What’s in a name?

[Skelly]

Does language matter? Should we hold our elected representatives to a higher standard while permitting others the same offense? Or should we not tolerate the offense at all?
What is ‘name calling’ except a lack of communication skills usually verbalized in frustration? “You idiot” you yell as a driver just cut in front of you. It is not like you can explain to the driver that his behavior has nearly caused an accident. Not a very conducive environment for a teaching moment. It is pent up frustration that is verbalized with no other avenue of communicating.

However, face to face and written communications are different. If the point is to communicate effectively and perhaps educate another on a differing point of view, we need to stop with the name calling. We need to expect more from ourselves, our friends, our elected officials.
Once we have labeled an individual or group of people (retard, troll, breeder, wingnut, etc) as an expression of frustration, we have cut off the lines of communication with that person or group. We may momentarily feel better, but our ‘cause’ (the reason behind the frustration) can not advance. When the name chosen offends more than the person to whom it was directed (as in the case of Rahm Emanuel’s use of ‘retard’), we have shown ourselves to be either ignorant (we did not know it was offensive) or uncaring (we do not care it was offensive). Another block to communicating our point.

We have an agenda. We need to reign in those who block our agenda because they are frustrated. They will never advance our cause. Name calling should not be tolerated. By anyone.

[Ron Green]

1. Conflict management

One thing that's important is to remember that reasonable people will become emotional, especially when willful ignorance is allowed to continue or when egregious acts are committed. It's then we (the reasonable, of course) have to manage our own frustration, name-calling, and broad-brush labeling.

As much as I hate bipartisanship (as it's come to be practiced by our president), I must acknowledge that it's the grown-up way to manage the inevitable conflict in modern political life.