Keller @ Large: Scalia's Civility
BOSTON (CBS) -- Reading through the coverage of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's passing, I came across an article about his longtime friendship with his ideological opposite on the court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The two judges and their families socialized often; he sometimes went to the opera with her, and once went on a hunting trip with Justice Elena Kagan, another liberal Obama appointee.
How could Scalia be friends with judges who his conservative peers often demonized?
And how could they pal around with a man vilified by the likes of former Congressman Barney Frank as a bigot?
"I attack ideas. I don't attack people," Scalia explained in an interview with 60 Minutes. "Some very good people have some very bad ideas. If you can't separate the two, you have to get another day job."
What a novel concept!
Consider how rare this attitude has become.
With the rare exception like Dan Rea, talk radio rarely bothers to make that separation. If you disagree, you are evil, case closed. Make one mistake, and you are condemned, no need for context.
In the presidential race right now, the Republican frontrunner routinely describes people whose handling of difficult issues has not been up to his Olympian standards as "stupid" and "bad people." The Democratic frontrunner likes to smear entire classes and occupations without any trace of nuance.
It seems there are fewer and fewer statesmen, and more and more Barney Franks.
I share Scalia's contempt for this trend--the behavior, I mean, not the people who indulge in it.
What's troubling is the thought that it has become the new normal.
Listen to Jon's commentary: