OPINION: Chilly civility

On Friday, I wrote a difficult sentence which I mulled over in my head throughout the editing process. The article was a recap of the public town hall invitation toward Representative Zach Nunn, which he did not answer. The town hall still took place, with visitors giving their opinions on various federal policies and events, most being critical of the Trump administration.

In that article, I wrote “civility seemed optional for some speakers.” It’s tough to make a judgement like that, especially when the immediate connotation implies the event was a rambunctious rally calling political dissidents nasty names. While crudeness and some obscene requests (one speaker asked why Nunn was kissing Donald Trump’s “ring, and not the one on his finger”) made it through the cracks, the event was mostly courteous.

Perhaps the general ideology was toward showing others kindness which makes the harsh rhetoric of some speakers harder to stomach. Care to disenfranchised groups, especially the LGBTQ community and veterans, was a common theme. USAID and federal workers who got DOGE’d were supported during this event. It’s not fair to call the whole group uncivil, but as a reporter it’s important to still give the unfortunate credit.

Whatever my personal beliefs are, I have to explain exactly what happened. I clapped along to some speakers, nodding to the people I knew as I watched them speak, but my own agency wasn’t toward promotion, it was toward preservation. As someone who never had the guts to be politically active like those I was witnessing, I feel almost hypocritical to say I just wish it was possible for sharper discourse without playground behavior.

Political activism is an inherently emotional process. It has to be, and it’s why so many people become motivated to spread messages in their local community. Yet, emotions can’t always be what drives movements; they have to be done with calm, steady speech and a willingness to analyze data for truth.

But we live in an age where truth is consistently diminished. Multiple members of the Trump administration, including Trump himself, claimed Secretery of Defense Pete Hegseth never sent classified information in a Signal group chat which accidentally included a journalist. It’s an utterly baffling claim to make when the general public can now view the information themselves.

Conservative media outlets repeatedly spread misinformation using buzzwords which appeal to an audience needing easy answers to their problems, even if not always correct. Fox News’ adoption of the phrase “migrant crime” is particularly disgusting, especially when clips used to proclaim America has an issue with illegal immigrants committing violent crimes are doctored or cut in a way to seem as heinous as possible.

On a personal note, I greatly dislike the current press secretary. As a member of Gen Z, it’s certainly bittersweet to see one of my generation be so high on the public stage yet so combative. Karoline Leavitt, through instructions from the administration I’m sure, has been overly hostile to journalists who are just trying to do their jobs. It’s not just the administration denying access to legacy media, it’s refusing and attempting to humiliate certain people who dare ask a hard question.

All of these appeal to emotion. The fight for justice, the uncovering of the truth and begging for decency, it’s all meant to evoke emotion and fluster those hoping for civility.

I can’t help but also recognize a harrowing increase of political violence. The Jan. 6 insurrection comes to mind, but just last year, Trump was almost assassinated live on television. I remember driving home in my car, feeling grave and somewhat ill thinking about the consequences if those bullets hit the intended target. A completely innocent bystander, Corey Comperatore, was killed while protecting his family.

There’s nearly four years left of this presidency to deal with. I understand how it seems impossible to not reciprocate energy from the other side when the consequences for being hostile don’t seem to matter. Why even try to use facts when we can point at an enemy, twist them into a combatant and say they are the problem?

The civility issue is something which needs to be addressed, but I don’t see an easy way to fix it. I don’t expect either side of the political spectrum to just give up funny names, especially for the next four years. It’s almost like a Pandora’s box; now that it’s open, there’s almost no hope of sealing whatever sins crept out.