Understandably, there have been quite a few questions here today about

[Atticus]

where permissible free speech ends and actionable hate speech or incitement to violence begins. It is a complicated area of law and even attorneys who regularly deal with this type of public speech will tell you that "it depends on exactly what was said, when, to whom and in what context."

But, you know, we didn't used to have to depend on statutes and case law to govern what was "OK" to say out loud and what was not.

Americans used to have a sense of shame; a sense of decency; a conscience.

Can anyone imagine Dwight Eisenhower or John Kennedy insisting that up was indeed down, black absolutely was white and that apples and oranges are exactly the same fruits?

Yet, how many supposedly responsible "leaders" repeatedly assured America that the Health Insurance Reform bill created "death panels" empowered to "pull the plug on Grandma"?

How many times did we hear "government take-over of health care" and warnings about government "coming between you and your doctor'?

How many times did we cringe at yet another Republican oozing thinly-veiled racism as he or she questioned whether Barack Obama was a US citizen?

And, now, we are enduring the likes of Eric Cantor, John Boehner and (ugh!) Ann Coulter smugly insisting that they get threats, too, they just don't whine about it.

I recall a time when no public figure would have expected to continue their careers beyond the next election if they had so grievously insulted the intelligence of the electorate.

But, that was then. Today, if you don't get prosecuted for whatever poison you choose to vomit into the public discourse, you can pretty much count on any outrage having been totally forgotten by the next election---replaced by a new outrage du jour or maybe just a REALLY exciting week on "Dancing With The Stars".

It's a quaint idea, I realize, but the purifying effects of a genuine sense of conscience and decency would cure much of what ails our nation.

[frazzled]

1. Very well said ...

But I must say, it wasn't always so noble or polite. I recall the hateful politicians during the entire era of the civil rights movement, and especially after the 1964 Civil RIghts Act, and surely many of you recall how ugly it was during the early years of desegregation and court-ordered school busing.

I also remember, with regret, how our side, back during the Vietnam War was won't to call every police officer "Pig." I never approved of that, even though I attended the demonstrations and got tear-gassed like everyone else.

But now is now: and I must say I haven't heard this kind of bald lying and disrespectful behavior and craziness for many decades. My hope is that this, too, shall pass. The Republican Party will eventually have to extricate itself from the fringe base and remake its image in more moderate and appealing terms. People will begin to reject the extremism. We will return to normal.

[virgogal]

2. I agree. The sixties were insane and I remember them well. This

stuff today is nothing compared to those times, and it is now fed and fertilised by the 24 hour news cycle and the internet.