The democratic process in Wisconsin is threatened and under attack. President Obama, in the spirit of the new civility he called for in January, needs to step up and lead. To be helpful, I have written a sample statement, taking into account his disagreement with the action taken by the legislature.
"Let me be clear. Although I heartily disagree with the action taken by the Wisconsin legislature, they were duly elected in the November election and are thus called to make difficult decisions. The way we make policy changes in America is through the democratic process of voting - not by violence or threats of violence. If the people of Wisconsin disagree with the actions of this legislature they may exercise their civic responsibility by voting in the next election."
This is an opportunity for the President to rise above partisanship and become the leader he was elected to be. Standing up for civility and democracy should not be a difficult decision.
I agree. I wished he had said something when the Tea Party folks were called racist. Obama could have squelched that talk by saying what G.W. Bush would have said: "They are not racist. They are just exercising their American right to dissent." Then we could have moved on to the issues brought up by the Tea Party, instead of continuing to attack the messenger, as NPR's Ron Schiller did.
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