With what appears to be wholesale abandonment of decorum, our Republic seems awash in incivility. The days of vigorous political debate, good-natured finger pointing and respectful disagreements have slid into a maelstrom of shouts of "you lie" and "their program is for you to die quickly."
The health care town hall scream-fests became a conflagration of smoldering immaturity resembling seventh graders trying to get into the lunch line.
And I am frightened.
I am afraid because I have lived long enough to see between my ears police dogs ripping flesh in Selma, a president's head lurch and explode in Dallas, and the World Trade Centers cascade in a downward blossom of horror.
All of these passive-aggressive events were driven by misunderstanding, name-calling and distorted righteousness that insists there is someone who is always right and an "enemy" who is always wrong.
In other words, no one talks to each other. We have learned, from watching 24-hour, high-definition surround-sound media, that the art of discourse has become lobbing bombs and verbally eviscerating a person or program.
It's easier as a society to keep turning up the rudeness volume. The hard work would be to get into a room and patiently represent our differing views with a commitment to find a compromise or some way for us to live together without homicidal thoughts.
The most frightening day for me in the past few weeks was when I heard about the Facebook poll, "Should Barack Obama be killed?"
Oh, you say, those words were just the musing of some temporarily deranged person. I agree.
The problem is when our 24-hour news cycles are pockmarked with images of hyperventilating speakers spitting vitriolic accusations - "socialist scum" and "brainless twit" - we create an environment that births the Lee Harvey Oswalds back into our national family.
I am genuinely concerned that our frenzied incivility is setting the stage for another bloodied Lorraine Motel balcony and Ambassador Hotel ballroom.
We still have time for two interventions.
First, we must insist our leaders become accountable for their silence.
Where are the voices of moderation and respect, from the offender's political party, who will grab the microphone and patiently say, "This behavior and language is inappropriate and does not represent our political party or our ethics. We are capable of public discourse with our opponents that does not include personal attacks."
The craziness I can understand. It is the silence that keeps me awake at night.
When responsible leadership, in any political party, refuses to publicly refute rude, excoriating language from its members, I am convinced their silence stamps, "approved" on the diatribe.
So what drives a reasonable, morally founded person to zip his lips shut in the presence of irresponsible, inflammatory accusations?
This person either does not have the fortitude to be a leader in a screaming crowd or is silently building personal wealth.
Think about it.
Anyone who gets "outrageous" on television or radio accumulates an overnight audience, better Nielson ratings, a book contract, and keynote speeches to throngs of like-minded audiences - and the cash of "success" continues to roll in.
The "celebrity" of incivility is making overnight millionaires.
Second, to return us to reasonable, civil debate in our nation, this electorate - that's us - must elect representatives who bring, in the best sense of the term, a new spirituality to the office.
These powerful people should have thundering convictions but quiet, reasonable spirits.
They should have a history of listening and then responding without the need to verbally rip out the jugular vein of the person on the other side of the table.
We are capable of better leadership than the rude screamers who have been dominating our television screens and newspaper headlines.
The screaming offends me, but the silence scares me.
Cal LeMon of Springfield-based Executive Enrichment Inc. solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting. He can be reached at execenrichment@aol.com.
