta":{"origin":1011,"position":5},"title":"The Democracy Delusion and Obama’s Failed Mideast Policy","author":"victorhanson","date":"July 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bruce Thornton Frontpage Magazine The\u00a0New York Times\u00a0headline on Secretary of State Clinton\u2019s visit to Egypt said it all: \u201cUS Is in a Quandary.\u201d That\u2019s putting it mildly. Better words for this administration\u2019s foreign policy are \u201cconfused,\u201d \u201ccontradictory,\u201d and \u201cdelusional.\u201d Start with Clinton\u2019s meeting with newly elected Egyptian president Mohammed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "The Middle East"","block_context":{"text":"The Middle East","link":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/ahref=\/index.php\/categories\/angry-reader\/categorylink\/a\/the-world\/the-middle-east\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1012,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011\/revisions\/1012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/victorhanson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}