The problem that I see now is that there is such a divide between visions for our nation.
I do not see anyone advocating for a ridiculous amount of rugged individualism these days, but I do see people advocating for Marxist principles, which they very carefully equivocate and disguise.
And then you have all the people in between. The problem is not civility or lack thereof; it is not that which divides us. It is the actual difference in vision.
One group wants equality of opportunity, the other equality of outcome. One group wants to build on what we have, one to tear down what we have.
Do I think Trump goes too far? Yes. But then, maybe not really.
And yet I feel that many politicians do bully, say, those in fly-over country. Outside the Beltway. They do it through outsourcing and insourcing. They do it through words and attitudes.
Being “nationalist” is thoroughly condemned, but being Communist is practically praised! We have limits on conservatives by our rejection of certain old ideas such as racism, but we have no equal limits on the ideas of the left, even though some of their ideas are old and rejected.
They appreciate the behavior of Trump.
It is not the incivility per se that they appreciate but the clarity. They appreciate that someone is standing up for them against and calling out those who insult them and their lives and their sacrifices and take away their livelihoods.
Those who hurt average Americans do so with extraordinary
civility, I guess in your book that makes it all right.