>>>http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/abc-news-jonathan-karl-reports-the-newfound-civility-didnt-last-long-political-rhetoric-in-congress-doesnt-get-much.html
>>>
>>>Snippet:
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>>>The newfound civility didn’t last long. Political rhetoric in Congress doesn’t get much nastier than the words of one House Democrat during the debate on repealing the health care law.
>>>
>>>In an extraordinary outburst on the House floor, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) invoked the Holocaust to attack Republicans on health care and compared rhetoric on the issue to the work of infamous Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.
>>>
>>>“They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing. And Congressman Cohen didn’t stop there.
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>>Those darned Democrats. They just won't be civil.
>
>I don't know why opposing politicians are expected to be civil. They disagree, sometimes fundamentally. All that "I disagree but respect your views " is rubbish.

I don't agree with that. It's always possible to be civil. What does it accomplish to be insulting? The legislative process is essentially the art of compromise. You seldom get everything you want. We have had some pretty good legislation driven by Senators (especially) or Congressmen whose fundamental views are far apart. They don't pretend to agree on everything but approach it like, OK, let's come up with something we can both live with.