I will give you on example of a third-rail issue in light of Virginia Tech massacre. As a result, the gun debate is back in play. It may surprise you that as a Democrat, I once wrote an article defending gun owners in this column, When Bad Gun Legislation, Punishes the Wrong People. One of the reasons you will see is that I am a gun owner. That column took a lot of research, but I was able to prove Democratic legislators in New York State wrong. I sent this column to elected officials on both sides of the aisle and the ones that did support me were the Republican legislators. I wonder if it had them scratching their heads. I would have given anything to be that proverbial fly on their wall as they received it.
In closing, I do not pretend to know what it will take to restore civility to this nation. Maybe is it the art of listening to what another has to say. Perhaps before responding to a writer’s thoughts even if you angrily disagree, it means walking away for a bit and then writing them. If you cannot seem to do that, no writer if they are Republican, Democrat a member of any other party or none at all should ever get an email wishing that someone would kill them. Maybe we need a new breed of leadership in Washington, D.C. that can bring both sides to the table in order to make things better for all of us, or maybe we should show our elected leaders by our own willingness to listen. Wouldn’t it be funny if we came together leaving the politicians in the dust? Now that idea I find amusing.
Author’s note: Please feel free to email me at xmjmac@optonline.net
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