Dan Rather slams GOP's hollow call for civility as a 'hypocritical farce'

Veteran journalist Dan Rather absolutely excoriated Trump and the GOP on Tuesday, slamming their cynical calls for civility as a “hypocritical farce” and tearing into them for their own destructive incivility.

In a post published to his Facebook page, Rather took Trump and his Republican enablers to task for having the audacity to lament the lack of civility in American society when they are the main ones fueling it.

“President Trump and the GOP bemoaning a lack of civility is a hypocritical farce,” Rather wrote. “It spurs an almost uncontrollable bout of forehead slapping in disbelief.”

“But let’s be clear about what incivility really looks like,” he declared.

He went on to lay out 17 different ways that Republicans have cultivated and encouraged incivility, from denying facts and ignoring science, to praising dictators and undermining the rule of law:

Incivility is lying to impugn the citizenship of the first African American president.

Incivility is threatening and mocking reporters and attacking the First Amendment protections of our free and independent press.

Incivility is destroying the environment and ignoring climate change.

Incivility is countenancing corruption and venality in the highest reaches of the White House and its cabinet.

Incivility is our government’s response to Puerto Rico.

Incivility is undermining a merited investigation by respected law enforcement officials and maligning the notion of an independent judiciary.

Incivility is cozying up to dictators and attacking our allies and friends.

Incivility is ripping children – even those too young to know their parent’s name – from immigrants legally claiming asylum.

Incivility is endeavoring to have millions of Americans lose their health insurance.

Incivility is creating a false equivalence between Nazis and counter protesters.

[…]

“These are but a few of the real incivilities that plague our moment in history,” Rather remarked. “They are the actions of a man and his enablers who feel no compunction about destroying the bonds that have held this improbable nation together.”

He added, “We will only succeed if we have a civil society. And anything or anyone who attacks that cherished American ideal must be considered… uncivil.”

Rather’s post comes amid a flood of faux outrage from Trump and his Republican allies, who have spent the past three days bemoaning the supposed lack of civility that motivated a restaurant owner to turn away White House press secretary Sarah Sanders.

According to the GOP’s skewed narrative, tearing families apart and throwing kids into cages is on par with Sanders not being able to dine in her restaurant of choice.

While civility is certainly lacking in modern society, the blame doesn’t fall on those standing up to intolerance — it falls on those who are intolerant. 

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.