Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Why the Coffee Party doesn't cut it

I was going to write a longer essay on the issues raised here, and probably will at some point, but here's a piece that cuts to the chase on why the "pushing for more civility" thing -- also known as bringing a knife to a gunfight -- doesn't work in American politics. (Plus, I wanted to leave the politics-crazed commentariat a little red meat for the rest of the morning.):

Moderates and liberals are responding to this rising threat with feckless calls for "a return to civility," as if all that's needed to put things right again is a stern talking-to from Miss Manners. Though that couldn't hurt, the sad fact is that we're well past the point where it's just a matter of conservatives behaving like tantrum-throwing spoiled brats (which they are). When a mob is surrounding your house with torches and telling you they intend to burn it down, "civility" really isn't the issue any more.

You hear a lot about the Tea Party -- the Coffee Party, not so much. I think the reasons for that are fairly obvious.