I know that politics has not always been the most civil of pursuits, but it just seems nastier these days.

Examples abound.

It seems that conservatives are out to make liberal a dirty word.

I mean there is some serious liberal-hate speech going on out there. No wonder liberals favor passing hate speech laws.

(That raises an interesting point. Can you be discriminated against by political ideology? I mean, could I only hire conservatives?)

Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter. There are some pretty uncivil opinions bandied around by that crowd.

So not to be outdone, the liberals have trotted out the likes of Michael Moore, Al Franken and Janeane Garofalo to foist propaganda, hurl invective and generally rant, respectively.

"So what?" you say.

Well, I just think it's harmful to the political process as a whole.

I think that when political discourse becomes vile, as it does on a more frequent basis these days, it tends to drive people away from the political process.

And frankly, that's the worst thing that could happen.

Already fewer than half of the people eligible to vote even bother to register.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think sometimes if politics were a little more civil, more people would get involved.

I'm pretty confident that a lot of good people pass up the chance to run for Congress simply because they don't want to have their names dragged through the mud.

I think the free exchange of ideas is the greatest protection of liberty. Political discourse is important. We absolutely must be able to question government policy.

We must be able to demand accountability from elected officials.

That part of political discourse is necessary.

But movie makers calling the president of the U.S. a deserter or a traitor?

Or Vietnam vets calling a duly nominated candidate for president a liar?

What does that accomplish beyond driving people away from the political process?

Political discourse used to be about swaying someone to your point of view.

Anymore it seems it's about insulting people and motivating the fringy far reaches of your political party.

And the people who are taking part in this are not dumb people. They're well educated. They're members of an elite class of people who have been able to acquire the ears and eyes of massive audiences.

As their rantings gain attention, attention is diverted from those who take the time to make measured, principled arguments to support their points of view.

After all, what do you suppose will sell better in this country, Al Franken's "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big, Fat Idiot" or Terence Bell's "Transforming Political Discourse: Political Theory and Critical Conceptual History"?

The answer is clear. Everybody knows Al Franken. Who in the world is Terrence Bell?

And it should be no surprise that political discourse would degenerate to name-calling in the country.

Look at everything else.

Lyrics in popular music get a little more vile every year.

Movies get a little more graphically violent and sexually oriented.

We emulate entertainers and athletes and pay them stratospheric salaries even as they abuse drugs, booze and women.

Yes, these are our role models. These are the people society most reveres.

Even discussion on the Internet unrelated to politics gets heated for no apparent reason.

I've seen people get "flamed" for posting the most mundane, legitimate questions.

The level of vulgarity on most sites is quite impressive. I have seen phrases used on message boards that I never would have dreamed up on my own.

We've got road rage and drive-bys.

You know, sometimes I think we all just need to calm down a little bit. Everybody seems to take everything way too seriously at times.

The old clich, life's too short, comes to mind.

But I digress.

I know that there are plenty of people who view civility as that wimpy, mushy stuff in the middle of political debate.

But frankly, when I look back, some of the best policies come from that mushy middle.

Look at the Clinton years.

We had a Democrat president willing to wallow in the mushy middle. And look at what happened. Lower taxes, balanced budget, welfare reform, a growing economy.

I'm afraid, however, that the middle is a place where no one wants to tread anymore.

We have to be extreme. We have to be polarized.

In looking back over some of my columns I find that I too tended toward the uncivil from time to time. I will do better.

Polarized and extreme is no way to go through life. [[In-content Ad]]