I am not optimistic about the effect of President Obama’s conciliatory speech (at the Arizona memorial) on American Tea Party members. Or, for that matter, on Republican members of Congress. So far, a couple of examples have reinforced my doubts that American politics will now be conducted through “civil discourse” as proposed by the president.
One example is House Speaker John Boehner’s proposal to tone down the “rhetoric” in a Republican bill designed to repeal the recent US health care reform law. He suggests changing the title from “The Bill to Repeal the Job Killing Health Care Act,” to “The Bill to Repeal the Job Destroying Health Care Act.”
That’s really toning it down, eh?
Then there’s this gem from Maine:
Responding to a reporter’s question about criticism he had received over his decision not to attend the state NAACP’s annual Martin Luther King Day celebrations, Governor Paul LePage (a Tea Party favorite) remarked:”Tell them to kiss my butt.”
(Gov LePage is pictured above.)
