Manners in an Election Year – Catholic Review

“A man who expects to force lobsters to fly in a year is called a madman, but a man who believes that people can be turned into angels through seduction is called a ray shaper and remains at large.”

This wisdom regarding the limitations of the electoral process was coined by Mr. Dooley. Mr. Dooley, a purely fictional creation of author Finley Peter Dunne, covered many topics – including politics – from his seat in a Chicago pub. The Dooley sketches first appeared in newspapers and were collected by Dunne in several popular books.

I thought of Dooley recently when I read a memo that the executive director of a senior housing complex sent to residents warning them to mind their manners in an election year. It read in part:

“In the coming months, it will be crucial for us to treat each other with respect, even when we disagree. Degrading, discriminatory or harassing behavior will simply not be tolerated. That’s not us. We strive to be kind, caring, inclusive and respectful.”

Did the manager see trouble brewing? Did the memo work? Who can say?

One thing seems certain. Our politicians have been setting a bad example for the rest of us lately with their so-called debates (again?). For my part, I would welcome authentic discussions in which candidates exchanged thoughtful views in measured, polite tones and spent their time—and ours—explaining competing approaches to solving problems affecting the common good. What we have instead are insult contests that are better suited to the schoolyard than the debate hall.

Also notable is the Secret Service’s openly self-critical report on its security failures surrounding the July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, featuring former President Donald Trump. Trump was hit by a bullet, two other people were critically injured and one person was killed. The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper. And as if that wasn’t enough, there was another suspected assassination attempt recently – this time at a Trump golf club in Florida.

It is no news that the consequences of political campaigns include heightened passions. Correspondingly strict security precautions are part of the necessary response to this fact. This also applies to stricter gun control laws. And this also applies to serious and binding promises by candidates to tone down their rhetoric. No one will be worse off as a result of these measures, while the nation as a whole will be much better off.

Even in the secluded atmosphere of a retirement community, the director felt it necessary to urge older residents not to cause trouble in an overheated political environment by expressing “derogatory, discriminatory and harassing” views about one another. Good advice. It’s a shame it was necessary. And as I write this, the election is still a month and a half away. We’ll see how “kind, caring, inclusive and respectful” the memo’s recipients – and others too – will treat each other.

I have no foolproof suggestions for avoiding the kind of unpleasantness envisaged here – other than the obvious step of abjuring political discussions in politically mixed company.

Leaving aside spiritual reading or whatever you do in your free time, people who get on each other’s nerves in political disputes would do well to consider another piece of wisdom from Mr. Dooley: “A fanatic is a man who does something.” He believes the Lord would do it if He knew the facts of the case.”

Copyright © 2024 OSV News

Press