GOP says "Hell No" to civility

Kind of in the "water is wet" category but it's useful to archive that the DNC asked the RNC to co-sign a joint statement condemning the death threats and violent acts being committed after the reform bill was passed and RNC chair Mike Steele effectively said Hell No.

[DNC chair Tim Kaine said the statement called for] “elected officials of both parties to set an example of the civility we want to see in our citizenry.”

“We also call on all Americans to respect differences of opinion, to refrain from inappropriate forms of intimidation, to reject violence and vandalism, and to scale back rhetoric that might reasonably be misinterpreted by those prone to such behavior,” read the proposed joint statement, which came at the end of a week that saw acts of vandalism and threats of violence directed at members of Congress from both parties, but mostly aimed at Democrats who voted yes on the health care bill.

Steele's response was, “we don’t need to do anything on their schedule or on their timetable.” Or in other words, if Democrats are for it, we're against it. The Democrats responded to the refusal noting in part:

“It’s very disappointing, but perhaps not surprising, that Chairman Steele, who authored a fundraising presentation that depicted the president as the Joker, the speaker of the House as Cruella de Vil, raised money online showing the speaker on fire and said she should be put before a firing squad would refuse to do a joint statement with Chairman Kaine to ratchet down the rhetoric and condemn the violence and threats which Republican supporters have engaged in since the passage of health reform,” Woodhouse said.

Hell, stoking the anger is all the Republicans have left and it's filling their war chests. If it destroys civil society -- well -- for the GOPers that's apparently just collateral damage. As long as there's one penny left to be bled from the rubes or the national treasury, via any means possible, they're going to use any dirty trick they can think of to gain control of the purse strings and fill their coffers.

[Thanks to Mike Finnigan at Crooks & Liars for the link.]

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]