Peggy Noonan
wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled “America Needs to Rediscover
Tact.” I usually agree with her ideas. She’s onto something.. It starts at the
top….the leadership of both of our political parties. They don’t play nice….and
they don’t play fair.
Noonan
writes, “We have a lot of disputes, always have, argument is one of our
traditions. To make it all work……we have to give each other a little room, a
little space.” She thinks we have to be easier on each other…
Tact is the
key. Back to Noonan…“Tact takes brains and discipline. It’s a form of empathy. It
is connected to graciousness.”
I think the
difference maker is social media. It has become so easy to quickly and harshly
dismiss a person in the written word without suggesting a differing thought.
People seem to write in such an impersonal manner, using language they would
never use in person.
There is a
sense of tact and respect that we have for one another when we meet. There are
pleasantries that are exchanged….behaviors taught in our upbringing. I didn’t
like many of the things done by our former president, Barack Obama, but I would
pay him homage for being a skilled politician and I would never disrespect the
office of President of the United States.
Noonan is
right. Tact is missing. There’s very little of it coming from The West
Wing….and very little flowing towards Pennsylvania Avenue. But maybe it needs
to start with us.
Sir Isaac Newton said it best: “Tact is the art of making a
point without making an enemy.”
We need more of it.
I'm glad to see we're deciding to return to tactful disagreements. I agree that over the course of my lifetime, political disagreements are increasingly lacking in tact. I recall the myriad attacks on Bush's intelligence, Clinton's adulterous nature, anything about Obama (some of the most heinous of which was championed by Trump), and anything about Trump.
ReplyDeleteSince we're turning over a new leaf here, I'd like to ask you to reflect on some of your less tactful moments in these commentaries. So, here are some of your own moments that were decidedly lacking in tact:
https://mikedreith.blogspot.com/2019/01/law-enforcement-mayberry-style.html
In this post, you say, "The trend started with the Michael Brown shooting in St. Louis and branched out from Black Lives Matter to other groups that have only one common thread-----hatred of the people who put their lives on the line every time they put on a badge and go out to protect us."
Essentially, those who criticize police violence hate the police?
https://mikedreith.blogspot.com/2019/05/harvard-law-buckles-to-student-pressure.html
In this one, you blamed the issue on "empowered snowflakes," instead of seeing them as students, many of whom were concerned about what would happen if they were sexually assaulted.
https://mikedreith.blogspot.com/2019/07/unconscious-bias.html
"As for the people who feel uncomfortable in seeing our first responders in person….They need to brew their coffee at home…where only family members can offend them. Call that my 'unconscious bias.'" In this one you say to people who are concerned about police violence they should stay at home where no one can offend them.
https://mikedreith.blogspot.com/2019/06/satin-weighs-in.html
In this post, you decided that voters who disagreed with you had to be either fake or cowards. You even made the claim that someone literally named Satan had voted in your poll.
https://mikedreith.blogspot.com/2019/05/i-didnt-stop.html
Here you make assumptions about people who beg for money, which I would consider to be something lacking in tact.
https://mikedreith.blogspot.com/2019/05/epiphany-at-espn.html
Athletes who have political disagreements from you are "self-absorbed jocks." One could easily make the argument that paying attention to larger social trends is the opposite of being self-absorbed, but I guess it's less self-absorbed in your world to discuss how they play sports.
https://mikedreith.blogspot.com/2019/05/creating-collegiate-no-free-speech-zone.html
You spent most of this comment saying that only conservatives are stopped from speaking on college campuses and mis-characterized the President of that college, before ending by inferring that college students are perpetually offended and do not listen to conservatives at all:
"I contend, nothing is learned when conservatives are shouted down and only liberal-think is allowed to prevail. He believes in his college’s call for evidence and reasoned thought before views are expressed. I believe in facts too. I also believe this….Today’s college students support free speech….unless it offends them. Then they are against it."
I look forward to this new era of tact.I have disagreed with you on a number of occasions and I've made it quite clear why. I do my best to remain tactful and explain things in a clear manner, which is why I've gathered just a selection of moments mainly from the past couple months. Look at them all together and see if maybe you might have been feeding into this era lacking in tact.
If you are pushing for tact in arguments, you might want to start rebuking some of your followers for their responses. Your good friend Gene Kollak has a hard time understanding what tact it. I would suggest you inform him, but I don't think you know what it is either. May want to have an adult do it for you.....
ReplyDelete