President Obama at the U. of Michigan from his commencement address. I realized the other night in a casual conversation with a conservative that it is becoming more difficult to have a dialogue with differing views without some kind of outrage entering the exchange. I wonder if there will be a pathway to civility in these times. Those of us who found the Bush years intolerable perhaps should have been prepared for all this reaction to Obama's attempts to make some changes. FDR got treated similarly when he disturbed the plutocracy of his time. Jim Hightower, an avowed populist and liberal, was on Moyers' last show and clearly defined his populism as a form of governance that is the voice of the people as opposed to the corporations.

THE PRESIDENT: “[W]e can’t expect to solve our problems if all we do is tear each other down. (Applause.) … Throwing around phrases like ‘socialists’ and ‘Soviet-style takeover’ and ‘fascist’ and ‘right-wing nut’ -- (laughter) -- that may grab headlines, but it also has the effect of comparing our government, our political opponents, to authoritarian, even murderous regimes. … [T]his kind of vilification and over-the-top rhetoric closes the door to the possibility of compromise. It undermines democratic deliberation. It prevents learning –- since, after all, why should we listen to a ‘fascist,’ or a ‘socialist,’ or a ‘right-wing nut,’ or a ‘left-wing nut’? (Laughter.) It makes it nearly impossible for people who have legitimate but bridgeable differences to sit down at the same table and hash things out. …

“As I found out after a year in the White House, changing this type of politics is not easy. And part of what civility requires is that we recall the simple lesson most of us learned from our parents: Treat others as you would like to be treated, with courtesy and respect. (Applause.) But civility in this age also requires something more than just asking if we can’t just all get along. Today’s 24/7 echo-chamber amplifies the most inflammatory soundbites louder and faster than ever before. And it’s also, however, given us unprecedented choice. Whereas most Americans used to get their news from the same three networks over dinner, or a few influential papers on Sunday morning, we now have the option to get our information from any number of blogs or websites or cable news shows. And this can have both a good and bad development for democracy. For if we choose only to expose ourselves to opinions and viewpoints that are in line with our own, studies suggest that we become more polarized, more set in our ways. That will only reinforce and even deepen the political divides in this country.