Barack Obama, Winner Of The Nobel Peace Prize, On The Subject Of Civility In Public Discourse

Really, ya'll, he spoke these words a few months ago:

"At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized, at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do," the President said at the time, "it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds," he said.

Not a peep in the wake of Hoffa's hectoring of the crowd, telling them to '...take these sons-of-bitches out!', referring to members of the Tea Party.

OS concludes the rules must change when it gets to be election season, at least for Obama.

Yes, Indeed, Mr. Hoffa Said Those Ugly, Menacing Words

Video's here, if you must see it, yet again.

Mr. Hoffa did say:

"We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party. And you know, there is only one way to beat and win that war. The one thing about working people is we like a good fight. And you know what? They've got a war, they got a war with us and there's only going to be one winner. It's going to be the workers of Michigan, and America. We're going to win that war," Jimmy Hoffa said to a heavily union crowd.

"President Obama, this is your army. We are ready to march. Let's take these son of bitches out and give America back to an America where we belong," Hoffa added.

Given the loooong relationship between the Teamsters and elements of the Cosa Nostra, these are pretty chilling words, the kind used by people like Gambino, Gotti, Luciano, and company.

Surely, it gave a thrill to the crowd. And, oddly, it may have given a thrill to those who identify themselves with the 'sons-of-bitches' Mr. Hoffa wishes to 'take out.' The 'See-I-Told-You-So' thrill, the 'Let's-Make-Sure-We're-Packing-From-Now-On' thrill.

Old South, as horrified as he is by those words, and as scared as he is by what those words mean, really urges his readers, and everyone in general, to take a deep breath. Calm down. These are challenging times, and adrenalin does not help one think.

Hoffa is an idiot, a goon. Obama is a desperate man to stand on the podium with Hoffa at all, much less to not immediately take the high road and repudiate those words and the man who spoke them. Immediately, on the spot. He could have simply walked off and left when Hoffa staged his rant, which would have been the most effective course of action. But he didn't. And that was a tragic moment for him, and for the country.

But, still, everybody. Calm down, be thoughtful. Someone out there may think it would somehow be heroic to do violent things to union members, especially to Teamsters, to somehow 'get back' at Hoffa. It isn't. A face floats in OS's mind just now, a Teamster who is the gentlest soul for miles around, whose kindness forever contributed to OS's family. Other union members, in other unions, come to mind--good good people, who do not share Hoffa's view of the world. They don't deserve to get killed or injured in political violence.

In the movies, and on TV, we view fictionalized violence every day, knowing that the rounds fired are blanks, the blood is fake, it's all edited later, and after the scene is film, everyone gets up and goes home at the end of the day.

Real violence is not like that. It scars victims and aggressors both. People die, and leave shattered families behind. Gunshot wounds maim body and soul for life.

Calm down, everybody. Don't take Hoffa's bait, don't play in his sandbox. And, when you decide about who should be in office next, think about that poor politician who so desperately wishes to hold on to power that he will countenance even a Jimmy Hoffa's poisonous calls to violence. These kind of people, we don't need in office, at any level, from the county courthouse to the White House.

Calm down, and think about how to face what lies ahead for us all.