Political jibes have grown too nasty

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never harm me. That may have been somewhat true in the 1940s and '50s, when the name-calling was just between the perpetrator and recipient. Or possibly with a few witnesses, either schoolyard or barroom. The result then was potentially either short-term or lifelong hard feelings between the participants. That was it - it ended; it was over.

But these days, the malicious name-calling in politics or on cable news is not confined to a small, tight group. The instantaneous playback on TV, on the Internet, in the press, broadens the circle around the globe causing actual harm to the recipient because some people believe that the name-calling is true. Is it necessary to call someone Hitler, a fascist, un-American, or a terrorist just because we disagree with their belief or position?

Why do some people suggest or advise that we should "reload" or use "Second Amendment remedies" to get people to change their positions or that someone "is dead to me" when they don't vote as I do?

This political name-calling or bullying is not only intended to embarrass the recipient but also to destroy their career or boot them out of a job. But sometimes it's worse than that, as recent events in Tucson have shown.

Carol Kolakowski

Melville