The new intolerance

The current campaign for president is setting the tone for future political discourse.

This campaign season has seen unprecedented personal attacks, dirty tricks and vulgar language. Truth and civility are notably absent.

No candidate seems “presidential,” and both parties are guilty of the abuses.

All this does not bode well for the future.

One of the most disturbing comments to come out of the campaigning was, not surprisingly, from Donald Trump. It has not been widely reported.

Put aside his comments about Hispanics or Muslims or the other things he has said that have offended so many.

In this case, a heckler interrupted one of his rallies.

Trump had the person ejected. Then he said that he really liked the old days when the guy would have been carried out on a stretcher.

The crowd approved.

Here was a presidential hopeful suggesting violence against those who do not agree with him and his supporters.

Talk about appealing to baser instincts.

The verbiage in the campaigns has been tough and nasty. But, approving, if not advocating, violence against those who do not agree is frightening.

Intolerance has become the major theme of the campaigns and woefully the tenor of the country.

It is hard to find a group that others are not intolerant of, whether it be the rich, the poor, immigrants, foreign governments or those with legitimate but opposing views or different religious beliefs or skin color.

The presidential campaigners have lost all sense of tolerance, and that loss has been spreading like a dark cloud over the entire nation.

If there is one thing the average American should be intolerant of, it is intolerance itself.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher