Speaking after delivering a lengthy address on a host of topics at the Center for American Progress, Kerry stopped short of directly tying government lethargy to the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 19 others. But he did argue that the inability of lawmakers to respond to problems in a timely manner had produced a toxic climate that fostered incivility and anger.
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"Now, it has gotten angrier and people are somehow bitter, and I think one of the reasons is -- and I should have talked about this today -- I think one of the reasons is that a lot of Americans are feeling this slide in their savings, in their jobs, in their incomes, in their health care and their day-to-day lives and they don't see us responding," he said. "So the lack of response from Washington is just driving people, sort of, you know, they don't see the deficit dealt with and the frustration builds enough and I think people are taking that out ... So I hope a lot of people will think about the degree to which we are to blame by not responding adequately to some of these things for the increasing lack of civility."
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The post-speech remarks, echoing the line that got President Barack Obama in hot water during the 2008 presidential campaign, built upon the basic argument Kerry made during his actual address, in which he spoke about the role "divisive political rhetoric may have played" in the Giffords shooting. But in terms of diagnosing the root causes for Saturday's events, they represent a bit of new ground. Many lawmakers have argued for the need for civility in the past few days. A few have urged Congress to tone down the partisanship. None have made the case that, say, obstructionism in the Senate was poisoning discourse, embittering voters, and, subsequently, in need of examination following the shootings
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/11/kerry-congressional-gridlock-bitter_n_807404.htmlThe Huffington Post connects Kerry's comment to Obama's bitter comment - even though what was offensive to some in Obama's comments was not is NOT in Kerry's. Obama spoke of them holding on their guns and religion - implying that it was wrong to vote for anything other than your economic good. Although I doubt Obama meant it that way and think it was election time looking at every word with a magnifying glass to find something wrong, I know I was uneasy with that comment. In fact, the ONLY thing that connects then is that Kerry and Obama both used the word "bitter".
What is ignored is that Kerry is speaking of people who likely feel betrayed and bewildered by a government that has not protected them. They see that their lives are not the promised American dream - not matter how hard they work. Kerry is not criticizing their reaction - he is empathizing with the conditions that caused it. This is closer to Kerry's 1993 comments on the expanding income gap (it was so long ago he spoke of the Ward Cleaver Amreica becoming two worlds - one of Roseanne Barr, the other the yuppies on LA LAw) than to Obama's - and in some ways are a very genuine understanding of people in the less fortunate "other America".
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