By Dahni
© Copyright 6/2/09
all rights reserved
As it happened, I turned on my television set and witnessed a shocking (as the British are fond of saying), display of civility.
Forget about the fact that this came from ‘Happening Now’ on Fox News if you do not like them. Forget about the moderator (whom ever he was), if you don’t like him. Forget about the one person mostly likely being a Democrat if you don’t like them or her. Forget about the other person that is most likely a Republican if you don’t like them or him. What took my breath away was, the display of civility among them, so civil, it was Shocking Civility!
Radio and television talk show hosts, with all your expected ranting and raving and all you media people with your assumed bias, should have watched this, and should take notice; learn from this and put it to good use.
The moderator asked his guests a simple question and the discussion (notice that word “discussion,” as opposed to arguing), centered around the upcoming visit of the president, to Egypt. His guests were:
Heather Hurlburt, a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, is a Michigan-based consultant and writer.
and
Elliott Abrams is an American lawyer who has served in foreign policy positions for Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. He currently serves as a Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
There were no loaded questions or ulterior motives by the moderator and he should be commended on how he handled the subject, asked the questions and how he interacted with his guests.
Both Hurlburt and Abrams masterfully articulated their opinions and divergent viewpoints, calmly, professionally and oh my, courteously too!
There was no display of one-up-ing, interrupting each other, nastiness, eye-rolling, or loud talking. Oh my, they each allowed the other to complete their individual answers too! That was shocking, just shocking!
WOW, it was beautiful spectacle to behold! It made me glad (again), to be one of WE in the U.S.A and hopeful our British friends (that practice this behavior regularly), on the other side of the pond might be proud of US.
If I were to pick up a dictionary and look up “we agree to disagree,” I should find pictures of Heather Hurlburt and Elliott Abrams!
This is what WE are missing in this country, the art of conversation. Now maybe it’s jus’ little ole’ pea-brain me, but I betcha’ WE could find ways to work together despite our differences, if WE would act this way and treat each other like this!
Kudos to Fox News, their moderator for this segment, Heather Hurlburt and Eliot Abrams!
Enthused – one of WE,
Dahni