My reaction to last weekend’s news coverage regarding the attacks that Congressmen Lewis and Frank, among others, were subjected to, was not shock, but disappointment…quickly followed by confirmation.

Racism, discrimination and ignorance are very much alive and well in America.

The volatile and personal public attacks that erupted should offend and upset each and every single one of us.

Let’s be clear, this is not a Republican or Democratic issue.

For the record, it is also not a “Tea Party” issue.

Decency, respect and decorum have no specific party affiliation.

In his New York Times Op-Ed article, 3/23, An Absence of Class, the ever eloquent Bob Herbert stated:

“At some point, we have to decide as a country that we just can’t have this:
We cannot allow ourselves to remain silent as foaming-at-the mouth protesters scream the vilest of epithets at members of Congress – epithets that The Times will not allow me to repeat here.”

Since this is my blog, I will repeat the vile epithets…in the form of a question –

What do the words Nigger, Faggot, or for that matter, spitting on another human being have to do with health care?

Herbert went on to say,

“It is 2010, which means it is way past time for decent Americans to rise up against this kind of garbage, to fight it aggressively wherever it appears.”

Silence or turning a blind eye will not make the severity of this new “low” we’ve reached go away. This is something that we have a shared responsibility to address and correct.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

click here for An Absence of Class by Bob Herbert