http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/10/cleaver-toxic-rhetoric-is-celebrated-in-washington/#more-142582Snippet:
"Hopefully this is a transformative moment," the Missouri Democrat told CNN later in an interview.
"If it isn't, it should be. Whether the shooter was inspired by speech or not to do his dastardly deeds is irrelevant. The truth of the matter is the tone is toxic here in Washington, and we have been exporting it around the country," he said.
Cleaver said he sees "every day" examples of colleagues applauding each other for saying toxic things.
"Your colleagues pat you on the back and say 'boy that was good, you called him, you called her, such a good name' and that's celebrated," recounted Cleaver.
"If you really are nasty to somebody and if you had a hidden microphone, you could hear people are saying, it's like, 'good job' and we've got to stop it," he said.
...
He also admonished his colleagues for pointing fingers about hostile rhetoric elsewhere.
"We can't blame talk radio or anyone else. We are the band, the president is the orchestra director and we can't blame people for picking up a bad tune. We've got to stand up and declare that the 112th congress has a clean slate. Whether it's defiled or not is up to each member of Congress," he said.
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"When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser." - Socrates
Vita contingit, Vive cum eo. (Life Happens, Live With it.)
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." -- author unknown
"De omnibus dubitandum"
