“Anger” is the watchword in the media and blogosphere this week. Democrats are using the epithets and “hate speech” from the more uncivil members of the Right to demonize adversaries, try to muzzle the opposition, and raise money. Republicans are trying to harness anger to fuel their drive to triumph in November. Talk radio is trying to fan the flames, because it’s good for ratings. But anger is neither healthy nor conducive to clear thought. Antidotes vary according to the type and cause of the anger, but in this massive breakout, what is needed is the ethical value of Accountability. Neither the objects of the anger nor the angry themselves are blameless, and it would measure the anger level considerably if everyone would accept their fair share of  accountability for the rage:

The Democrats passed their legislation and may well be proven right by history. But they did it in an unconscionably arrogant and anti-Democratic manner, almost devoid of openness, full of tricks and parliamentary maneuvers that, while used before,  had never all been employed to pass major legislation that the public neither liked nor understood. It is a democracy, after all, and when elected representatives disclaim responsibility for reading the laws they vote for (like Rep. Conyers), denigrate members of the public who are dubious (like Nancy Pelosi), declare that  Constitutional process doesn’t matter (like Rep. Hoyer, the House Whip), suggest that the bill needs to be passed before the public can learn what’s in it (Pelosi again) and talk about the legislation “controlling the people” (Rep. Dingell, who, to be fair, appears to be entering senility), they should hardly be surprised when some citizens feel that their government is democratic in name only. An acknowledgement that their bare-knuckle tactic were ugly and should have been moderated would go a long way to cooling things off. The impression being left now is that this is just a sampling of what is coming. If that is true, the anger will be justified.

The Demonstrators who flipped out when Pelosi and the Democratic leaders did a victory lap in their midst should accept responsiblity for the racist and homophobic comments of the worst among them, and disown such personal and objectionable attacks. Sure, I think it’s likely that the wily Democrats were trying to provoke them, and the protesters couldn’t control themselves. Well, they lose. Provoking your adversaries to make fools of themselves is well within the ethical politics playbook. Now it is time to proactively reject the nuts, or be defined by them.

The Republicans need to be accountable for why the Democrats ended up with the White House and majorities in both houses of Congress. It was because the GOP disgraced itself with greed, corruption, extreme partisanship incompetence when it was in charge. In a two party system, the party that fails to hold the trust of the public is accountable for not being able to do its job, which is to keep the other side honest and diligent. Elections do have consequences, and the health care bill was one of them. Republican critics need to focus some of their loathing inward, because their party set the stage for Pelosi and Reid’s shell games. It also needs to stop tolerating amateurish boors like Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer, who shouted “Baby killer!” at Rep. Bart Stupak. This kind of incivility was once considered a mortal sin on the House floor.  The fact that Speaker Pelosi has allowed a double standard to thrive by permitting the likes of Florida’s Alan Grayson to lower the level of discourse to crude name-calling doesn’t help, but still, a responsible Republican Party would simply declare that outbursts like Neugebauer’s will mean a loss of financial support in the next campaign. Right after yelling at Stupak (and supposedly apologizing for it), Neugebauer began running a campaign ad vowing to “never quit speaking on behalf of the unborn”—an obvious code for “I’m angry, I did it, and I’m glad.” He is an elected leader, and this conduct is unacceptable. Neugebauer is running on a platform of acting on anger and inciting it, and the Republican Party should not allow that to continue in its name.

Right now, it appears neither the Democrats, nor the Republicans, nor the opponents of the health care bill have any desire to stem the anger. We must hold them all accountable for the results.

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Addendum: Be sure to check the satirical post on the topic at Popehat.