Being a Republican means never having to say you’re sorry

Those of us who believe political discourse has suffered considerably of late usually point to personal acrimony having a poisonous impact. The dearth of apologies makes things worse.

Consider Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.), for example, believes American liberals should be on the front lines in Iraq and killed by insurgents.

“I say we tell those liberal, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hippie, tie-dyed liberals to go make their movies and their music and whine somewhere else,” Gibbons said to another burst of applause.

[…]

He said that they are the same people who wanted to go to Iraq and become human shields for the enemy.

“I say it’s just too damn bad we didn’t buy them a ticket,” Gibbons said. Laughter rippled through the room, mingled with more applause.

When asked for an apology, Gibbons refused. (The Nevada congressman did, however, ultimately say he was sorry for stealing his speech from an Alabama official without permission or attribution.)

Similarly, as my friend Gary mentioned to me, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) has taken to comparing House Democrats to terrorists, saying, “Indiana’s drive for growth and reform was car bombed yesterday by the Indiana House minority.” Like Gibbons, Daniels refuses to even consider apologizing for his rhetoric.

House Democrats won’t be getting an apology from Gov. Mitch Daniels, who compared them to terrorists earlier this week for refusing to come to the House floor.

“Not a chance,” Daniels told reporters Thursday. A day earlier, he said the 48 House Democrats had “car-bombed” bills to reform Indiana’s government and spark the state’s economy.

More than 130 bills died when Democratic lawmakers boycotted the House on Tuesday, including two central pieces of Daniels’ agenda — a bill to put all of Indiana on daylight-saving time, and legislation to give his inspector general the power to prosecute wrongdoing in state government.

“I could have used stronger language. It’s been used on me,” Daniels said Thursday.

Yeah, that sounds mature for a state’s chief executive.

There are consequences for such enmity. Rod Paige calls the NEA a “terrorist organization”; Dick Cheney tells Pat Leahy to “go f— yourself”; GOP senators call John Kerry a “communist”; etc. It’s not random right-wing bloggers throwing this language around, but high-ranking government officials, governors, and federal lawmakers in the world’s most deliberative body.

The Republicans never apologize for the antagonism, instead waiting for Dems to give up on asking for one. Everyone now considers this a normal way for Republicans to communicate, and there’s no real public outrage or media consternation.

Civil discourse is growing more coarse, but it seems only fair to acknowledge who’s responsible.