Stop name calling; listen to each other

The uproar about President Jimmy Carter's comments concerning racism is deafening. Many are arguing that Carter's comments are not helpful in the dialogue about the issues in which President Obama wants to engage. So, the pundits and politicians are calling President Carter out on his comments.

I wonder where these same pundits and politicians are when the tea baggers and others call people, with whom they disagree, socialists or communists. These names are not meant to be compliments but rather are derogatory and inflammatory. The intent is to stifle any opinions that do not agree with theirs. They have no evidence whatsoever that the names they are assigning to people they have never met are accurate.

I seriously doubt the tea baggers and their compatriots even know what the socialist or communist philosophy is about. It may interest them to learn that in early part of the 20th Century, many Americans embraced parts of the socialist philosophy because they saw it as a way to help improve their lives. Since then, those who wield power, mainly corporations but also other power brokers, have systematically squelched the movement and have succeeded in giving socialism a bad name.

So, I ask again, where are the critical pundits and politicians as the tea baggers and others call people derogatory names and squelch the debate? If they are in favor of a civil discourse, then they need to demand that it exists in all forums and among all groups.

I seriously doubt that civil discourse will ever return to our country again, no matter how hard President Obama tries to stay above the fray with the intention of guiding us into a civil debate. I think our democracy has moved into its final stage and is headed, in the next few years, into anarchy mainly because we no longer care enough about each other to listen.

Carolyn Riley

St. Charles